The CBE Scroll

I want to preface this article with background information. I was raised in a Catholic family and attended a Catholic grade school and high school. Because of my Catholic upbringing, I have a deep respect and admiration of the traditions built within that system of belief. Most of my immediate and extended family members are practicing Catholics, and we have active, engaging conversations about faith. This discussion is aimed at a wider theological idea that effects not only the Catholic Church, but in American protestant churches as well.

A recent press release from the Religious News Service (secular news service which covers religion and ethics news in American) documents a study about the positions women hold within the U.S. Catholic Church. The survey looked at the number of young women volunteering as altar servers, women in faculty positions at Catholic seminaries, and women in top positions on diocese advisory boards. The study gave the diocese an “F” for poor performance in religious education and a “D” for the number of women represented in top leadership positions.

“Pope Benedict XVI says it is ‘theologically and anthropologically important for woman to be at the center of Christianity,’ but our study shows women are relegated to the margins when it comes to positions of influence within the Catholic Church,” says Prof. Susan Farrell, a lead analyst of the report.”

With such a bold acclamation of the support of women’s leadership, what can explain the current situation? Perhaps it all comes down to theology. If the theology of a church, religion, or people group says that women are unfit, not gifted, or not created for top-tiered positions of leadership, the trickle down effect of that theology is that women are not encouraged to fill positions technically within their abilities. If, at the end of the day, the most prominent and influential positions are given to individuals based on gender, class, or race, that communicates a clear message about worth, value, and authority that no amount of words or encouragement can overcome. “Let’s focus on what women can do” is not a productive or effective way to invite women into leadership—it is, in fact, patronizing.

For a church that has been around for a significant amount of Christian history, this recent report is quite disappointing. I was raised in a practicing Catholic family for most of my childhood. I served as an altar girl with my brothers and classmates. It never occurred to me that I could not partake in Mass in this manner. I remember my grandpa making an off-handed comment one day about how he was surprised to see girls volunteering as altar servers, and I was confused. Of course we would be altar servers—why wouldn’t we be able to that?

What was omitted from my education was any reflection on history—that throughout history, access to the alter was offered to men only, and only recently has access to women been reevaluated theologically. Perhaps this part of history was not mentioned out of a desire to just move forward and forget the embarrassing past. Perhaps the priests thought at the young age of 10 we would not understand such information. Either way, I grew up not understanding why I could participate in some activities and not others, and eventually left my home congregation for one I felt was more encouraging of my personhood.

“One key recommendation is the bishops make certain seminarians and lay church members learn the full story about the roles of women in the development of the early church. The failure to learn our own history lies at the heart of many of today’s disagreements,” Prof. Regina Bannan, another lead analyst of the study, pointed out. An understanding of history is quite a powerful tool for social reform. Maybe if I had understood the history of women in the church and the progress the church had made, I would have been more hopeful for the future.

It is exciting to see this kind of information receive prominent news coverage. It should be news that one of the largest branches of the Christian faith—the Catholic Church, is struggling to incorporate half of its members into active participation in the various aspects of their ministry. It will be interesting to watch how the Catholic Church reconciles its theology of leadership with the everyday impact and health of their congregations.

For more information, visit The Women’s Justice Coalition

Last Sunday I met James Anderson, the African-American father who in 1963 won his lawsuit against the city of Birmingham, Alabama to enroll his children in the local all-white high school (if you’re younger than me–32–you may need a reminder that this was well after Brown v. Board of Education made desegregation a federal law). He is a lovely man, smiling graciously over the white carnation in his buttonhole even as he remembers the “hell that was Birmin’ham in those days.” He quotes Dr. King in his southern drawl and proudly shows off pictures of his children, all college graduates working in various professions across the country.

Mr. Anderson is a docent at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. In the short time Brandon and I have been in this area, several locals have strongly recommended a trip to the museum, and since this is our last week in Alabama (for now), we made a point to get there over the weekend. The impressive historical collection is housed across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church, the infamous site of the 1963 hate bombing that killed four little African-American girls during their Sunday school lesson.

The exhibits are artfully arranged, from the “barriers gallery” where visitors stand before segregated water fountains and stacks of textbooks that tangibly demonstrate the disproportionate ratio of educational resources for black and white students; to the “confrontation gallery” where visitors encounter recordings of black and white men and women saying things sadly common behind closed doors but rightfully shocking when made in public; to the “movement gallery” that utilizes a torched bus, the jail cell door behind which Martin Luther King wrote his famous letter, and various video presentations to bring to life the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Freedom March.

One of the most striking photos is of a wrinkled black woman grinning toothlessly as she signs her voter registration card. After spending at least 60 years as an American citizen with no voice in her government or way of life, the joy on her face is really compelling.

Throughout the museum are reminders that it was Christians (black and white, ordained ministers and lay people) who took the lead in seeking justice for black Americans, especially through the founding of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.

If you are in the Birmingham area or planning to pass nearby on a summer vacation, I encourage you to include the Civil Rights Institute in your plans. Prepare to be offended, no matter your ethnic background. But you will also be encouraged by the works of reconciliation God has already brought about through his people—and praise him if you are moved to carry on that work in any large or small way as you go about your business. It made me grateful that I was born on Martin Luther King’s birthday, and I pledge to pray for civil justice every year as I celebrate the gift of my own life.

Having just read a copious amount of comments on the blogsite referred to in the last post, it occured to me that often what is assumed by the word equality is not necessarily the correct usage or meaning. The dictionary definition is simply ‘being equal’ or ‘the state of being equal’. If we truly believe that all people are equal in God’s eyes then a lot of the debate would cease.

Much of the rhetoric and defense is about women wanting to be equal to men as though that is the benchmark of a woman’s true worth or position. To see men as the ultimate ideal will only continue the argument that women just want to be able to do/be what men already have the power or position to do/be. This gives fuel to the arguments related to the supposed male and female temperaments and other gender specific typecasting, which ultimately can be used to ‘prove’ that God has made us differently and for different roles. It also gives occasion for the persistent view that man’s sexual ‘needs’ dominate their being which is another insult to God as creator. The ‘equal in being, different in function’ argument is a poor representation of full, true equality which talks of a person’s very being and their instrinsic worth and position. Maybe we should concentrate on being persistent in spreading the good news that God made all humans equal and that it is people who have made distinctions of class, race, gender etc. over the centuries. When we read the Bible with this mindset we see the overall character of God and love for his created people whom he has redeemed so completely. It also helps us to understand any ‘debatable’ passages as we see God’s plan and pattern for all people with no distinctions and separations made by fallible humans.

Christianity Today has a new blog post reporting on Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church (one of the largest evangelical mega-churches in America). Mr. Hybels has refused to distribute Mark Driscoll’s (Senior pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle, another large evangelical mega church and well known Christian leader) DVD on church planting because Driscoll includes no women church planters and does not allow women to leaders within the church. I think it is wonderful that Bill is standing up for women in ministry. The three women who have commented on the thread think it is wonderful as well. But all of the men (four at this point) are complementarians who think that Driscoll is right. I thought it might be helpful if a few more egalitarians were represented in the comments to show that it is more than just a few women who believe it is biblical to hold leadership positions within the church and are not “obviously disobeying God.” If you have some time today, wander over and join the conversation. Also, remember to thank Bill for standing up for biblical, egalitarian principles.