Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Women in Church Leadership
This article specifically deals addresses whether women can be ordained as elders and assume those types of leadership roles. A related question in the article is also whether women can serve in leadership offices that are generally reserved for elders, such as senior pastor, district superintendent, etc. They author recognizes that that there are some cases where women are currently serving on their congregational leadership team but only because it was agreed upon by the congregation and district superintendent that these particular women had the spiritual maturity and belonged on the pastoral leadership team. As it is throughout the church, some members of their doctrinal team supports the ordination of women as elders, other members believed that the Scriptures forbid the ordination of women as elders, while some were undecided. I am in support of women in ministry leadership and believe that by bringing down these divisive barriers, the church experiences a new oneness in Christ, in keeping with Paul’s vision: “There is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28).” As we engage in Scripture, we must make sure that we are considering all of the contextual aspects that lie within Scripture so that we may be true to God’s word. This is a powerful thing to keep in mind and to apply to our daily lives and ministries as we strive to live more like Christ. Christ is often seen fighting for the oppressed and his attitudes of love and acceptance transcends the legalistic approaches that had developed.
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According to Scripture and the acts of women disciples during the early Church, women were indeed leaders of the Church. There is no doubt that women contribute to the building of God’s kingdom. No one is debating whether or not women can be full fledged Christians (Gal. 3:28). The debate has to do with women being able to use their spiritual gifts in the presence of the full congregation. To be more specific, the argu¬ment is about women and spiritual authority. Followers of Christ are arguing over the question of whether it's biblical or not for a woman to be permitted to exercise authority over men. The crisis of womanhood is too critical for the Church to be passive. Scores of evangelical women are functional feminists, because the world's paradigm for womanhood is the only one they have heard. The Church should lead the way in equipping God's people to think biblically about all of life, including a biblical perspective of gender roles and relationships. God pronounced gender-aloneness "not good" in the Garden, and the same is true in the church. He did not give His benediction of "It is very good" until man and woman stood side by side, equal but different.
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