Assumptions about a woman in ministry

Being female and an ordained pastor in the United Methodist Church I have found that people assume a lot about me.

~it is assumed that I am liberal in my theology. I have been accused of hating Scripture or when people quote Scripture. In fact here is a quote from someone’s message on Facebook: “Just stating God's word, and liberal preachers don’t like it.” 

            ~Well, I actually read Scripture regularly. I love to study the Bible and hold Scripture in high regard. I want to find where each Scripture fits into the whole picture of the Bible. Most people who consider themselves liberal theologically consider me quite conservative theologically.

~people assume I have a rebellious spirit. I have heard people say anyone who supports women in ordained ministry are in open rebellion.

            ~You are assuming I didn’t spend lots of time in prayer, Scripture reading and study. You are assuming I didn’t struggle with what I felt God was calling me to do. I spent decades studying, praying, fasting, talking to pastors and other Christian leaders.  I tried to do other things. God closed those doors but opened every door into ministry. In the end, I felt I was in open rebellion not following God’s call to ordained ministry. 

            ~You are assuming that I am simply ignoring the “catch” Scriptures on women in ordained ministry. You don’t even consider that I have done studies on these Scriptures and have read Church history on these passages and read scholars from all sides on these Scriptures –and have come to a different understanding than you on them. Yes, we disagree on the interpretation of these Scriptures. I disagree with the conclusions some powerful theologians have come to on these Scriptures. But here is the thing, there are amazing, powerful theologians on both sides of this issue. The Church doesn’t seem to fully agree on this issue. Church history and Biblical history is replete with women in the position of bringing the Good News, preaching, judging, teaching, leading.

Sitting in discussions with most male pastors I find no one assumes where a man stands theologically. Instead they enter into dialogue.  As a woman, I simply ask for the same courtesy. Please don’t assume. 

Incomplete without a man?

Ironically, after I posted my thoughts on how I can pastor as a woman, a family friend sent me the message, "you need to get married so you will have a spiritual covering, a spiritual head to do ministry."
This isn't the first time I have been told this. Back when I was in college, I volunteered to work with the youth as the church waited for a new youth pastor. The pastor told me I couldn't work with the youth because I didn't have a husband, a spiritual covering. At that point, I was feeling called to ministry but had not shared it openly with a lot of people. Why would I share God's call on my life when I received statements like this? And so, I must be wrong. God obviously wasn't calling me because I was a single woman. I must be hearing God wrong. And so started my 10 years in the wilderness. Questioning myself, questioning God, I drifted aimlessly. I must not be able to hear God correctly. But what kind of God calls someone to do ministry but doesn't send what is needed to accomplish this task? To add to my confusion, at the same time I felt God was calling me to ministry, I felt God was calling me to a long period of being single. How conflicted can one person get?!
Thankfully, God had my path begin to cross the paths of some very godly women pastors. God's grace exploded across my imagination and soul. Suddenly I was not incomplete without a man. Suddenly, I was not a third class citizen---behind men and behind Balaam's Donkey. If God could use a donkey, he surely can use someone who desires to serve him? I was drenched in God's grace and freed to joyful obedience.
And so, when the words were spoken once more that I need a husband to be complete and covered so I may minister, I wasn't hurt or sent into a spiral of doubt. I smiled and let it go. I claimed the God who promised to be the father to the fatherless and husband to the husband-less would be enough for me. And I am thankful. Thankful God has brought me out of the pain, out of the oppression, out of the feeling of inadequacy due to my gender. Thankful for the freedom and hope and grace I have found.

How can I pastor?

