Women in Ministry
Here it is--for all of you who have been asking me for years what my perspective on women in ministry is, I'm finally at a place where I feel like I can answer. I'll probably never do this again other than in ministry/mentoring settings (I'm a firm believer that it's not my job to defend my call but to live it out), so enjoy this historical moment. :) I also preface this by stating that I've been on a long journey of coming to the following ideas, and I'm sure God will continue to tweak them (or change them if He likes) as time goes on. This, however, is where I stand.
As a woman who is called to ministry and attending seminary in order to further prepare for ministry, I think it is a no-brainer that I affirm that God does call women. However, this was a hard conclusion to come to after being told my whole life that He does not. Once God finally convinced me that He was truly calling ME, I had the difficult task of figuring out what that meant--both in light of Scripture and practically in the church world in which I live. I wrestled with these issues for years. Scripture became very confusing to me. I saw both instances when women were forbidden to speak, and times when women led the nation of Israel as judges or spoke as God's prophetesses. I saw a woman referred to as an apostle, a woman who led a house church, and all distinctions of gender being eliminated in Christ. I was confused. However, after studying the Scripture, popular interpretations, the practical views that different church leaders held, I came to the following "conclusions."
1. You have to fall off the fence in one direction or the other. There is no view in Scripture that details, "Women may be youth pastors, children's ministers, worship leaders, associate pastors, and missionaries (aka pastors) in foreign lands, but they may not be senior pastors in the United States." Either women are called, or they are not. No limited view can be truly supported Scripturally.
2. The evidence is strong that God has and does use women to serve His Church. To deny this is to deny reality.
3. I am both an egalitarian AND a complementarian. I know these views are supposed to be somehow contradictory, but I disagree with the definitions. I am an egalitarian because I believe men and women are equal in worth and value in both the eyes of God and therefore the eyes of His Church. Adam and Eve were created to be "face to face," not in some sort of hierarchy of importance or authority. Therefore, there is no male or female in Christ--only person. Because of this, God's call to service is extended both to men and women, and this call can be identical. I'll spell it out--maybe for the first time in my life--God can and does call women to senior pastor. I apologize for any heart attacks I may have just caused. BUT, I am also a complementarian. By this, I mean that men and women are DIFFERENT. I draw this as much from life as anything. While some individuals may somewhat break the mold, I think it is safe to say that men and women are wired differently in some pretty standard ways. This does not mean, however, that one is wired for pastoral leadership and the other is not. It means they are wired DIFFERENTLY for pastoral leadership. In conclusion, I believe a church with only male leadership OR a church with only female leadership is not at its best pastoral health. We COMPLEMENT one another. Any church lacking in either way is LACKING. Thus, a church with a female senior pastor needs other male leadership, and vice versa. This is easily applied in a large church who has a large pastoral staff. However, in small churches (solo pastorates), this compensation is not something that can necessarily be visible on the back of a church bulletin but rather is woven into the church in an integral way. I believe it is the responsibility of both a church and its pastor to be sure that both "gender styles" of leadership are present in their church in a balanced fashion. Only then, I believe, will we see the full beauty of the Body of Christ represented in its leadership under the headship of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Well, there it is. All this was sparked in the shower this morning, and I was compelled to write it down before moving on with my day. I hope it pleases all of you who have asked that I finally complied, and I welcome discussion. I know it's pretty gutsy to start redefining terms--but somebody's gotta do it sometimes. :)
In His Service,
Amber Janelle
As a woman who is called to ministry and attending seminary in order to further prepare for ministry, I think it is a no-brainer that I affirm that God does call women. However, this was a hard conclusion to come to after being told my whole life that He does not. Once God finally convinced me that He was truly calling ME, I had the difficult task of figuring out what that meant--both in light of Scripture and practically in the church world in which I live. I wrestled with these issues for years. Scripture became very confusing to me. I saw both instances when women were forbidden to speak, and times when women led the nation of Israel as judges or spoke as God's prophetesses. I saw a woman referred to as an apostle, a woman who led a house church, and all distinctions of gender being eliminated in Christ. I was confused. However, after studying the Scripture, popular interpretations, the practical views that different church leaders held, I came to the following "conclusions."
1. You have to fall off the fence in one direction or the other. There is no view in Scripture that details, "Women may be youth pastors, children's ministers, worship leaders, associate pastors, and missionaries (aka pastors) in foreign lands, but they may not be senior pastors in the United States." Either women are called, or they are not. No limited view can be truly supported Scripturally.
