Ministry or Menistry
If you don’t remember anything else from this post, remember this: women do not need my permission, nor any man’s permission for that matter, to do anything. With this in mind, this post is simply to share my thoughts on a recurring question found in my email, “What are women’s roles in the Church?” To state it bluntly, I dare say that women do not have roles in Church. Women ARE the Church.
As I reflect on my experience growing up in small, rural churches, I vividly remember the dominant presence of women in church worship and events. While the pastors of my youth were exclusively men, women were almost always the ones who were planning events, cooking meals, cleaning the facilities, organizing clothing drives, leading Bible studies, serving in outreach ministries, and teaching Sunday School classes. In fact, I can only remember having two male Sunday School teachers in 18 years…the rest were women. Ironically, the “Man of God’s” sermons that implored Christians to live like Jesus were, without fail, best embodied by the women in our congregations.
Why is this important? It is important because we must realize that women have done, are doing, and will continue to do most of the formative discipleship work in our churches. I know we like to think that our three-point sermons and a persuasive alter call is what changes people, but in reality, it is the slow, unseen, painstaking work of disciple-making where we see the fruit of God’s new creation. It is this hidden work, I would argue, that is dominated by women in many of our Appalachian churches. Thus, it comes as no surprise that women are offered to work in the nursery, the choir, and the office, but never the elder board or the pulpit.
This arrangement doesn’t make much sense to me, particularly because of the ways in which I have witnessed the strength and capabilities of women outside the church my whole life. For instance, I have been raised by a mother who works 8-10 hours a day just to come home to cook, clean, and do laundry. Ever since I can remember, I have been hearing stories of how she and her older sisters would bail hay and set tobacco even as young kids. My mother is no exception to the rule here in Appalachia. There are many women in these mountains who plant gardens, mow their yards, and manage farm work. In all honesty, women do most, if not all, the same jobs that men do around here…except preach. But why? Why are women qualified enough to manage businesses, obtain PhD’s, run for office, practice law, etc., but they aren’t qualified enough to preach or hold power in our churches?
Of course, such a question will surely begin the game of “The Bible Says,” and I will gladly play. The Bible says that Deborah prophesied the Word of the Lord to Barak and the oppressed Israelites (Judges 4). The Bible says that Esther spoke boldly to the king and saved the lives of her people (Esther 7-8). The Bible says that Hannah exemplified relentless faith and offered her beloved son back to the Lord (1 Samuel 1). The Bible says that Mary was the first to carry the Gospel and will be called blessed by all generations (Luke 1). The Bible says that Mary Magdalene and the women at the tomb were the first to preach the good news of the Gospel as they ran in excitement (Matthew 28). The Bible says that Philip had four daughters who had the gift of prophecy (Acts 21:8-9). The Bible says that there is “no longer male and female” (Galatians 3:28). The Bible is clear: women belong in positions of power and authority because God takes no reservations when it comes to calling and equipping women to further the Kingdom.
This question remains: Why is it that God is comfortable with empowered women but men are not? The short answer is insecurity. As a means of adding more respectability and value to their own callings, men feel the need to restrict and limit who is permitted to occupy their pulpits. In other words, if everyone is allowed to preach, then the vocation of preaching before large crowds all of a sudden loses its appeal. Therefore, churches that have predominantly, if not exclusively, male leadership are incentivized to weaponize the words of Paul (1 Timothy 2 and 1 Corinthians 14) against women in order to protect their power and control both at church and home. Phyllis Trible has named this situation precisely when she writes, “Inequality, opposition, and distance breed violence.” Men’s refusal to allow women to occupy their pulpits, elder boards, and decision-making processes is nothing short of violence. Furthermore, the emotional and psychological abuse that women endure from such churches naturally leads to physical abuse. And my fellow male pastors, any form of abuse in the name of Jesus is pure blasphemy.
Needless to say, this isn’t the first time insecure men have abused their power. In Exodus 1, we find the story of a new Pharaoh fearing the loss of his power and responds by decreeing the slaughter of all newborn boys. In a profound act of faith, verse 17 says that the Hebrew midwives “feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live.” To my sisters in Christ called and equipped by God to preach the Gospel, I say do not do as insecure men have commanded you. I say fear the God of liberation and preach the Word!
I leave you with the words of Rachel Held Evans, “Women have so much to bring to Christianity—so many gifts, so many insights, so many new ways of looking at things, expressing things, enacting things, and questioning things. I am convinced that the gospel will only benefit from more women preaching it … [restricting women’s roles] drives people away from the gospel - and not because of the cost of discipleship.”