The CBE Scroll

Thanks to John for pointing out a recent poll in Christianity Today that asked the question ‘Is it unfair discrimination for a male pastor to refuse to serve with a female pastor?’ The results were as follow:

• 45% said that it is not unfair discrimination if a male pastor refuses to serve because of his convictions.
• 25% said that it is unfair discrimination if a male pastor is serving in a church that officially ordains women.
• 20% said that it is unfair discrimination, and that it is unacceptable behavior even if it is based on a male pastor’s understanding of Scripture.
• 10% said that it is not unfair discrimination, and that it is okay as long as a male pastor does not stop a female pastor from doing her work.

And finally… what are your thoughts, on the poll itself or its results?

Joy Fenner of Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Garland was elected president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) earlier this week, narrowly defeating BGCT pastor David Lowrie by a margin of 900-840 votes to become the first woman to occupy the post.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is the largest Baptist state group of its kind in the nation, with over 5,000 affiliated congregations and more than two million members. Despite its size, less than one percent of BGCT pastors are women.

A former missionary to Japan, church secretary, and executive director emeritus of the Women’s Missionary Union of Texas, Fenner has been involved in missions work for over thirty years. Many in the BGCT working in recent years to increase BGCT missions work and multicultural awareness see Fenner and her longstanding commitment to missions a natural fit to the presidency. She comes as the third in a line of ‘first’ presidents that in recent years has included the first Latino BGCT president in 2004 and the first African-American president in 2005.

Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston says of Fenner and her handling of multicultural affairs, ‘She led our state to develop multi-lingual mission literature because, long before the rest of us knew that Texas was multicultural, Joy knew and understood what it is to be in a multicultural state.’ Fenner herself has stated that she hopes to reach out to those members of the BGCT who are gifted for leadership but may currently be sidelined for one reason or another.

CBE was recently contacted by a doctor of ministry student named Barb from Langley, BC conducting a survey among Christians who have recovered from experiences of emotional and spiritual distress under authoritarian and controlling church leaders. The results of her survey will provide her with a critical piece of research and will help her on her way to the completion of her dissertation.

Barb is looking for both those who have experienced emotional and spiritual distress within a church setting and pastors/ministers who have been able to provide comfort and spiritual guidance to those who have experienced emotional and spiritual distress within a church setting. If either of these criteria describe you, your participation in the survey is welcomed.

If interested, Barb may be contacted at churchexitersq@telus.net. Comments and questions are welcomed. All responses will be anonymous and yet may be kept for further use after the completion of the study. If you do contact Barb, per her request, please let her know that you were told of her survey at The CBE Scroll.

David Gushee, professor of ethics at Mercer University, has offered a gentle challenge to complementarians with regard to how they live out their convictions in practical terms. To read the challenge, click here. In his own words:

Much like how the pacifist John Howard Yoder long ago wrote a book intended to keep just-war advocates true to the stated commitments of their own theory, as an egalitarian I want to render a similar service to complementarians. I want to ask you some questions aimed to help you keep the application of your approach as biblical as possible.

Here are his questions. Be sure to read the linked article for the rationale behind them.

1. Are you successfully communicating to young men the conviction that a complementarian perspective must elevate rather than diminish the dignity of women, and therefore inculcating a moral commitment on their part to act accordingly?

2. Are you absolutely clear on which positions of Christian service (you believe) are barred to women?

3. Once you have determined what positions of Christian service are barred to women, you have therefore also determined which positions are permitted. Are you active in encouraging women to pursue the positions that are permitted?

4. When women occupy positions of church leadership that parallel those of men, are their positions named equally and are the individuals involved treated equally?

What do you think?

Complementarian men say they believe women are equal, but what do they mean by that?

If they believe men have authority over women, are women equal? No. If men have more authority than women, this is not equality.

If men get to make the final decisions in the marriage, are women equal? No, since the man’s word counts for more than the woman’s, this is not equality.

If the men are the spiritual leaders of their wives, are women equal? The purpose of one person being the spiritual leader over another is so one is spiritually stronger than the other. If it is presumed that men are automatically spiritually stronger than the women then no, this is not equality.

There are complementarian men who put more emphasis on wives submitting than on husbands loving. If less emphasis is put on men giving than women giving (that’s how I translate submitting and loving), are women equal? No. If men are held less responsible for giving than women, this is not equality.

If God speaks to men directly and only indirectly to women, through men, are women equal? No. If God chooses to bestow his wonderful, precious direction to men rather than women, this is not equality.

If men get to have a say in the direction, governance, and teaching of the church and women don’t, are women equal? No. If men get more of a say than women, this is not equality.

If men are allowed to use all their gifts to serve the church, but women are only allowed to use part of their gifts, are women equal? No. If men have no restrictions on using their gifts and women do, this is not equality.

One complementarian writer says that women naturally submit to and support men. If women are expected to do this for men, but men aren’t expected to do this for women, are women equal? No. If men are expected to receive support from women but not women from men, this is not equality.

I know that in their literature complementarians repeatedly say they believe women are equal. But, if they truly do consider women equal, they need to define what they mean by it.