Is the head covering required of all women when in church?

Although some scholars would say that this is the case, 1 Corinthians 11 addresses the issue of head covering only explicitly in relation to praying or prophesying. Thus, it seems that Paul meant for the head covering to be used as a means of showing respect to the leadership of the church. One can understand the logic of that: When a woman wanted to get up and pray or prophesy in public, to don a covering for her head was a symbolic acknowledgment of the male leadership in the church. She was in effect saying, “As I exercise my spiritual gifts in this assembly, I am not in any way defying the leadership of this church. Rather, I am showing my submission to the leadership by this head covering.”