Can women baptize? Can a woman baptize someone?

Jesus told His disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). Jesus’ command specifies that water baptism is part of God’s will for all those who come to faith and are being discipled. Baptism is an ordinance of the church—that much is clear. But who administers the ordinance? Passages such as 1 Timothy 2 restrict women in the church from teaching men or having spiritual authority over men. So, women cannot be pastors. But does this also mean women are restricted from performing baptisms?

First, there’s a broader question to consider: “Can any believer baptize, or only ordained pastors and missionaries?” That is, do the recognized authorities of the church (pastors/elders/overseers) bear the sole responsibility for performing baptisms? Based on examples in the book of Acts, the qualifications for baptizing someone do not seem to be that narrow. It is doubtful that all 3,000 baptisms in Acts 2:41 were performed by only 12 apostles. The apostle Paul did not often baptize; he left that to others (1 Corinthians 1:14–17). And Philip, who was not a church elder, baptized the Ethiopian (Acts 8:38). Scripture seems to allow any born-again disciple of Jesus to baptize. Further, if the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19 is given to all Christians (as is commonly held), then it follows that the command to baptize is also given to all Christians.

The narrower question and the subject of this article is, “Can a woman baptize?” Scripture has no examples of women baptizing, and it offers no explicit instruction for or against the practice. Baptism, as an ordinance of the church, should be performed under the auspices of the church. And, in the church, those who exercise spiritual authority and are responsible for teaching are men. But does performing a baptism exert spiritual authority? No, not necessarily. John was not exerting spiritual authority over Jesus when he baptized the Lord (Mark 1:9). Does the act of baptizing someone make one a teacher by default? Nothing in the Bible suggests that only teachers can baptize.

Bible-believing, sincere Christians may disagree on the question of who may baptize, but many Christians do not find anything unbiblical about a woman baptizing someone. For example, if Christian parents want to baptize their child under the authority of their local church, then they should ask their pastor if they can be involved in the ceremony. Seemingly, both father and mother should be allowed to participate in submission to their church’s guidelines. Those who contend that women are indeed allowed to baptize rely on the following points:

Those who contend that anyone, not just church leaders, can baptize, typically hold to the following standards:

Those who contend that women are not allowed to baptize, at least not in the context of the local church, typically focus on the fact the baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the two ordinances of the church, should generally only be administered by pastors/elders/deacons who have been identified by the church as godly leaders (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:6-9). They also point to the fact that since very early in Christian history, the church has viewed the ordinances as being the responsibility of the “ordained” male leadership of the local church. Further, they see administering both baptism and the Lord’s Supper as “exercising authority,” which 1 Timothy 2:12 restricts to men, at least in the context of ministering to other men.

Again, the Bible does not give any explicit teaching on whether women can baptize. The universality of the Great Commission would seem to argue that women can baptize, at least in an evangelistic context. The principles of male leadership and a high view of the ordinances of the church would seem to limit who can baptize to the “ordained” pastors/elders/deacons of the church. This is definitely an issue on which Christians can agree to disagree. What must be agreed upon is that discipleship is vitally important, and baptism is a key aspect of the discipleship process.