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women in leadership

I cannot, and will not, attempt to answer every and all questions pertaining to the relationship between men and women - that would be impossible, and even if I did I know my wife would disagree.  My only desire at this point is to answer the question that has been a tension spot in the church for almost 2000 years, regarding the accessibility of women in all levels of leadership in the church.  The question is:  Are women and men to have equal opportunity to serve as leaders in a community of faith; including all strategic and responsible roles, such as Overseers, Members of the Ministry Council, and Pastoral Staff?

summary of the position

It must be stated at the very beginning, I am not being motivated by culture (I pray), but I am being compelled by the Word of God and hold all men and women equal in God's eyes - I am not striving to be "pc;" I am striving to be "sc" - (scripturally correct).  I believe God intended for all people to exercise their God-given gifts and calling in ministry and leadership without reference to race, economic status, educational background, or gender.

"In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female.  Among us you are all equal.  That is, we are all in common relationship with Jesus Christ." (Paul, a Disciple of Jesus in his letter to the Galatians, chapter three - The Message, page 397)

two rejections to start off:  I reject the hierarchical approach that would grant men unqualified rule over their wives and would exclude women from governing or preaching roles in a community of faith based only on her gender.  I also reject the feminist position that would do away entirely with any gender distinctions (other then anatomical differences) making men and women interchangeably identical - that's just gross.  I hold to an extremely high view of Scripture as the inspired and authoritative revelation of God.  I believe that this revelation is to be interpreted holistically and thematically.  However, I also recognized the need to distinguish between inspiration and interpretation.

Inspiration denotes the process of divine impulse and control by which God, through the Holy Spirit, inspired the human writer to record the revelations of divine truth canonized in the Scripture as we know it today.  Where interpretation is the human activity of seeking to understand this revealed truth in harmony with the totality of Scripture as the Holy Spirit helps us along.

While holding to a high view of the inspired and authoritative revelation of God in Scripture, because of human error followers of Christ must continually examine and reexamine their beliefs and practice as they interpret the Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  This is what I have tried to do as I have prayed, studied and counseled with others in trying to interpret the many text, which speak to this critical and liberating issue.

I acknowledge the great variation of interpretation of difficult passages such as 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:34-36 and 1 Timothy 2:9-15.  After much prayer, study and discussion with others, I have concluded with humility and appreciation for alternate positions that these passages, though not entirely clear, do not exclude anyone from ministry or leadership because of gender as a norm for all time, but were written to deal with unique problems in specific community of faith at that time.  Therefore, I believe we, as a community of faith, needs to hold that qualified women and men are free to exercise their God-given spiritual gifts and calling at all levels of ministry and leadership.

With all this in mind, I submit the following as our summary of the Scriptural teachings which led me to this position.  

• Both men and women are called to develop their spiritual gifts and use them as faithful managers of the grace God has been freely given to them (1 Peter 4:10-11)

• Both men and women are divinely gifted and empowered by God's authority to serve one another (Mark 15:40-41, Luke 8:1-13, John 20:17-18, Acts 1:14; 8:5-6; 21:8-9, Romans 16:1-7, 12-15; Philippians 4:2-3. Colossians 4:15)

• In the New Testament order of things, women and men exercised the prophetic gifts, teachings, leadership, and priestly functions (Acts 2:15-18; 18:26; 21:9, Romans 16:7, 1 Corinthians 11:5, 1 Peter 2:9-10; Revelations 1:4-6; 5:9-10)

• The three problematic text (mentioned above) must be viewed in connection with the Scripture as a whole.  We believe the difficult text must be seen in connection with all other Scripture dealing with women and men in leadership.

in conclusion

In a world fractured by discrimination, prejudice and segregation, I believe this will model the unity and harmony that should be the center of a Community of Faith.  This will also dignify and elevate women who, often in our culture, have been made to feel and be inferior to men (by men).  I believe that a Community of Faith should be leading the way in redeeming the Scriptural truth that all are equal in the eyes of God.

"If any kind of rule keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time" (397)

Also read 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 403, 405, 407 -

john o'keefe