Head Covering, Headship and Worship
In this article, we are going to look at the practice of head covering taught by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. We will consider the various reasons Paul gives for the practice of head covering for women in the Church. We will also see what churches historically practiced. Please note that this article is not meant to judge anyone or judge any Church. The goal is to share my convictions as I have studied extensively on this passage and topic over the past few years. Hopefully, it encourages you to do the same honestly and provides something to ponder that enriches your Christian walk as you seek to walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands.
In 1 Corinthians 11:1-16, Apostle Paul says that women must practice head covering when praying or prophesying in the church. Prophesying here means foretelling events, speaking under inspiration, and exercising the prophetic office. These were not merely Paul’s opinions but a command and tradition for all churches.
These important traditions were established by Paul during the foundational stages of the Church to govern conduct. Paul’s words were inspired by the Lord Jesus Himself. They were for all churches, for all time. There is nothing to indicate this tradition was only written for the Corinthians, especially as Paul appeals to universal principles such as nature, creation order, gender, and angels in his instruction, as we will see later on.
“Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.” 1 Corinthians 11:2
Paul ends his teaching on head covering with this, “If anyone is inclined to dispute this, we have no other practice, nor do the churches of God.” Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:16
“Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” 2 Thessalonians 2:15
Head covering is a command of the Lord.
Now, just because many churches have stopped practicing head coverings does not mean the Word of God has become obsolete. I think each of us should seek God on this matter. It may not be a salvation issue, but it may be one of obedience. On Judgment Day, we will be held accountable for everything we do and do not do, according to what God has commanded.
“For I certify to you, brothers, that the gospel I preached was not devised by man. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.” Galatians 1:11-12
“The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day.” John 12:48
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” Romans 14;12
Jesus said if we teach people to break God’s commands, we will be least in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:19). In light of this, we should consider this passage of 1 Corinthians 11 soberly and reverently and make sure we are obeying God no matter what others around us do.
Head covering is a sign of submission and headship.
There is a hierarchy in God’s creation order (God, Christ, Man, Woman), and he desires for this to be represented when believers gather together. Women cover their heads to show this order. Head coverings are a sign of submission and represent God’s ordained structure of headship.
“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.”
Head covering is an act of submission during prayer and prophesying, as only Christ should be honored in the Church. This is demonstrated by the man leaving his head uncovered and a woman covering her head.
The woman covers her head to cover the man’s glory, which she is. The man leaves his head uncovered for Christ’s glory to be the only visible glory in worship, since man is the glory of God. When a man covers his head in worship, he covers God’s glory.
7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
When a woman covers her head in worship, she is essentially honoring Christ by allowing his glory alone to be visible in the Church. It is a great mystery and joy, and not an act of shame or dishonor. Paul says it is a shame when a woman leaves her head uncovered in worship because she is inadvertently making herself equal to the man. By so doing, she is exulting man rather than Christ, and robbing Christ of his glory as head of the church.
Paul’s appeal to nature, creation order, gender, and angels.
Paul also appealed to nature, creation order, gender, and angels in his teaching on head covering. These things transcend all cultures and generations
Women cover their heads as an act of submission due to their order in creation after man. The woman was created for man and not vice versa. Paul also likened the spiritual symbol of the head covering to the natural covering of a woman’s hair, which distinguishes her from the man.
4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. 5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.
7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10 For this reason, a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.
14 Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, 15 but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a (natural) 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.)
Because of the angels
10 For this reason, a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.
Paul also mentions that the woman should have a head covering because of the angels. Angels, too, are witnesses to our submission to God’s order during worship. Paul says in verse 10 that a woman ought to have power (a sign of authority) on her head because of the angels.
God’s angels
There are many interpretations of the angels’ reference. God’s angels always attend any place or meeting where prayer or God’s word is being proclaimed. Angels are servants of God (Matthew 4:11, Hebrews 1:7) and ministers to men (Hebrews 1:14). Being fully submitted servants of God, they should witness our submission to God, too.
“Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:2-3
Fallen angels
Another possible reference could be the fallen angels. We know that Satan is always looking for an opportunity to accuse us before God and desires for men and women to come out from under submission to God’s headship structure, just as he did. This is demonstrated when Satan approached Eve and tempted her, leading her to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.
Satan deliberately bypassed Adam’s authority as Eve’s husband and head and approached Eve directly, deceiving her. This was the first act of rebellion against God, and it specifically involved a rebellion against God’s ordained order of authority. Eve should have deferred to her husband, since he had received the instructions regarding the tree, and she was his helper. But instead, she took an authoritative decision that was not hers to make, listened to the devil and was deceived.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman. “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Genesis 3:1-6
When we submit to God, we make a statement to angels and display God’s wisdom in salvation
When women cover their heads in worship, they make a silent statement to Satan that they are submissive to God, where Eve was not, and where he is not. It is a great statement because Satan wants us to be insubordinate to God, like he was. May God help us to understand this beautiful symbol and its deep meaning.