My call into ministry began as a child. I sat in the pews and heard/felt/sensed a small inaudible voice say, "you are not meant to be in the pews forever, you are called to the pulpit/altar." And all my life, I have been drawn to the Communion Table and to the pulpit. But I ran into the cultural arguments against women in ministry. There were those who "corrected me" and I believed them when they pulled out Paul's letters and pushed me back into my "proper place." But here I am having been approved for ordination, pastoring two churches, and looking forward to June 11 when Bishop Marcus Matthews lays hands on me and tells me to take the authority given to me to proclaim the Gospel of Christ and lead the church. How do I reconcile my new found freedom? This is not going to be a scripture by scripture account but this is my reasoning.
1. There are women in leadership throughout Scripture. Deborah, Priscilla, Junias..etc. The Proverbs 31 woman was not a "stay at home mom" like we know today. She bought and sold land. At that time, the whole family was "stay at home and all work for the family". Why are the women in leadership in Scripture considered the exceptions to the rule? When I watch my friends who are parents work with their children, the exception to the rule is not freedom but limitation. If one child is doing well in school and the other is doing poorly, the limitation on after school activity, friends over, video games is the exception to the freedom. As they improve, freedom is restored. Paul's letters are to particular churches with particular problems. Perhaps, like a parent, Paul is imposing restrictions because there is a problem in those particular churches.
2. What are we saying about God when we limit who God uses and in what way? God's grace was strong enough to save men from their fallen nature and weaknesses, restoring them to a place where they can fully participate in the work of God. Paul states there is no male or female in Christ. Is this only for salvation? So God's grace is only strong enough to save women but we cannot be fully restored to the partners with men and with God in the work of God? I would argue that in his letters, Paul is not talking about salvation only but living out the Christian life. I believe this is the biggest issue--what does our restriction of who God uses say about the God we serve?
3. I discovered those who told me women cannot be used in pastoral ministry by quoting Scripture were misquoting Scripture. These people who proclaimed to have a high regard for God's Word were not using Scripture honestly. The story of the Fall is one area. Women were deceived and so we cannot be trusted to rightly divide the Word. In Genesis 3, Adam was right there with Eve according to Scripture. He never raises an objection to Eve's taking and eating the fruit nor to his own eating the fruit. He is mysteriously silent. No one ever mentioned Adam's role despite the fact Paul himself talks how sin came through Adam. The other Scripture I found mysteriously changed was the story of Deborah. I was always told Deborah was a prophetess/judge because there was no man who would step up to the job. Because no man would take the position, Deborah is an exception. But that is not how the story goes. She is a judge and all come to her. The exception comes later when the man of God would not lead the people to war without the prophetess going to battle with him. And so the victory will not be given to the man of God but to a woman. the victory is given to Jael who kills the enemy of Israel.
4. There are issues also with the Greek in the Timothy passage which states women cannot teach---the Greek word is never interpreted as teach except in this case. If I recall my Kittle and Dr. Mullholland lecture, it has more to do with making a decision outside of your authority which affects your family--like Eve did in the Garden. That is my summary, I cannot find the word for word lecture of Dr. Mullholland nor do I have the luxury of owning Kittle.

Kingdom Bound '10

When different parts of your world collide in one space, you may be apprehensive, nervous or excited. Kingdom Bound presents a place for my worlds to collide. Now I hate to label because the labels carry so much baggage and also they do not encompass everything. For instance, I could label my past "conservative" because I attended churches which did not and still do not support women in ministry and who were conservative in theology and doctrine. Yet that implies I am not conservative today because I am a woman in ministry. But to many "liberals", my theology is very conservative. I still believe God has intervened throughout the history of humanity in actual events at actual times. I believe in the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. So to label my past as conservative is a misnomer in many ways. But to label my present conservative, in the eyes of conservatives is a misnomer because I am socially more liberal and believe a literal reading of Scripture requires context. So I am a nomad. I have no home in one theological circle.
Back to Kingdom Bound--this bastion of Christian music and culture. This Christian sub-culture which I no longer truly belong to is the place where many of my older friends dwell. Yet I enjoy visiting this sub culture and listening to the music as cheesy as it can get. So I go down nostalgia lane and visit with the people who do not agree with me and the direction I am going. There is an awkwardness when I see them. I can tell they too are a bit awkward. They do not know what to do with me. I stand against how they interpret Scripture but I still believe in many ways like they do. We say 'hi'. Then the question, (dramatic music here) "what is happening in your life?" Should pastoring come up in the answer? If I do bring up being a pastor, I can almost hear the pages of Scripture turn in their head. I brace for the barrage of "women be silent," "women are not to teach men." But it doesn't come. The talk doesn't go very deep. We keep it nice and shallow. And I am sad. Is it because I am use to having people beat me up with Scripture? Is it because it would be refreshing to have all of our differences out in the open and find we can still be friends? I don't know.
I enjoyed Kingdom Bound, even with the awkwardness. Part of me longed for a deeper experience of Christ and people, I came up lacking. Yet I did experience God in redeeming my past, strengthening who I am, and walking with me in the midst of the awkwardness.

