The following post is from CBE and by Vaun Swanson, but I want to ask two questions on this Sunday. How many of you, in your church today had a woman preach, a woman teach, or a woman lead worship? Second, how many of you have a woman who has the title of “pastor”? I’m not including participating in a worship band. It doesn’t matter if we get 200 comments, but I’d like you simply to say “yes” or “no” and include an explanation if you think you have to.
Vaun Swanson (DMin), is the catalyst behind Pomegranate Place in Denver, Colorado. Having served in helping professions for the past thirty years, she recognizes both the challenges women face and the potential they have for changing our world for the better. Inspired by women in history, awakened by sisters in third-world countries, and grateful for awesome mentors, she offers opportunities for women to connect and grow. The following column is an excerpt from her chapter in Taking Flight: Reclaiming the Female Half of God’s Image Through Advocacy and Renewal.* * * * * * *
Why would the Christian community reject or fail to support well-trained female ministers when the apparent need for ministers is so great throughout the world? The Barna Research group has investigated gender differences in the American population. Among their findings women are more likely than men to read the Bible, attend church, pray, be born again, believe the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings, and describe themselves as “deeply spiritual.” Historically, women have been the backbone of churches. It is only logical that women would desire to attend seminary as a means of better equipping themselves for ministry. Because of the advances women have made in the non-church culture, however, women now expect the same level of respect, compensation, and leadership opportunities afforded men with similar training.
Unfortunately, the Christian culture in America is still struggling to accept women clergy. Even though women are more prevalent in seminaries, women clergy from every denomination continue to bump up against the “stained-glass ceiling” of longstanding limits, preferences, and prejudices. As part of a doctoral thesis project, I surveyed women who had graduated from a major evangelical seminary between 1996 and 2006. The percentage of female graduates finding appropriate ministry positions following graduation was shockingly low. In all, only thirteen percent of the women responding to the survey said they were working full-time in a ministry position, either within a church or a Christian organization in which they used their gifts and training and could unqualifiedly support themselves financially.
It is clear that American culture and the American church are following divergent paths regarding women. American culture is liberating women at the same time the church is systematically holding them back. Power struggles over what women can and cannot do are playing out in churches and denominations that are becoming more irrelevant to the culture-at-large every day. Seminary-trained women are caught in a vicious crossfire that very few anticipated when they responded to God’s call to become better equipped for ministry in the kingdom of God. Far too many good women are not finding ministry positions that will both utilize their training and abilities and support them financially. Rather than continuing to bang on the doors of these religious structures, women may need to work together to discover viable alternative ministry paths in which they can empower others and thrive in the use of their gifts and training. Trained female ministers are needed to address the serious spiritual, emotional, and physical issues women in America are facing in the twenty-first century. Women and men who believe this need to pull financial support from patriarchal and hierarchical Christian churches and organizations and invest it in those that affirm their equality. With God’s help, and the leadership of both female and male gifted ministers who have been set free, we can change our world for the better.
/yes, pastor on staff, but not senior pastor, delivered message this weekend
/yes, women “pastors” on staff
No, but we are between churches and currently hanging out with our local Catholics.
1. Did not teach or preach in the big gathering, but several women did teach bible classes that were for everyone. A woman did lead worship,
2. Yes, several women in the church with the title “pastor” but none of the elders are women.
No. We do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over men.
No. The bishop from our sister diocese in Rwanda was visiting and preached at both services. We do not ordain women as presbyters, only as deacons. We have one woman currently considering diaconal ordination.
Yes and yes for over 50 years as a denomination. Thankfully, not all of Christian culture struggles with this.
1. No. But last Sunday yes.
2. No
Two parts to my answer: No and no for the church I have attended for 30 plus years. No and yes for the church I am currently attending and love. This issue is the main reason I left. And it has nothing to do with authority over men but more to do with women using their giftedness. I believe God mourns his unused gifts.
Yes and No. We have a female worship director and a female missions director. Both of these positions could be considered “pastoral”, but I think that the church leadership has chosen to call them directors so that they don’t have to have the fight with more conservative church members. The elders are all men as is the Lead Pastor – and I don’t think that’s going to change.
Yes, a woman who is a member but not a pastor (a college prof) preached today.
Yes, there are women with the title “pastor” on our church staff. They each preach, though our current lead pastor is a man.
Our female senior pastor did lead services today
I should have said this in my post, the sermon was one of the best and most prophetic I’ve heard in some time.
(1) No, not today (but one of four on our teaching team is a woman and one of three worship leaders is a woman)
(2) Yes (one of four, soon to be two of five pastors in our community are women)
Good article, thanks for posting.
No, not today.
We have a male pastor but half of elders on session are women. Executive director (an elder essentially operating as executive pastor) is a woman. Previously worshiped at a church for ten years with a female solo pastor.
Yes//a woman led worship (ME!), No//no women hold the title of pastor in our church, at this time.
1. Yes.
2. No (small church plant, but as we look at creating multiple gatherings we are intentional about having women lead some of them).
