Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

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Why God is Profoundly Egalitarian and Why we Need More Female Clergy

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women bishops
Image, Dave Walker, and yes, I have met him, and he does exist.

Why God is Profoundly Egalitarian and Why we Need More Female Clergy.

My Eureka moment: Some time ago, in a church I once attended, I listened to a gorgeous friend tell her heart-breaking story of adultery and abandonment. My friend was, understandably, distraught.
What she needs, I thought, as I moved closer, was someone to sit next to her, hold her hand, put their other arm around her, and just listen. For starters.
And then, she mentioned, in passing, that not a single member of the clergy had visited her. My friend had spent hours and years of her life in devoted, humble service and giving to that church.
Ouch. Why was this? Well, my friend was an attractive woman, and the clergy were all attractive young or middle-aged men. The love she needed, the listening, the sympathy, the hug, the hand held, the tissues offered, the components of the full-bodied ministry we need when we are crumbling—well, male clergy could not have offered this to a female parishioner without awkwardness, certainly not in England, or perhaps anywhere…
And our church had NO female clergy. It had “a masculine feel.”
                                                    * * *
The very words, “masculine feel,” make me angry.  “God has given Christianity a masculine feel.  He has done that for our maximum flourishing both male and female,” John Piper says.
Nonsense. If a woman goes to church, and the pastor is male, and the preacher, and the presider, and the readers and worship leaders and elders and deacons, how seriously is she going to be taken? This, unfortunately, is a rhetorical question. I have been to such churches, and I know the answer. A woman will not flourish in such a culture. She might, at most, survive.
And if she has been given gifts in preaching, teaching, counselling, understanding Scripture, or a prophetic insight, how seriously will she be taken in such a masculine-feeling church? Well, to be honest, less seriously that the indispensable women who run the coffee rota, the pot-lucks, and the crèche.
And then, how seriously will she take herself?
And what is this going to do to her self-esteem, her sense of herself as a beloved child of God, on whom has sovereignly been bestowed gifts some male leaders consider their preserve—leading, teaching, and preaching?
If she continues in such a church, it will be dangerous for her. It could very likely lead to depression, frustration, a silencing, the wellspring of gifts given to her for the common good going underground, becoming fetid in silence and sadness.
And this, sadly, has been the fate of too many women I know.
* * *
God did not design Christianity to have a masculine feel. What an outrageous idea! He would never make it so boring. Would men feel comfortable in a church with an exclusively feminine feel—candlelight, flowers, chick flicks, and frequent, perfect mandatory presents? Then why am I supposed to flourish in a church with a masculine feel?
This is what God designed Christianity to feel like, as Peter describes in the first Christian sermon. It is profoundly egalitarian:
    In the last days, God says,
    I will pour out my Spirit on all people. 
   Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
    Even on my servants, both men and women,
    I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 
The Spirit is poured out on all flesh—both men and women. And our church leadership must mirror this.
* * *
Church should have neither a masculine feel, nor a feminine feel, but a human feel. God envisioned it as a magical new creation, beyond male and female, black and white, native and immigrant. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
I know the same man who wrote that also wrote I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
That’s okay, Paul. I forgive you. We all have our neuroses. But we live two thousand years after you wrote that. You did not declare it was a commandment from the Lord. Nowhere did the Lord command it. Or those who walked with him.
And should women in love with Christ, in love with Scripture, who long to minister, who feel a calling to lead churches, and preach and teach be held back because of what you did not permit 2000 years ago?
Why have we taken our eyes off Jesus? Who came to give life in its fullness to both men and women? Who entrusted the great news of his resurrection to women because they loved him enough to just be there, when the men thought he was history? Why are we focusing on what Paul did not allow?
Generations of women have been silenced, been silenced, because of what Paul did not permit in Ephesus and Corinth and Galatia. No more!
We need women priests and we need women bishops. We need equality.
We need a church which looks beyond male or female, Jew or Greek, to the great truth that we are a new creation, all one in Christ Jesus. Such a church will lead to our maximum flourishing, both male and female.
We need a church in which we women will graciously promise to mention none of the top ten reasons why men should not be ordained if they stop mentioning the one reason we should not be ordained.
We need to tactfully explain to our brothers in Christ that the marriage feast of the Lamb has come, and the bride has made herself ready. And if lace, satin and pearls do not have quite a masculine feel, well then, the masculine feel must go.
john-and-his-wedding-dress.jpg
The Bride of Christ. Flourishing in a church with a feminine feel?

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  1. This excellent comment was emailed me by a brilliant American blogger and doctoral theology student. Read it!

    I think the example of the women who really needed to be ministered to by another women is excellent and effectively demonstrates why we need female clergy.I also agree (and have seen) that many gifted women are damaged by the patriarchal church system.

