Neither Jew Nor Gentile
When the Church of the Nazarene was founded our forefathers (and foremothers) took Paul seriously when he wrote "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ." Our denomination was founded by great men AND women who found each other to be equally instrumental in the life of the church. When so many other Christian traditions refused to acknowledge the role of women in the church, we were ordaining them. "Phineas Bresee...was fond of saying, 'some of our best 'men' are women." (From the book Ordained Women in the Church of the Nazarene. It's a good one. Check it out.)
Now, some 100 years after Pilot Point we seem to have gone backwards, rather than continuing our forefathers/mothers lead. Obviously, we have taken the big step of electing a woman as a General Superintendent, which is wonderful, but, at least in my own personal experience, I fail to see any trickle down effect from this whatsoever. Growing up in the Church of the Nazarene I don't recall ever meeting or even hearing about any female pastors. In school at a Nazarene university I had several female classmates, but I don't know of any who currently serve as senior pastors, and only a few who even ended up in full-time ministry.
Case in point: I have a long time friend and mentor who has faithfully served the Church of the Nazarene her entire life: as a member, a student at a Nazarene school, a Sunday School teacher, a youth worker, and as a district NYI president. She has the education and the experience (she preaches nearly every Sunday), but every door into youth ministry has been closed shut for her, and to say that she has had a difficult time being ordained would be an understatement. She has been shunned from full time youth ministry because, as they are always quick to point out, she is single and, in their opinion, too old. (She is in her mid to late 30s) While others, less qualified, and sometimes also single, who "happen to be male" are hired.
I wish that I could say that this case is an aberration. I wish that I didn't think that if she was a man she would have been hired and ordained long ago. My own experience, however, leads me to believe otherwise. Too often I find our church stuck in some sort of 1950s, antiquated, unchristian, mindset that says that women are not as qualified to lead as men. They make good children's pastors, they can sing in the choir, they can even be missionaries, and of course cook in the church kitchen, but they cannot be senior pastors. This may not be what we profess but it is certainly what we practice. Certainly there are cases in our denomination where women are leading churches, but these seem to be the exceptions that prove the rule. So what went wrong? What has changed in the past 100 years when both men and women worked hand in hand in positions of leadership to establish our church. And more importantly, what can we do to change the glass ceiling of female leadership in our denomination? Because if we are to be faithful to our forefathers/mothers, the call of Paul, and the example of Christ, then something must change.
Now, some 100 years after Pilot Point we seem to have gone backwards, rather than continuing our forefathers/mothers lead. Obviously, we have taken the big step of electing a woman as a General Superintendent, which is wonderful, but, at least in my own personal experience, I fail to see any trickle down effect from this whatsoever. Growing up in the Church of the Nazarene I don't recall ever meeting or even hearing about any female pastors. In school at a Nazarene university I had several female classmates, but I don't know of any who currently serve as senior pastors, and only a few who even ended up in full-time ministry.
Case in point: I have a long time friend and mentor who has faithfully served the Church of the Nazarene her entire life: as a member, a student at a Nazarene school, a Sunday School teacher, a youth worker, and as a district NYI president. She has the education and the experience (she preaches nearly every Sunday), but every door into youth ministry has been closed shut for her, and to say that she has had a difficult time being ordained would be an understatement. She has been shunned from full time youth ministry because, as they are always quick to point out, she is single and, in their opinion, too old. (She is in her mid to late 30s) While others, less qualified, and sometimes also single, who "happen to be male" are hired.
I wish that I could say that this case is an aberration. I wish that I didn't think that if she was a man she would have been hired and ordained long ago. My own experience, however, leads me to believe otherwise. Too often I find our church stuck in some sort of 1950s, antiquated, unchristian, mindset that says that women are not as qualified to lead as men. They make good children's pastors, they can sing in the choir, they can even be missionaries, and of course cook in the church kitchen, but they cannot be senior pastors. This may not be what we profess but it is certainly what we practice. Certainly there are cases in our denomination where women are leading churches, but these seem to be the exceptions that prove the rule. So what went wrong? What has changed in the past 100 years when both men and women worked hand in hand in positions of leadership to establish our church. And more importantly, what can we do to change the glass ceiling of female leadership in our denomination? Because if we are to be faithful to our forefathers/mothers, the call of Paul, and the example of Christ, then something must change.
posted by Zack | 8:54 PM
10 Comments:
I'm not sure what can be done, on the larger scale. All I know is that, for me personally, whenever I can lift up women as leaders, I do. Whenever I can encourage and support a woman leader, I do (especially new ones). When I speak, teach, preach, etc., I am careful to speak inclusively.
I've had friends who were women pastors in the Church of the Nazarene. One here on our district. (One out of 40-something.) But now she's gone. It was a tough assignment, and the church ended up closing, and she moved away.
Right now, not counting staff pastors, our district has one female co-pastor (with her husband) leading a compassionate ministry center and brand new church plant and one fresh-from-college female church planter who's trying to get something new off the ground, starting with youth mentoring.
I've always attributed this to the changing church landscape. We North American Nazarenes tend to swim in conservative evangelical waters, where women-as-pastors is often considered unbiblical. That view rubs off on both our laypeople and pastors. It's sad.
Wait. I think we may actually have a woman (solo) pastor of one of our churches now, too. But I haven't met her yet. Maybe the trend is shifting on our district. If so... great!
There are 3 or 4 female pastors on the NWO district(this is out of 60 some). I think my district does a good job of encouraging female leaders, however my home church does not. We have several men who believe very strongly that it is unbiblical for a woman to pastor a church. I think the best way to change this trend is for more "good" theology to be preached, both at district events and on a local level.
