Women have been involved in Christianity since its very
beginning. One of the first mentions of female Christians in the
New Testament is in Luke 8, verses 1-3, where Luke states that
several women disciples travelled with Christ and the Twelve
Apostles and that the women paid some or all of the expenses of
the trip. Christ had female as well as male followers throughout
his ministry, as attested to by Mark 15: 40-41 and Matthew 27:55
. Later, in the Early Christian Church, women were in positions
of authority for about the first 300 years. Many wealthy women
had church services in their homes for the small Christian
congregations and officiated during the services as the heads of
their congregations. There is evidence for this and for women
preaching and prophesying in the Letters of St. Paul. In several
Letters, he greets numerous women by name and praises their
church-founding work. In one Letter, Romans 16:7, he describes a
woman named Junia as an Apostle, the same title he uses for
himself. Some Bible tr