Final Project for Foundations of Women in Ministry

 

In the time of the Apostle Paul, the Church wrestled with some differences of opinion among believers. Circumcision of Gentiles. Food sacrificed to idols. Idol leftovers and adult circumcision are not the hot topics they once were. But this does not mean that the entire body of Christ agrees on every aspect of our doctrines and practices.

According to a Relevant Magazine article, at the 2019 “Truth Matters” conference, the panelists—including well-known pastor and author, John MacArthur—"were asked to a play a sort of word association game. They would each be given “two words” to which they had to react to. The first words given to MacArthur were “Beth Moore.” MacArthur responded, “Go home.” The audience laughed. Another man on the panel accused her of being a narcissist because of her preaching style. 

MacArthur then launched into a diatribe about how ‘the church is caving into women preachers.’”

This now infamous remark by John MacArthur brought attention to one of the issues that still stirs up circumcision-level controversy in the church today. Can women be pastors? In the Church of the Nazarene, we believe the answer has always been yes! Article 501 of our MANUAL states, “The Church of the Nazarene supports the right of women to use their God-given spiritual gifts within the church and affirms the historic right of women to be elected and appointed to places of leadership within the Church of the Nazarene, including the offices of both elder and deacon.”

But the Nazarene Manual itself does not have authority to declare anything right or wrong. The Manual is merely a human reflection of the theology we have come to understand from what we see written about in the Bible itself. We believe in the “plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.” (Article 4).

However, sometimes the Bible is silent on a specific subject. Or it feels like one verse contradicts another. Maybe for some, the concept of women in all roles of ministry feels like one of these times. In the lecture, “The Big Picture,” Dr. Susan Carole informs us of the tools the Holy Spirit gives us for understanding scripture, which we group together under the title, “The Wesleyan Quadrilateral.”  Along with the Bible, and ALWAYS the Bible, we use tradition, theology, and practical reasoning for informing and explaining our position.

The case for women clergy starts with Scripture. Because, as Carole states, “The Holy Spirit is the “author” of scripture -- He inspired the human writers, supervised the selection of the canon, and reveals truth to our hearts through scripture.” When we want to see what God’s true intention was for his perfect, new creation, we look at the very beginning. What was lifelike before the fall? Sunberg and Smith’s address and proposal to the board of General Superintendents on the subject of women and ministry, provides great insight into the story of the creation of Adam and Eve. Pointing to creation, Sunberg states, “The first human was called the “Adam” – and God said it was not good for the “Adam” to be alone. So, God created a helper for the Adam.” We have typically taken this as implying a servant or some kind of secondary supporting role. When we understand the language better, we realize, as Sunberg shares, “God said “I will create an ‘Ezer Cenegdo.’” Sunberg then explains that Ezer means helper and is used later as the kind of strong help we receive from God. “He has given us. God is our ‘Ezer.' The woman was created to be the ‘Ezer, and work together with the man.'”

Sunberg says, “It does not stop there, because the word “Cenegdo – means face to face. We are to work together, face to face and nose to nose!” Put together, we see a power team not a superhero and sidekick. The hierarchy that came about after the fall was not part of God’s original, unblemished design. Looking farther, we realize that even after the fall, the Bible includes many examples of including women in a wide variety of roles including those equivalents to that of a pastor today.

Dr. Alex Varughese gives examples of God’s inclusiveness of Old Testament women in the lecture, “Women in Ministry in the Old Testament.” Many women receive the title of “prophetess.” These include, first, Miriam, who Varughese says, “led Israel in their victory celebration and song of praise to God/ worship after crossing the Sea of Reeds (Exod. 15:20-21). She is given the title prophet because of her ability to elicit from people their devotion to God. In Micah 6:4, Miriam is listed among the three leaders that God sent out before Israel.”

The list goes on and includes Huldah (2 Kings), Noadiah (Nehemiah), and the wife of the prophet Isiah. The prophet Debrah also served as one of 14 Judges during the first 200 years of Israel’s history in the promised land.

Then Jesus came and the scales shifted even more towards their intended balance. In the lecture, “Jesus’ Response to Women: Vignettes on a Journey,” Dr. Kent Brower points to the stories in Mark of Jesus healing Jairus’ daughter, the woman with gynecological problems and the woman at the well. Mark never wastes words. By including these stories, “Mark is making a significant statement regarding the inclusive nature of the Reign of God” as well as the dismantling of the social norms of a fallen world.