    When you questioned whether men would feel comfortable in a “feminine” church, you hit on an issue that is, in fact, under serious discussion in the US. There has been a concern for several years that churches have become too “feminine” in feel and worship style and that they alienate men. There has been a movement here for years to try to make church feel more “masculine” in order to attract more men. Your point, as it turns out, is being reinforced by men’s ministries across the country. Men don't feel comfortable in what they perceive as a feminine environment, so why should we expect women to feel comfortable in a masculine one?

    I also thought you made a good point from Peter’s sermons in Acts that in God’s kingdom, both men and women will prophecy.

    My only hesitation is, as Tanya Marlow said, that is sounds as if you’re dismissing Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy & 1 Corinthians as a weak moment of neuroses. I think that the most effective weapon that complementarians have is the claim that egalitarians don’t take these passages seriously (and therefore don’t take Scripture seriously). My personal take on this is that Paul actually does sound like he’s making a normative command for all churches, but that almost the entire rest of the New Testament testifies that women did, indeed, hold all sorts of positions of authority in the early church. Since both of these paradigms can’t be right, I choose to line up behind the view that seems most in line with Christ’s values rather than behind two isolated passages of scripture.

    I know this is a long response. I did love the post and I agree that the whole “masculine feel” issue is nonsense.

  2. Thanks, everyone.
    Kathy Escobar, you say it so well. “The church should have a “human” feel. and when 1/2 the population is missing in leadership & voice & value, then we are missing out. The body of Christ should be the fullest reflection of God's image there is on earth!” I fully agree with you!

    Thanks for your comments, Wendy. It's encouraging that as you say, “Never before in history has God given such opportunity for women.” And these will, inevitably, continue, until the Spirit is visibly poured out on all flesh and our sons and our daughters will “prophesy.”

    Thanks, Marcy. I view Paul not permitting women to teach as his practice in Ephesus, not binding on all men and women for all time.

  4. Hi Anita – thanks for this. It is great to read your hearty support for both female and male clergy.

    I agree that the Church should have 'a human feel'… even as she is also the Bride of Christ. In order to achieve this, the whole body needs to encourage an ethos which affirms and releases both women and men into every area of leadership.

    Of course woman as well as men can be both brave and loving!! At the end of the day, I don't think that rational arguments will win with some people. Women just need to get on and do it. Men as well as women need to see women in doing the job providing Christ-like leadership in every area of ministry. Those who are not yet ready to take the heat, can at least cheer from the sidelines and cover us with their prayers.

    Never before in history has God given such opportunity for women. As Joel 2.28-29 promised, God's Spirit is releasing both women and men as a prophetic sign of God's purpose. Let's get over the gender issue and in the power of His Spirit focus on taking the message of God's love to the whole world.

  5. thanks for this great post, anita. i agree with you, the church should have a “human” feel. and when 1/2 the population is missing in leadership & voice & value, then we are missing out. the body of Christ should be the fullest reflection of God's image there is on earth! much peace from colorado.

  6. I've often thought about what Bob brings up about official ministries vs just doing what you want to do, doing what is needed.

    I am not sure quite what to make of Paul's not permitting women to teach / have authority — but can't merely dismiss it, as Tanya also mentioned. But there does seem to be good evidence in other contexts for women in various kinds of ministry, and not just in gardening club.

  7. what Piper said http://goo.gl/zaXFU was not against feminine ministry, but rather the revelation of God as masculine. The Christian Post had that mixed up unknowingly or for more hits.
    Piper clearly says the
    Theology and church and mission are marked by overarching godly male leadership in the spirit of Christ, with an ethos of tender-hearted strength, and contrite courage, and risk-taking decisiveness, and readiness to sacrifice for the sake of leading, protecting, and providing for the community—all of which is possible only through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It’s the feel of a great, majestic God, who by his redeeming work in Jesus Christ, inclines men to take humble, Christ-exalting initiative, and inclines women to come alongside the men with joyful support, intelligent helpfulness, and fruitful partnership in the work.

    The word Masculine then does not mean a MAN leading church and women left alone in the dark, but rather having a bolder outlook to leading church and challenging neglect. We have great witness of women who worked under the influence of God, like Priscilla, Euodia, Pheobe, Timothy's mother and grandmother whose faith brought men of faith. In your friends case, it rather a sad thing that the men clergy were scared to approach and that the Church did not have women team building up your friend. It is notable that Christ always called the Church bride, implying that it was the “dependant being” not the provider and that implication should be considered in leading a Church. I would say a Church should be head by Christ, then like a family, both man and woman taking care, where both end is met. You cannot get bravery and love from your mum, nor can we get the same from our dad. I am happy with a woman leading a Church, but then who would address young men and rebuke young women from wrong action if they are always provided a shoulder to cry on and care to not change. I been to a church where the pastor was a male, but his wife played a great role in the ministry although she was not specifically ordained. If all that women seek is an ordained woman a minster to help the Church but stay cold till then, then its not that she wants comfort, but rather wants representation, and if that is the case where women are not represented, the Church is not the body of Christ.

