The parallels between pornography and
women in ministry in the minds of some would be fascinating to study, wouldn't it?
She explained to me that when she went to college and began attending a conservative complementarian church with her friends, she felt ill - prepared to explain why she
supported women in ministry.
It took hours to pin down where this took me and I realized that it conveys the same feeling of the attitude that is many times projected
at women in ministry from the male dominated church.
While I have championed the cause of
women in ministry through the years, I've run across an inordinate number of women pastors whose demeanor was less than appealing (see Sister Marie's comment above).
Most Likely to Make You At Least a Little Pentecostal: Jonathan Martin with «Why Mark Driscoll is Wrong About Women in Church Leadership» «As a third generation Pentecostal preacher who has been and continues to be shaped significantly
by women in ministry, this time I had enough.
``... The problem with the church is not strong women, but weak men who can't handle strong women, much less
tolerate women in ministry.»
Even though Dr. Spencer laid a strong biblical foundation for the role of
women in ministry based on the New Testament, I still lived with the fear of once again being silenced by the church.
Negative attitudes toward the idea of women as senior pastors are well documented in Edward C. Lehman, Jr.'s, sociological study Women Clergy: Breaking Through Gender Barriers (Transaction, 1985) The author analyzed detailed responses from 1,720 Presbyterian lay - people and 1,143 Presbyterian clergy concerning a wide range of attitudes
toward women in ministry.
«The elders [at Irving Bible Church] decided to study the issue of
women in ministry after getting questions from members about what was permitted by Scripture.
She had very high levels of education, a seminary degree, a long history of teaching with many beloved students, but every teacher at her church's education program was a young, charismatic man with half her education, let alone experience, despite their position of
welcoming women in ministry.
Sherman said a moderate denomination, to be successful, must focus on bedrock Baptist issues and warned against what he called «elitist» moderate groups that focus on single issues,
like women in ministry or gay rights.
«So when God called me into ministry, I suddenly was thrust into discussions and reflections about scriptural tensions
regarding women in ministry.
I also hear from a lot of evangelicals who have begun attending Mainline Protestant churches precisely because they welcome LGBT people, accept scientific findings regarding climate change and evolution, practice traditional worship, preach from the lectionary,
affirm women in ministry, etc., but these new attendees never hear the leadership of the church explain why this is the case.
I get angry when my most reasoned arguments are dismissed as «emotional» and «shrill» or when people question my commitment to my faith because I accept evolution or
support women in ministry.
I don't know what exactly is behind some of the anger and criticism Christians sometimes direct
at women in ministry.
Evangelicalism, more than any other mainstream Christian tradition, has been a historic platform
for women in ministry.
They are a cult and not in a good way - their position
on women in the ministry is positively anti-Biblical and Neanderthal.
(7) A text that has lent itself to much controversy in recent years regarding the role
of women in ministry is I Corinthians 14:33 - 34: «As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches.
The key to increasing the number of
women in the ministry is to erase the image of either craziness or mediocrity established by Schuller's daughter, Aimee Semple McPherson, Marilyn Hickey, etc..
Trying to birth the ministry was so hard and I had so much opposition, and for me as
a woman in ministry, when I started 40 years ago, it was very unheard of and unpopular... you got a lot of judgement and criticism for it.
And if your church is located in a more conservative area (say, East Tennessee), you might even want to make special note of the fact that you welcome LGBT people and affirm
women in ministry.
With honest vulnerability and a strong biblical foundation, Sarah Bessey shares her very personal journey and insight regarding the roles and qualifications for
women in ministry.
She grew up knowing her church affirmed
women in ministry, but she never learned why her church affirmed women in ministry.
I was talking the other day with a person with whom I disagree on just about everything — theology, politics,
women in ministry, faith and science, biblical interpretation, doubt, hell, homosexuality, you name it.
This person had no idea how much hell I've taken from people in my evangelical community for writing about my doubts, my questions related to heaven and hell, my views on biblical interpretation and theology, and my support for
women in ministry and other marginalized people in the Church.
Just yesterday I was warned by someone that my support for
women in ministry and my inclusion of LGBT voices on the blog represented an effort «to be liked by other people and win the approval of the world.»
I also hear from a lot of evangelicals who have begun attending Mainline Protestant churches precisely because they welcome LGBT people, accept science, avoid aligning with a single political party, practice traditional worship, preach from the lectionary, affirm
women in ministry, etc. but these new attendees never hear the leadership of the church explain why this is the case.
Finally,
women in ministry must begin talking with one another more seriously about the reservations they sometimes have concerning senior pastorates.
The Guardian: Female bishop row deepens as priest refuses promotion in protest The Church of England's split over female bishops has deepened after a traditionalist clergyman announced he was not taking up his post as a bishop following protests over his opposition to
women in the ministry.
Homosexuality,
women in ministry, baptism, the nature of the presence of Christ in his Supper, evolution vs. intelligent design, miracles, yada, yada... hermeneutics is the REAL issue, not whether we «believe the Bible.»
When I asked Alan Jacobs, a lay catechist at All Souls and an English professor at Wheaton, about
women in ministry, he defended Sausele's ordination with another mention of Spong: «I don't have any problem with ordaining women.