What other evidence do we see of this extraordinary shifting? In the story of Mary and Martha, Mary is not “in a woman’s space” and is being discipled with men, by a man. Eight named women followed with Jesus’ group of 12 disciples and on Easter morning. Brower reminds us “women are the first witnesses to the empty tomb. According to John, Mary Magdalene is the first to see the risen one.” These women became the first to preach the good news of the risen Lord to their fellow disciples.

Paul and the Early Church seem to be where things get a little confusing for us. In 2019, when John MacArthur told Beth Moore to “go home”, he likely had two particular passages from Paul’s letters in mind. Rev. Tracy Ogden Johnson addresses these verses in the lecture “Passages from the Letters of Paul and Peter.” Often, we have removed these kinds of verses from their context. For example, when Paul writes in I Timothy 2:12, “I do not permit a woman to teach.” (NIV), Ogden explains that “first, we observe that this is Paul’s current position (I am not presently permitting, present active); it is not a command for all time from God. In light of the situation in Ephesus, "Women in that time in Ephesus had just recently been given the opportunity to learn anything aside from homemaking skills. They were new students with lots of potential questions. Therefore, “Paul commanded that these women be taught the Torah and the Gospel (v. 11) while being submissive to their teachers and learning quietly, which was the custom of the day for male students as well.” In this same passage Paul also says, he does not allow a woman to hold authority over a man. Ogden says, “The Greek word (authentein) translated “authority” is a rare word which is only used here in the NT and is best translated “to dominate or domineer.” In secular Greek, this word had the meaning “to commit a murder,” “to kill with one’s own hands.” It suggested “monarchical authority.” It appears this too might be good advice for both men and women. Why does he bring up women specifically here? We do not know for sure, but there is “some evidence to suggest that women priestesses in Ephesus exerted this kind of authority over their worshipers in the pagan religions.”                        

I Corinthians 14: 34-35 also comes up in conversations regarding the ordination of women. Here Paul says, ^“Women^[f] should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. ³⁵ If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.^” Yet, in other places in I Corinthians, Paul references women praying and prophesying in such a matter of fact way that one can only conclude there was a specific situation in Corinth with women disrupting the service. Most likely, this can also be attributed to their newness to inclusion in the teaching and learning portion of the service. Elsewhere, Paul makes plenty of mention of references to women serving as spiritual shepherds and fellow leaders. In “Paul and Women,” Jasmine Gilbeaut states, “Paul’s female contemporaries are listed in his writings. Most of them are found in his epistle to the Romans, specifically in chapter sixteen. These women include Mary, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, Julia, Junia, Nereus’ sister, Priscilla (or Prisca), and Phoebe.”

The story of Junia may be of special interest for a number of reasons. Junia had been mentioned by Paul as a prominent apostle, imprisoned for her faith along with Andronicus. Ogden writes, “The problem is that Junia has also been translated as Junias, which would mean that the name is masculine. The textual differences have become a debate among biblical scholars, but it has ultimately turned out that Junia has been the consistent translation of the name in earlier manuscripts. The name only became masculine when the translation was handed down to medieval translators, who were in the masculine favoritism of the era.” Ogden says, “The keynote here is that a woman is an apostle, and not just any apostle but a prominent apostle. The concept here, however, that I like, is how both of them are mentioned as equally prominent, not Andronicus as being the head of prominence between the two.”

As seen, the Bible itself offers many reasons for the ordination of women but so does the precedence set by church tradition and history. In the lecture, “The Early Period” Carla Sunberg lists some of the known early church mothers, such as Macrina, who influenced the affirmation of the Nicene Creed or Hildengard, who in the 11^th century, “wrote voluminously and left us with an entire volume of Patrologia Latina filled with her works.”

            Later, women had opportunity for sharing their gifts within the early Methodist community. In The Works of Wesley, he himself preaches, “Herein there is no difference; ‘there is neither male nor female in Christ Jesus.’ Indeed, it has long passed for the maxim with many that ‘women are only to be seen, not heard.’ And accordingly, many of them are brought up in such a manner as if they were only designed for agreeable playthings!” So out of deep conviction, Wesley urges, “You, as well as men, are rational creatures. You, like them, were made in the image of God; you are equally candidates for immortality; you too are called of God... Be ‘not disobedient to the heavenly calling.’”