“His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:10-11
It is not far-fetched, therefore, to consider that Paul may have been referring to both good and evil angels in his statement. Angels are very interested in all matters salvation and always watching.
“For I think God has displayed us, the apostles, in last place, like men condemned to die: We have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to people.”1 Corinthians 4:9
“It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” 1 Peter 1:12
Head covering in church history.
All through church history, churches by and large practiced head covering until around the 1950s/60s. This was mainly due to the rise of feminism and the women’s rights movement, and the increasing influence of modern culture on the Church.
We should ask ourselves if all Christians before this were wrong to practice head covering. Is the Bible wrong? The widespread practice of churches abandoning this practice is one of ignorance, presumption, rebellion, worldliness, and a sign of the times. God never forgets and never changes His mind. Although it has become common not to practice head covering, it is still a part of scripture, and God notes the disobedience even if it is widespread.
The neglect of this biblical practice should give us pause. Why does this practice attract so much opposition? Could it be that the enemy has come in subtly to deceive us into ignoring this symbol of headship so that Christ is robbed of his glory in the Church? Could this be one of the reasons why headship itself is under attack in both the church and Christian families? Might it be one of the reasons why feminism and women’s demands for ‘equality’ have infiltrated the Church and made it look like the Bible is anti-women? Could it be one of the reasons why biblical gender roles are being despised, rejected, and gender lines have become so blurred even among believers? This is food for thought for all of us, men and women.
“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.” copied from Wikipedia
Should head covering be practiced full-time or only during worship?
To be honest, I have struggled with this one and will not provide a definitive answer for or against full-time covering. But I will list all possible understandings of when to practice head coverings. There are 3 possible views:
- Only during public worship, when believers gather in church.
- Any time of prayer and prophecy, not necessarily in the church.
- Full-time since we are called to pray continuously, and because submission, gender, and angels are timeless principles.
What is clear is that Paul says women should cover their heads when praying or prophesying, and the context in 1 Corinthians 11 appears to be in public worship. If a woman chooses to cover her head full-time because she feels she is in full-time prayer mode, then this is fine. But I do believe we should give grace to one another and our different applications of this passage, and not judge one another.
I have linked several resources at the end of this post for further reflection.
Head covering for the glory of God.
I hope this article inspires you to practice and obey this Christian tradition of head covering as a woman and, as a man, not to cover your head during prayer and prophecy. I believe this practice will change your life. All acts of obedience to God carry their unique blessing. The practice of head covering was meant to make clear the divine headship structure instituted by God himself (God, Christ, Man, Woman)—and to distinguish gender roles in the body of Christ, all for the glory of God.
“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.”
4 Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head (Christ), and 5 every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head (man), for it is just as if her head were shaved.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:1-16:
I will allow the passage to speak for itself and ask that you read it slowly, humbly, and with a heart to obey rather than 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 You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
- 2 Now I commend you for remembering me in everything and for maintaining the traditions, just as I passed them on to you.
- 3 But 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.
- 4 Every 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.)
- 5 And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, for it is just as if her head were shaved.
- 6 If 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 covering is not hair because Paul would not ask her to be shaved if the covering referred to hair, because he says her hair should be cut off if she has no covering.)
- 7 A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
- 8 For man did not come from woman, but woman from man.
- 9 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
- 10 For this reason, a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels.
- 11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
- 12 Just as a woman comes from a man, so also a man is born of a woman. But everything comes from God.
- 13 Judge 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.)
- 14 Doesn’t nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him,
- 15 But 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)
- 16. If 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.)
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. Verses 4 and 6 also become illogical if the head covering is hair.
The Greek word translated as “uncovered” is ἀκατακαλύπτῳ (akatakalyptō); adjective—dative feminine singular; Strong’s Greek 177: unveiled, uncovered. Unveiled.
Useful articles for further study
- Head Coverings: A Symbol Of Submission To God Ordained Roles, Sermon from thebiblefellowship
- Head Covering by Watchman Nee
- https://www.westminsterconfession.org/resources/worship/head-coverings-and-decorum-in-worship-a-letter/ by John Murray
- https://www.headcoveringmovement.com/articles/why-didnt-eve-wear-a-head-covering by Jeremy G.
- https://www.westminsterconfession.org/resources/worship/headship-and-worship-notes-on-1-corinthians-112-16/ by Sherman Isbell
- What the Early Christians Believed About The Head Covering– Transcript of cassette sermon by David W. Bercot, 1997
- On Head Coverings by Classical Christianity
- Head covering for Christian women– Wikipedia
- https://theheavenlyhearth.com/2018/10/30/full-time-or-part-time-head-covering/
- (PDF Book) Head Coverings by K.P. Yohannan
- Sermon Series by Milton Vincent on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 (Part 1-9)
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