  8. Thanks, Tanya. Yes, i guess it's both a pastoral concern–that women are not well-served in churches with all-male clergy–and a wondering if it's time that the composition of clergy in a church mirrored that of the congregation–50/50, rather than be male-dominated.
    Thanks Miss Mollie, and Archer. Pam, thank for your comment, and I love the stained glass ceiling phrase. First, I've heard it!

  9. Great post Anita! You illustrate well the need for women and men to be along side one another. The culture of church would be much different if women were free to be Women. I am so hopeful that in this generation great big fractures are being made in the so-called stained glass ceiling!

  10. Anita! I particularly loved this part you wrote:

    “God did not design Christianity to have a masculine feel. What an outrageous idea! He would never make it so boring.”

    Boring, hah!

    I am blessed to go to a Vineyard church where a husband and wife co-pastor our church together.

  11. In my local church we have an office of deaconess. They do not sit in on board meetings. Their role is to assist the women with baptism and to sit in on counseling sessions. I held the office once and did not do either of these duties.
    Our fellowship does have female pastors, but in our local church there is no female leadership.

  12. Hey there
    Love this post, and wholeheartedly agree with what you say about God being egalitarian. Theologically speaking, male and female together are created innthe image of God, and so we need both to reflect his image. Pastorally speaking, we need spiritual fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters in leadership.

    As regards Paul, it is my personal conviction that the 1 Tim 2 passage was a command but not a universal one – a command to the church in Ephesus in tackling the problems of false teachers who were specifically targeting 'weak willed women' and widows who had nothing better to do than listen to the winds of the latest teaching. I would hesitate before dismissing Paul's words as if he had a weak moment as I think 2 Peter establishes that Paul's letters, as much as the rest of the Bible, are divinely inspired scripture.

    How we interpret those words is tricky, and other of my evangelical brothers and sisters have come to different conclusions. These things are not straightforward.

    However, even for those who take a male headship view of the theology, still have to answer your pastoral question. Are we, as a church, providing ministry for the women?

    Interestingly, there are churches who are egalitarian in theology who are not egalitarian in pastoral practice; and there are churches who are comimentarian in theology who nevertheless have an equal number of women on staff and prioritise women's ministry as valuable and important.

    Which is best serving the women??

  13. Hi Sande and Bob,
    Thanks for your thought-provoking comments. Sande, it's the second of the three issues you've pinpointed that really speaks to me. I am a step behind you cognitively on the other two (haven't started thinking about them:-)

    Bob, it's not that I want to be ordained, or that an official position is important. It's just that women as well as men fund the clergy, and women are ill-served if there are no female clergy to come alongside them for advice, for counselling, and to see and explain things in a particularly female way.

    Having been in, and led, both all-female and mixed-gender Bible studies, I've noticed that women hone and in and respond to different things that men do. We would be well-served if our church leadership, and preaching team included both genders. IMO 🙂

  14. Perhaps you are asking the wrong question here. God doesn't seem to have intended a masculine or feminine feel to His church, but did He intend that His church have a hierarchical feel either?

    How sad that there was no female clergy for your friend. How even sadder that there didn't seem to be any female to step forward and come alongside her in her need.

    Women are fallin for the trap that men long ago fell into, that I need to be vocational to serve God. That is untrue.

    Personally, I have found that Pastors and Clergy tend to get in the way rather than be useful. Oh, there are some exceptions, but overall, they seem to want to perpetuate a system that seems more professional than Christlike.

    I have a lot more to say about this, but I'll finish with this. I had a female friend come to me about starting a ministry for mothers. She wanted my advice since I had been leading, as a lay person, a couple of ministries. I looked at her and said, “Why don't you go find some mothers with a need, and come alongside them.” She replied, “Oh no, what I meant was that God is calling me to speak to thousands at a time, so that would not be true to my cal.”

    I just wished her well and walked away.

    Too many people look to the “professionals” when the Holy Spirit equips everyone for effective service.

    Yeah, there should be more women in ministry. (Our church staff of 6 is actually 50/50 at this time) But most of us are called to just love our neighbor.

    So let's be about the business of our Father…..

  15. I've connected with the piece. Thanks. I think there are three issues lurking in this piece, the way church buildings connect with the feminine or masculine, all genders being represented within church leadership, specifically clergy and then the more thorny one which lies under the surface – the image of God not seen but perhaps sensed differently by women and men.
    I suspect all of these are intrinsically linked anyway but it's the image of God and how that arises and where from that fascinates me.
    Nowadays if I get stuck in the gender thing, I'm more likely to imagine (and imagination is SO important in the godstuff I think) a wholly female deity (without wanting to be literal or anything!) that reflects back to me something of my essence. It interests me that for much of my life this imagining has been closed to me because of the male dominated imagining around God. Anyway, this is an incredibly long way of saying that I think what we imagine as God, has a profound impact on what we then play out in the theatrics and power plays of the godstuff.
    Ergo, if we could get past gender constructs of God (maybe not altogether possible) we might find ourselves in a quite different place!
    Thanks Anita for a thought provoking piece and lovely to see the invisible Dave cartooning along with you.