Women in ministry

I have just come back from Kingdom Bound Camp at Camp Asbury. Going to KB again, I ran into many friends from my past. Many of them do not agree with women in ministry so "running into" them as a pastor now is not always the friendly reunion one might expect. You can see behind their eyes the Scripture verses rattling off about women in ministry.
While I was gone, Matthew Turner on his blog posted about women in ministry which has gone off the wall with comments. So in light of the conversations on his blog and in light of my experience I thought I would discuss my questions and views.

1. I have observed the practice of using Scripture in a proverbial manner among many questions. We quote Scripture and verse like we have plucked the scripture of the day out of the little daily bread basket (when I was a kid, my parents had a box which looked like a loaf of bread which held Scripture verses. Each day you pluck one out and that was the verse for the day.) The problem with this approach is the verse's context is lost as well as we do not have a complete view of what Scripture states on the subject. For example, we can go through Scripture and pick out the verses on love. Yet I John states God is love. Colossians states Jesus is the fullness of God so when talking about love--the fullest picture is found in every action and every word of Jesus, quoting Scriptures which mention love leave out a good deal of Jesus, since every sentence he spoke did not include the word love.
The same thing applies to women in the Bible. Verses which speak about women in ministry do not give the complete view of the Bible.
Another problem with the popcorn or proverbial use of Scripture is we do not treat all Scripture the same. In the Old Testament we are told to stone our children if they disobey their parents. Thankfully, we do not take this part literally. While we will contextually use this verse, we bludgeon women over the head with Scriptures about women in ministry. I have heard some say the Bible is clear on what it says about women in ministry. Well, the part about stoning your children is quite clear too. We use context in one section and in the other we claim those who look at context are looking for a way out. I think we can do better in our handling of Scripture.

2. The Scriptures on women in ministry: so what do we do with Paul? I believe we read his epistles in light of Jesus Christ. I believe we read his epistles realizing we do not have the entire conversation. These are one side of a conversation. While we can construct in part what is happening in the churches he is writing to, we cannot say we have the complete picture. Were the churches he wrote to about women in the ministry having some kind of problem which required intervention like this?
Think about it as a parent. You have 3 children. One child is excelling at school and doing fairly well in sports after school. Another child is doing satisfactory in both school and sports. The 3rd child excels at sports but is struggling with school. You may make the rule "there are no after school activities" for the 3rd child but not for the other two. The exception is the one who does not have the freedom. Why do we view women in ministry in the Bible as the exception? Why is the restriction on women in ministry in the Bible the exception?

3. How do the Scriptures about women in ministry fit into the over arching story of God and humanity? In the beginning, humanity lived in the place God created for them and God's Presence dwelt with them. There was complete shalom between God and creation, and between human beings. God throughout Scripture works toward dwelling with his creation once again--the tabernacle and Temple and finally Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Salvation restores the relationship between creation and God as well as human beings with each other. We find through the story--the people of God goes from being all of humanity (Adam and Eve) to one person (Abraham) to Abraham's family to the nation of Israel and in Jesus Christ to all of humanity. God does not leave Creation broken and in sin. God brings home the exiled of Eden and restores relationship. How do the Pauline verses fit into the over arching story of restoration and forgiveness?

4. The last question I want to pose, is what does our belief on women in ministry say about our theology of God? We believe in Christ we are free from the power of sin and death, Christ is our strength in our weakness. Yet I have heard people say women cannot be pastors because they are the weaker sex, they are easily deceived since Eve sinned first. So in essence we are saying, God's grace is great enough to free men from their sin and their weaknesses but not women. God's grace only gets women to heaven. What are we saying about God with our belief on women in ministry? Does what we are saying about God with our belief in ministry match what we believe about God elsewhere?

Just some of my thoughts.