Women in Ministry

The United Methodist Church recently celebrated its 50th year of ordaining women. Many other Protestant churches have made similar moves, but still others insist that Scripture shows that while men may be called to ordained ministry, women are not. With help from my dad, I decided to try and further explore the rationale and Scriptural basis for ordaining women.

⁹¹⁰¹¹The most commonly referenced Bible passage (with my apologies for what seems like prooftexting on both sides of this issue but is just an effort at being concise) is 1 Timothy 2:8-15. "I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument; also that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes, but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God. Let a woman learn in silence with full submission. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent...Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty." In a way, this is passage is a blessing of the vocation of motherhood, something too often overlooked in today's society. On the other hand, it is a difficult text for women who feel called to the ministry. It seems clear from this excerpt alone, not to mention many other Scriptural references to similar decrees, that women should not be permitted to enter the ministry.

However, one thing to keep in mind is that the Bible was written and its stories and admonitions located in a specific time and place. The Word of God is itself timeless and transcends temporal boundaries, but the Scriptures were put into writing during a time when the dominant culture was a firmly patriarchal society. I don't know any Christians who abstain from eating pork after reading Leviticus, or who shun women as unclean during their menstrual cycle. True, those examples are related more to health concerns in a time before modern medicine, but the point remains: the culture of the ancient Near East plays a key role in determining what is included in Scripture, and what may have been extremely important to the Jews of the Old Testament or the fledgling Christian church may include concerns that had meaning in that time period but not necessarily in ours.

I do not say all this to suggest that we should ignore anything in Scripture that does not seem to fit with modern sensibilities. Much of what Jesus had to say doesn't fit with any sensibility except that of the cross—selling all one's possessions and giving them to the poor, for example (I'm certainly not saying that just because a decree like this is difficult it can be dismissed as irrelevant!). What I mean to say is that it is important not to get bogged down in those things that were specific to the time and place in which the Bible was written at the expense of hearing the heart of the Gospel. Another favorite text, this time on the other side of the debate, is the familiar line from Galatians 3:28: "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." This is the heart of the Gospel.

²³When you look at the example of Jesus and his followers, it is easy to see the ways in which the disciples and their rabbi were countercultural in many ways, not the least of which was their inclusion of women. Luke 8:1-3 reads: "Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^* out of their resources." These were wealthy women of high standing who owned property. They were not along to do the dishes; they were on equal footing with the men present. Another example comes in Romans 16:7, where Paul names Junia (also called Joanna) as an apostle: "Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was." In the book of John, it is a woman who first proclaims (preaches?) the gospel of the resurrection. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and chooses her as his emissary to his followers (John 20:18): "Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord'; and she told them that he had said these things to her." What might be considered the first sermon was delivered by a woman.

Check out this piece by Steve Harper, who teaches at Asbury, for another good look at the Methodist practice of ordaining women.