Tabitha (Dorcas) -- I have read people twist these tiny verses to pretend she ran a "benevolence ministry." All the text says is that she was full of good works and acts of charity. Only when you are approaching the Bible with an agenda can you turn the story of raising Dorcas from the dead into a validation of women in ministry.
Phillip's four unmarried daughters -- yes, the Bible does say that they prophesied, clearly supporting everything we have already agreed to. It should be noted that the insistence of using the "unmarried" notation (virgin in other translations) is to show that these four had fully committed themselves to the service of the Lord forgoing marriage, as Paul speaks about later on.
Euodia and Syntyche -- in Philippians 4, Paul refers to these two as co-laborers. So what can we glean from this text? That they were co-laborers. No one has ever suggested that women have no role in the church.
Priscilla -- in Romans 16 she is referred to by Paul as a fellow worker in Christ. Same point as with Euodia and Syntyche. This is what is deceptive about these arguments. We are having a discussion about women teaching and preaching with authority over men in the church, not whether women can be considered co-laborers. I have heard them argue that because she taught Apollos in Acts 18 that women can teach. They ignore that she did this with her husband Aquila and not within a church service. I have even heard it argued that because Paul mentions Priscila first, he must value her more than her husband. Nonsense. Two of the six times they are referenced it is Aquila mentioned first, indicating there was probably no rhyme nor reason for who was listed first. This again just highlights how desperate they are to disobey God.
Phoebe -- I have heard Phoebe portrayed as a "leader in the church at Cenchrea." To say this is a leap is an understatement. The word used in these verses is essentially "help." Phoebe had been a tremendous help to many, including Paul. Not a leader at the church. She may have been involved in many charitable acts as well. There is zero scriptural support that she was a leader in the church. The height of deceitfulness here is when they insist she was a deaconess in the church. She most certainly was not. Now the word used to describe her is diakonos, which is translated deacon -- today. The church did not create or use the office or word deacon however, for a thousand more years! At the time of the writing, the word simply meant helper. In fact, the exact word is used earlier in the letter; twice during chapter 13. When speaking about rulers, Paul says the following:
For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is a servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. -- Romans 13: 4 (ESV)
Paul is speaking about rulers who hold authority here and refers to them as servants of the Lord twice. In both instances it is the exact same word used in Chapter 16 to refer to Phoebe. No one in their right mind infers that in Chapter 13 Paul is calling rulers deaconesses, yet that is the argument being made for its usage in Chapter 16 and it is simply inaccurate. Phoebe is beyond question a very important person to Paul. He entrusted her with delivering this letter to the Church at Rome, which in those days was no small task. She was probably wealthy and a great benefactor to the cause of Christ. She deserves our admiration and respect for these things but that does not make her a leader in the church or give us any reason to dismiss the key verses.
Junia -- In their desperation, Christo-feminists turn to a man named Junias, change his gender to female and then misinterpret the one verse that exists about him in the entire bible. I do not need to get into the gender confusion/debate because he/she was not an apostle either way:
