The 4th Sunday of Epiphany

Lydia appears in Acts 16:14–15 and 40. Paul and his companions came to Philippi in Macedonia on Paul's second missionary journey. On the Sabbath, they went outside the city gate to a riverside prayer gathering where, they had heard, women met to pray. There Paul met 'a woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth.' Thyatira, in Asia Minor, was a center of the purple-dye trade; purple cloth was an expensive commodity, indicating that Lydia was a woman of some means and entrepreneurial capability.

'The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.' She and her household were baptized — the first recorded Christian baptism in Europe. She then 'prevailed upon' Paul and his companions to come to her house: 'If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.' Luke reports that 'she prevailed upon us,' suggesting it took some persuasion. Lydia's home became the meeting place of the Philippian church; later, when Paul and Silas were released from prison, they returned to Lydia's house and saw the brothers and sisters there before departing the city (Acts 16:40).

Dorcas (also called Tabitha, the Aramaic equivalent) appears in Acts 9:36–43. She lived in Joppa and was 'devoted to good works and acts of charity.' Luke specifically emphasizes her textile ministry: 'all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.' When Dorcas fell ill and died, the disciples in nearby Lydda sent urgently for Peter: 'Please come to us without delay.' Peter went to the upper room where Dorcas lay, 'and all the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made.' Peter sent them out, prayed, and said in Aramaic, 'Tabitha, get up.' She opened her eyes, sat up, and took his hand. Luke reports that 'this became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.'

Phoebe appears in Romans 16:1–2, in Paul's greetings to the Roman church: 'I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.' Paul uses the word diakonos — the same word used for his own ministry — to describe Phoebe's role. He also employs the word prostatis, typically translated as 'benefactor' or 'patron,' which indicates she held a recognized leadership and patronage role within her community. The fact that Phoebe is entrusted with the delivery of Paul's most important letter — the Letter to the Romans, which contains some of the most profound theology in the New Testament — indicates the trust Paul placed in her and her status in the early Church. She almost certainly also served as the first interpreter of this theologically dense letter to the Roman congregations.

Traditionally, little post-biblical material developed regarding these three women. The canonical accounts remain the primary sources for their lives and ministries. However, the fact that all three are commemorated together as a group (January 27) suggests that later Christian tradition recognized them as exemplars of distinct forms of Christian women's ministry: Lydia as a woman of financial means who provided hospitality, Dorcas as a woman of skill and charity devoted to the poor, and Phoebe as a woman of recognized authority and leadership in the church.