1. Yes – if you count giving announcements and reading scripture. She did not preach or teach today.
2. Yes – we have a woman who is an associate pastor.
Yes and Yes. She does preach in rotation with others, but not this week.
No on both accounts.
No – my husband and I moved to a rural English village 4 months ago and joined a new community church. I have yet to hear a woman do the teaching/preaching.
No – there are no women on the leadership team (we don’t use the term “pastor”), but when the church started up 9 months ago there was an open vote for the leaders and apparently you were allowed to vote for women even though one or two church members were against it on principle.
Can I add another log to this fire?
http://sanctusblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/womens-ordination-unhelpful-and.html
Yes and yes (although we are complementarian in theology, and the elders are all men.)
1. Yes.
2. No.
1. No. I and another man share preaching responsibilities.
2. No.
1 No 2 No
But many times in the past women have filled each of the preach, teach, and lead worship roles. In addition we have both women elders and deacons and the denomination has female ministers as well. My question is how should women in these roles be phased in? Should we drive out members and congregations who disagree, as has happened in the past? This becomes a real issue for some who object to being served communion by a women. Is this an essence of the gospel issue?
Dave W
1. Yes (teach, not preach. We currently have one class for all adults, and it is led by a woman every week).
2. No. Would love to, but right now we’re limited by size and finances to just one pastor and, well, that would be me.
A woman led worship.
She’s not preaching this week (we meet in the PM) but my lovely wife is a pastor at our church. So no and yes.
In the our morning service the associate pastor preached (a woman) and a male lead worship. In the evening service it was the opposite.
No woman preached, taught, or led worship today.
No women with the title of pastor.
More – despite the fact that we are not complementarian in theology, in 18.5 years we have only had a woman teach/preach in a service twice in my experience. The board is split – usually 50/50 men and women and women have almost always participated in the serving of communion.
1) Not today, but it happens. She preaches a couple times a year.
2) Yes, and we dropped about 12% in attendance when we hired her as one of five pastors.
She’s wonderful and works hard and has to put up with a bunch of crap disguised as “theological/scriptural problems.” Just saying.
Yes to both questions! And very thankful to be a part of a Christian denomination (UMC) which has resolved it’s gender issues in regards to church & pastoral leadership.
1- No, not this week, however, we have had women lead worship and preach in the past.
2- Yes, we have 2 women with the title of Pastor
Nope, no female preacher today at the little country Baptist church where I attend.
And no, we don’t have a woman with the title of pastor or preacher or minister.
We have a woman who leads the singing of hymns out of the Baptist Hymnal, and women play the organ and piano. A woman sang the “special music” this morning.
We seem to have a fulfilling time of worship with hymn-singing, offering-giving and sermon-listening, even though we’re old-timey and have always had a man for a preacher.
Also, our church, small though it may be and led by a male pastor and male deacons, is sensitive to needs and reaches out to help our rural neighbors with food, clothing, school supplies and the like.
We’re backwards, perhaps, but we love the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we love our neighbors and try to help them when they need help.
Female Minister? Yes, but not the lead minister.
Female Lead worship? Yes, she is one of four leaders that rotate.
In a church that claims to be enthusiastically egalitarian, there are no women ‘pastors’ unless you count the children’s pastor. Woman rarely speak, and only occasionally lead worship.
My church should really practice what it says it believes.
yes, woman worship leader
no women pastor
No women lead today. We do have a woman on staff, who is a pastor, but does not fill that role in this church. We also have women as elders.
we have a woman Assoc. Pastor, she didn’t preach in our church today, but I think she preached at our sister church. She is a very gifted and in demand preacher.
Yes, a woman taught our Bible class this morning, and a woman also led worship.
Yes, we have a woman on staff as a Pastor (she is one of two full-time staff members), and she also preaches on occasion.
@gingoro — That’s a good question, about whether this is an “essence of the gospel” question or not. Some might have asked the same question regarding racial integration at one time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that that sort of situation is completely equivalent to the issue we’re discussing, but this is a question of justice.
Our pastors are a married couple who share the responsibilities of leading worship. They switch off each week — one presides over communion, one does the sermon, then they trade off the next week. So, yes, we have a woman pastor and she preaches, teaches and leads worship.
I grew up in a church that did not ordain women, and left it for that reason. Also I am glad to bring my daughter and son to a church where women’s gifts are welcome. Very different from what I grew up with!
How many of you, in your church today had a woman preach, a woman teach, or a woman lead worship? Second, how many of you have a woman who has the title of “pastor”?
Yes — lots of women teach, preach and lead worship in our community — and not just as Sunday school teachers. Women participate in / lead worship every Sunday without fail.
Yes — we have a female pastor on staff (she’s my supervisor and she’s awesome) and she preaches regularly.
Yes and yes.
Sermon today was from a non-ordained woman on staff (in University ministry) who preaches 2-3 times a year.