Theologically, our policy on the ordination of women comes from a lens that finds its roots in the Wesleyan-holiness tradition. Our theology pre-dates the fundamentalist movement that caught fire around 1910 and still has influence today. Through the Wesleyan lens of theological interpretation, we have a “big picture” view of Biblical concepts, looking at the whole of scripture as opposed to individual pieces. We also tend towards an optimistic view of the inbreaking kingdom of God here on earth, where we see God already at work restoring his broken creation to its previous glory. The fight for power and dominance began after the fall, and as people of his Kingdom, we do not need to live in these broken patterns. As Dr. Susan Carole states, “the Wesleyan approach to theology substantiates gender mutuality as an expression of God’s design for redemptive relationships and redemptive purpose for all persons.”

Fruits of this in-breaking kingdom belief sprang up throughout the “Evangelical Revival” of the 1800’s. Women, welcomed and emboldened to share the messages God put on their hearts, brought so much to the table. This includes evangelist Phoebe Palmer, author of The Promise of the Father, written in 1859. According to the author of “Women in the Holiness Movement. Diane LeClerc, “In Palmer’s scheme, women have equal access to the ‘Pentecostal power’ available through the Holy Spirit. And thus, women are equally capable to be ‘Pentecostal witnesses’ to what God can do in a life that is entirely devoted.” And “To be empowered through sanctifying grace meant to be empowered for something specifically, often including the power to speak and preach. Palmer’s holiness theology, particularly as it finds expression in the language of Pentecost, emphasizes the unlimited potential of the believer.”

Finally, our personal experiences inform us of the practical reasons for the inclusion of women in all areas of ministry. In practical terms, there are no biological reasons that women are any less qualified for the position of communicating the message of the gospel, calling sinners to repentance, guiding, and caring for the Church. Giftedness in these areas transcends gender.

Hearing many of the women in our denomination preach the Word, and seeing the fruit of this work, I cannot believe the Holy Spirit is not guiding their words. It’s not about who they are, but who is empowering them. They are vessels of a message that the world needs.

As the Chinese proverb says- “Women hold up half the sky.” What might be missing if we silence 50% of God’s image-bearers? In her book, Emboldened, Tara Beth Leach calls the inclusion of women and their necessary contribution “Mission Critical” (139). She likens ministry to an elaborate symphony played by a full orchestra. What if we erased the cellos? The violins? “Remove women from a seat at the table and it destroys the whole. Remove women from teaching, and the beauty of the music is limited” (176).

In the Church of the Nazarene we ordain both women and men to all areas of ministry based on calling, gifts, and graces, not gender. We do not base this stance on societal trends. It has never been an attempt to “keep up with the times.” It has nothing to do with bi-partisan politics, liberalism, or conservatism. It simply comes from what we see presented in scripture, church history, theological consistency, and reason.

 

Brower, K. (n.d.). Jesus Response to Women: Vignettes on a Journey. Foundations of Women’s Ordination. Retrieved August 2, 2023,.

Carole, S. (n.d.). The Big Picture. Foundations for Women in Ministry. Retrieved July 17, 2023,.

Johnson, Tracy Ogden. Passages from the Letters of Paul and Peter. Retrieved June 26, 2023,.

Leach, T. B. (2018). Emboldened a vision for empowering women in ministry. InterVarsity Press.

Leclark, Diane Dr. Women in the Holiness Movement. Foundations of Women Ordination. Nazarene Bible College, 2019.

Manual in global english: History, Constitution, and government. (2021). Nazarene Publishing House.

Relevant. (2020, August 14). John MacArthur told Beth Moore to “go home” for having the audacity to preach the gospel and help people. RELEVANT. https://relevantmagazine.com/current/john-macarthur-told-beth-moore-to-go-home-for-having-the-audacity-to-preach-the-gospel-and-help-people/

Smith, R. (2011). Creating a Climate for Women in Ministry. In B. Wiseman (Ed.), A Holy Purpose (pp. 43–51). essay, Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City.

Sunberg, C., & Smith, R. (2011). Nazarene Women Clergy. Presentation to the Board of General Superintendents. Kansas City.

Sunberg Carla, N. (n.d.). The Early Period. Foundations of Women Ordination. Nazarene Bible College, 2023.

Varughese, A. (n.d.). Women in Ministry in the Old Testament . Foundations of Women’s Ordination. Retrieved August 2, 2023,.

Wesley, John. The Works of Rev. John Wesley, ed. Thomas Jackson, 14 vols. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 1984), 7:125-26.