I don't know if it's because ours is a new church (8 years old this Sunday), but it seems that fewer of our folks have that only-men-can-pastor idea. Maybe people who believe differently have moved on instead of sticking around, once they realized what we believe about it. But I'm thankful I'm not having to really fight against that here.
In my opinion, the problem with affirming women leaders is largely a church board issue. It is something that no one admits to publicly (or at least rarely do), but I have heard many comments from both men and women in the church that they don't want a female pastor because (fill in the blank).
Many people in the Church of the Nazarene seem to believe women should be pastors, just not at their church.
I'm with both of you guys on this one. I agree with you Rich that I don't know what the answer is, and you Daniel that "good theology" at our schools defintely helps.
My gut tells me though, that this may be something that will require new leadership, not in the sense of replacing all the GSs, obviously one of them is a woman, but an entire generational shift. Away from the old guard who may profess equality, but whose patriarchical mindset is so engrained that it won't allow them to practice what they preach. And I think that this shift must begin with those of use who are newer to the ministry. Even if we are not senior pastors, we should be intentional about finding ways to incorporate women into leadership roles in our patricular areas in ministry.
Could it be that the District Superintendents need to have more involvement in the issue and, for lack of a better term, grow a back bone? It is hard enough sometimes for a woman to get a leadership position in a church but if they then do not have the support of the DS, if they do not know that they can rely on them to support them and back them up and make sure that the church where they are working, serving God, is giving them the support and respect that they would give a male in the same position, then it really isn't a surprise that there are not many woman in ministry in the Nazarene church in America.
Obviously, the other alternative is that there is just not be any women out there who are called by God to serve in a leadership role. As a woman myself training to be a minister - not a children's pastor, not a youth pastor, not a missionary but a pastor who loves and cares for all - i find that hard to believe.
So where are they all? It may be that they are neglecting that niggling feeling to follow what they know they should be doing. It may be that are not given the opportunity. It may be that if only they were encouraged to step up they would find the confidence, realise their ability/gifts and be empowered to go into leadership in the church - and if not why not? Or maybe they think the opportunity just isn't their, and if that's the case, where does that understanding come from?
Basically, this is as much a top-down issue as it is a bottom-up. Those who are in positions of authority, those who are leading the leaders, should really encourage churches in this area. What about teaching/re-teaching the pastors at retreats or conferences? And ultimately, if it is known that there is a church that is against women in ministry, in leadership, than why is it not being dealt with?
I am not saying I have the answers but part of finding those answers is making sure questions are asked. Also, as someone whose Nazarene experience is only within England, please correct anything I have said that isn't true. My comments are based on what I have read and from conversations with Americans I have met.
KDD brings up an interesting ecclesiological question that we Nazarenes must deal with. It is the question of authority. If, as has been suggested, the district superintendents are not pushing the issue or even condemning the wrong, then it seems to me that there are two answers to the question.
1. The DS may themselves not be in agreement with the ordination and placement of women in the pastoral role. Which, if this is the case, is a clear violation of one of our core beliefs in the Church of the Nazarene, and should be pointed out and condemned.
2. The DS may not assert themselves and their authority for fear of retribution and displacement. If a DS is strong in favour of women in ministry and proclaims this and encourages churches to hire these women, but is not supported by the populace or the specific congregations, then they could quite possibly be fired, or I should say, not re-hired.
The answer to the first option is obvious. The DS is wrong and should be called out. The second option, however, is a much larger issue with our Nazarene ecclesiology.
Because we are a hodge-podge/conglomerate of Christian denominations/traditions we have inherited a form of democratic ecclesiological government, in which big decisions are made by majority vote. I think this plays a huge role in DS authority assertion issues such as the one discussed here.
In an episcopal ecclesiology the bishops are given authority over their sees. It is their responsibility to make sure their diocese has adequate pastors and appropriate theology is being taught/practiced. If a bishop says 'go', then the pastor goes. If a bishop says 'stay', then a pastor stays. Much more authority and respect is given to the bishop when the people know they cannot just give them a 'no' vote at next year's assembly.
What I'm saying is this: If in the Church of the Nazarene our DS's were regarded like the bishop in episcopally ordered churches, it may be that the populace would regard their position more highly and with more respect. A DS needs to be able to say, 'We believe in ordained women in the pastoral role in the Church of the Nazarene,' and then follow up that belief in practice without any fear of losing his (I don't know of any lady DS's) job.
Democracy in the Church is a recent venture (seeing that our history is about 2,000 years and this idea is not older than 500). Especially in the church in America, democratic ecclesiology has really shaped the progress/regress/stagnancy of policy and practice.
That deals with the top-down issue. From a bottom-up perspective, maybe we need to encourage the women in our midst as well as the superintendents in our areas to promote and practice the ordination and administration of women in the pastoral role in the Church of the Nazarene. We keep referring to our 100yr birthday, so why not make this issue at the fore this year at all our assemblies and even at the general assembly next Summer.
I appreciate kdd commenting and having a non-male perspective on this particular issue.
Apart from that I think its interesting that our denomination is democratic. You can believe what you want about what the best form of government is for a national government, but I fail to see the biblical basis for democracy within the church. I think it is kind of funny that we take votes on issues instead of consulting the Holy Spirit and then acting on the revelaton we get.
Well, the problem with that approach is that everyone thinks they have the correct "revelation," so what do we do when opposing viewpoints both claim biblical and spiritual authority for their position?
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