On the Ordination of Women Part II: The Twelve

Some people think that because the Twelve were men only men can be priests and bishops. It must be remembered that the Twelve were the symbolic heads of the renewed twelve tribes of Israel. It is hard to jump from this to a necessary and absolute link between priesthood and maleness. The offices of priest and bishop are not the historical, linear heirs of the symbolic heads of the renewed tribes of Israel. Notice how relatively obscure the Twelve were in the early church. (Hardly mentioned in Acts, and the Gospels can't agree on a set of names.) Apostleship was important, and a link between apostleship and priesthood and episcopacy can be made. But the band of apostles was much broader than the Twelve, and included a woman named Junia. (Rom 16:7)