Should women be ordained into the ministry?
That was one of the topics we tackled tonight in our Remedial Christianity class at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ.
The United Church of Christ, of course, ordains women pastors. In fact, we were the first Protestant church in the United States to do so. From UCC.org:
In 1853…Antoinette Brown is the first woman since New Testament times ordained as a Christian minister, and perhaps the first woman in history elected to serve a Christian congregation as pastor. At her ordination a friend, Methodist minister Luther Lee, defends "a woman's right to preach the Gospel." He quotes the New Testament: "There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
One of my cousins, The Rev. Susan Ulmer, is a United Methodist pastor in South Carolina and my home church, First Congregational United Church of Christ in Portland, is led by The Rev. Dr. Patricia Ross. Women pastors have always been part of my life and their mentorship and love for me has been a tremendous blessing.
Many churches, however, still do not ordain women. Debate has raged in the Roman Catholic Church and in many other denominations over this question. The Missouri Synod Lutheran Church states their position on the ordination of women using these words:
The Lord teaches us through His Word that women are not given the responsibility of serving the church as pastors. We read the following statements:
"As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says …what I am writing to you is a command of the Lord" (1 Cor. 14:33–34,37).
"Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over men; she is to keep silent"(1 Tim.2 :11–12).
"The saying is sure: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Now an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife…"(1 Tim.3:1–2).
"This is why I left you in Crete …that you might appoint elders in every town as I directed you, if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife…"(Titus 1:5–6).
God has given His church many gifts. Among them is the gift of the office of the public, pastoral ministry. We receive what God gives, in the way He has given it, and in the form He has given it. We do not tell God that His gift is not good enough for us, or that we don't like the form in which He has given the gift. We receive God's gifts as He gives them, with thanks and praise. We rejoice in the opportunities God has given us, as His redeemed people, to serve Him in the church, and in our daily lives.
The church which wishes to remain faithful to the Word of God cannot permit the ordination of women to the pastoral office.
The Lutherans quote exclusively from Paul in their arguments but I would submit that either Paul was wrong or (and this is likely the case) that Paul never wrote what is attributed to him about the role of women in church. Women were in fact leaders of the early church. Jesus himself had women in his inner circle despite living in a society that considered women little more than property (a problem we still encounter more often than we wish to admit in modern society).
At Antoinette Brown’s ordination Luther Lee also quoted from Paul:
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. - Galatians 3.28 (NRSV)
In Galatians (which most Biblical scholars agree Paul wrote) Paul echoes what I believe to be a core teaching of Jesus: the equality of humankind.
For homework over the next week participants in our class were asked to consider their own views over this debate and to write a one paragraph statement outlining their arguments for or against the ordination of women from a theological perspective.
Should women be ordained into the ministry?
Would anyone here care to take a crack at answering that question? I’ll share your answers with our class next week.