2. The evidence is strong that God has and does use women to serve His Church. To deny this is to deny reality.
3. I am both an egalitarian AND a complementarian. I know these views are supposed to be somehow contradictory, but I disagree with the definitions. I am an egalitarian because I believe men and women are equal in worth and value in both the eyes of God and therefore the eyes of His Church. Adam and Eve were created to be "face to face," not in some sort of hierarchy of importance or authority. Therefore, there is no male or female in Christ--only person. Because of this, God's call to service is extended both to men and women, and this call can be identical. I'll spell it out--maybe for the first time in my life--God can and does call women to senior pastor. I apologize for any heart attacks I may have just caused. BUT, I am also a complementarian. By this, I mean that men and women are DIFFERENT. I draw this as much from life as anything. While some individuals may somewhat break the mold, I think it is safe to say that men and women are wired differently in some pretty standard ways. This does not mean, however, that one is wired for pastoral leadership and the other is not. It means they are wired DIFFERENTLY for pastoral leadership. In conclusion, I believe a church with only male leadership OR a church with only female leadership is not at its best pastoral health. We COMPLEMENT one another. Any church lacking in either way is LACKING. Thus, a church with a female senior pastor needs other male leadership, and vice versa. This is easily applied in a large church who has a large pastoral staff. However, in small churches (solo pastorates), this compensation is not something that can necessarily be visible on the back of a church bulletin but rather is woven into the church in an integral way. I believe it is the responsibility of both a church and its pastor to be sure that both "gender styles" of leadership are present in their church in a balanced fashion. Only then, I believe, will we see the full beauty of the Body of Christ represented in its leadership under the headship of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Well, there it is. All this was sparked in the shower this morning, and I was compelled to write it down before moving on with my day. I hope it pleases all of you who have asked that I finally complied, and I welcome discussion. I know it's pretty gutsy to start redefining terms--but somebody's gotta do it sometimes. :)
In His Service,
Amber Janelle
posted by Amber Janelle Livermore at 8:11 AM
5 Comments:
This is Laura Jurek from IWU, remember me? I have been struggling with this as well because I am currently in Seminary studying to be a foreign missionary. I am not struggling in that I don't believe women are called, but that I DO, but I see churches all over America lifting up and praising the men and not even acknowledging the women (except for their cooking). This is and will continue to be one of my frustrations.
God created both man and woman in His image and in Eden, they were equal before Him. By lowering women we are celebrating the fall of man instead of trying to get back to the right relationship in which we were created.
Ok, I am going to stop now... you said it all and I agree 100%!!
Amber,
This is very well written and I applaud you for making a stance to not....well, make a stance daily on arguing this case. It is very important that you have and can spell out where you stand on the issue.... but I think it is is even more important that you are committed to simply living out your call rather than debating and arguing for it.
You are dead on with the "equality while still complimentary" argument." Its funny, while God is teaching you that through ministry - He has been teaching me that through and in marriage!
Well said, my friend.
All I can say is that I completely agree. Thank you for posting it. :) I hope you are enjoying your life in Jackson. Maybe you could write a post about your ministering experiences at the strip club and other places. I would love to hear about them.:)
Amber,
Beautifully said! I came to IWU with a very unsure stance on women in ministry. I read the Bible verses and listened to the theological discussions, but I was still topsy-turvy on what I really believed.
The biggest two factors in coming to conclude women are indeed called to ministry (even head pastorships):
(1) Experience--you can't deny the gifts God gives when all around you, you find women who are better preachers and teachers than you are. Women like yourself, my wife, Andrea Summers, Amanda Drury, Julie Collins...the lives you lead proves the Spirit's gifting. You are right on with not defending yourself. You don't have to! It's up to us from the outside (men in this case) to pick up the cause. Otherwise, you'll just sound like a whiny voice complaining that you are "getting your due." Well said.
(2) Dr. Schenck--read his pamphlet on why Wesleyan's affirm women in ministry. It'll pretty much silence most critics.
The fact that there are several records of prophettess in the Scripture reminds me that pastor doesn't have to be male. And in my denomination Immanuel General Mission, there are several churches whose senior pastors are women. So...your opinion did not caused heart attack as far as for me :)
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