Head Covering for Christian Women
“If anyone is inclined to dispute this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.” Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:16
Women must cover their heads when praying or prophesying and in public worship. These were not Paul’s words but a command and tradition for all churches, even the modern church. Paul appealed to creation order and angels in his teaching on head covering, which transcend all cultures and all churches.
“3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.”
There is a hierarchy in God’s creation order, and he desires for this to be represented when believers gather together. Women cover their heads to show this order. Paul also said it’s because of the angels. Angels too need to see us submit to God’s order this way, Paul says in Vs. 10 that a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. (There are many interpretations of the angels reference and it could apply to God’s angels who attend services to minister to believers, and it can also apply to fallen angels as well who accuse believers; all tend to make an appearance in church services)
Just because churches stopped practicing head covering does not mean the word of God has expired. Everything we do and don’t do, which God has commanded, we shall be held accountable for on judgment day. If we teach people to break God’s commands, Jesus says we will be least in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19).
Obey God rather than men even if you’re the only woman practicing this in your church. Once I learned this truth in 2023, I have since covered my head during public worship and during prayer or any proclaiming of God’s word. I was fortunate to have been in a head-covering church, but even when I attended or attend churches that don’t cover, I still do because God’s word is supreme to mass disobedience. Never compare yourself to what the majority of churches are doing, because the majority tends to be wrong.
Head covering is an act of submission during public worship, prayer, preaching, and prophecy because only Christ should be honored in the church, and this is demonstrated by the man leaving his head uncovered and a woman covering her head to cover the man’s glory, which she is.
I will allow the passage to speak for itself and ask that you read it slowly, humbly and with a heart to obey and not argue. It is pretty clear. If you need more study, look at the Greek of the passage using a strong concordance online. (Bible.hub is a good one for study).
1 Corinthians 11
1You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
2Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.
3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
4Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. (This verse proves the covering is not hair because men cannot take hair on and off)
5And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.
6If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off. And if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. (This verse proves that head covering is not hair because Paul would not ask her to be shaved if the covering was hair because he says her hair should be cut off if she has no cover. This verse dispels the myth that the covering is hair)
7A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
8For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.
9Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
10For this reason a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.
11In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
12For just as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.
13Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? (It’s a shame for a woman to pray uncovered).
14Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
15but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. (Paul uses hair to demonstrate that even in nature the woman has hair to differentiate herself from man because her hair is her natural covering and glory)
16If anyone is inclined to dispute this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God. (There is no other practice. This is the tradition for all churches, and to not do so is disobedience)
Lastly, the Greek word used for head covering in the earlier part of this chapter is akatakalypto, which means to unveil. A Greek study of this passage reveals that Paul is referring to something that is put on and then removed; not hair but a veil.
All through church history, from the beginning, all churches by and large practiced head covering until the 1950s/60s, when this began to be discarded with the rise of feminism, the women’s rights movement, and increasing influence of the church by modern culture. Ask yourself why? Were all Christians before this wrong? Is the bible wrong? The act of churches abandoning this practice is one of rebellion and worldliness. But God never changes his mind.
“The wearing of a head covering during Pentecostal worship was the normative practice from its inception; in the 1960s, “head coverings stopped being obligatory” in many Pentecostal denominations of Western Europe, when, “with little debate”, many Pentecostals “had absorbed elements of popular culture”. Wikipedia
I hope this inspires you to practice and obey this Christian tradition of head covering as a woman. And as a man to not cover your head during prayer, prophesy, and worship. It will change your life.
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