Of our 5 ordained pastors (currently an interim Senior Pastor and 4 Associate Pastors), one of the Associate Pastors is a woman. She was a first when we hired her about 6 years ago (though we’ve had female Elders for over 50 years), and a few of our more fundamentalist-leaning people left over that.
for the 1st question:
yes we have
second question
we don’t believe in title of “pastor”
so we don’t have female pastor
but neither have we male pastor
we simply don’t have “staff”, … and won’t have…
Yes and Yes. Although this was my week to preach, I led worship with two women. One, my wife, is the Co-Pastor with whom I share leadership and preaching responsibilities.
No and No — they want longer comments, so I had to had this sentence
1. Yes: woman leading worship and a woman sharing the pulpit today.
2. No, not currently.
1. No, but they have in the past.
2. No, they are allowed to lead life groups. But not preach.
1. no
2. no, probably will not happen for many years, sadly.
We have women on the leadership team (elders), though.
Yes to both. The pastor of the church I attend and today’s guest preacher were women. Both ordained new Elders and Deacons in a lovely and powerful service. I am very lucky.
guess Barna’s numbers are off again. Yes and yes! We have 1 man on session, same guy teaches bible study. Also, 1 male deacon
no and no.
and probably never will…
1) No–not this week, but we do often
2) Yes–I am a co-pastor of the church with my wife
No and No. Haven’t been at this church long enough to know how likley or unlikley the answer would ever be Yes.
no, but you should have asked last week, as we had a woman in the pulpit.
No, on both counts. While we do believe that God calls women to a variety of ministries, we believe the Bible limits the pastoral office to qualified men. We also follow 1 Timothy 2:12′s instructions on who can preach to the gathered assembly.
1 woman pastor. She did not preach today, but baptized people.
Yes, female Praise and worship Pastor.
A woman didn’t preach today; our lead pastor did, as he was introducing a new sermon series. However, two female staff pastors (one being me) are scheduled to teach during the sermon series that started today, which is on doctrines of the church. Three women helped to lead worship (multi-generational at that, too. LOVE IT!)
We have two female pastors on staff; I am one of them.
Yes, but I believe she transcends maleness or femaleness when in that capacity.
Lou Barba
Yes, woman preach and pastor. UMC
Today we had a woman as worship leader and a woman served as an elder at the Lord’s Table. Our intern minister is a woman and she offered the Pastoral Prayer and the Benediction. Later today another woman elder gave the meditation at the worship service we provided at a Nursing Home. That is today — and that is normal.
Although I’m the current pastor, and male, the interim pastor who proceeded me and the last called pastor before me were both women. In addition, one of the two Co-Regional Minister for Michigan comes from our congregation and is a woman.
Yes, we have a woman pastor, whose husband is our other pastor. He does most of the preaching, and she does most of the pastoral care. Though these lines are crossed. He did preach today. And she led in the pastoral prayer, which is actually probably considered just as an important part of the service as the message/sermon, or close to it–without taking away from the value and importance of the message at all.
1) No, not today. But yes, women have preached from the pulpit in the past.
2) Yes. Two female pastors, although neither are the “lead”.
No, not that theres anything wrong with that
Today, at least for the I to, there weren’t any women in leadership, but we are a small church, and people (women included) have the freedom to volunteer to lead in several positions. Our earlier service (which is in the mother tongue) does tend to have women lead worship. ‘Pastor’ is formally reserved for ordained people only (both genders are ordained in our denomination); others get the director or minister title. I will be preaching next month (I’m not official staff, though I am a deaconess).
When I was young, our senior pastor was a woman and mom of 3. She was eventually fired, I found out years later, because people did not feel she had enough experience with counseling people with spiritual or relationship problems. So, it wasn’t a biased decision that led to that change, but a mismatch in need and skills.
No. No women “pastors” though several women are clearly in leadership positions and active during worship (worship team, band, etc).
We have three male Pastors and a Lead Pastor’s wife who is employed in the area of design and counseling.
Yes, female Elder led worship. We have 3 women with the title of Pastor (one is children’s leader) We have had females preach in the past. Our denomination (South Australian Baptist) has had equality in ministry since 1975.
A woman regularly leads worship in our church and did so today, but we have no women pastors.
No & No for the church visited in our new hometown, today.
However, I give credit that both the male pastors greeted me and welcomed me when, after they inquired, I said we were new here & that I’ve been a hospice chaplain & had an MDiv. That said, I’ve noted that a woman working as a chaplain doesn’t usually make men and pastors squirm & feel threatened as much as when I teach or preach.
1. Yes – and the entire worship team this morning was male.
2. Yes – and I’m it (the sole and female pastor).
Prior to this denomination and my training, I was part of a church that did not even allow women to usher, or read scripture.
But little boys could do both. !!!
No to both questions.
I assume by teaching you meant from the pulpit and not in Christian Ed. In that arena we have several women teaching.
3 years after serving as an elder, the topic of women as elders is now being questioned by some in our church. I also happen to be seminary-trained.
For my own church (PC(USA)), this question missed us by one week, as we had one of our interns (our current pastoral intern, for what it’s worth) preach last week. But we don’t have any females currently with the title of “pastor.” And I doubt that giving the “Children’s Sermon” (which that same person did, this week) would count for the purposes of what the questioner is trying to get at.
My wife, on the other hand, was recently ordained to the Episcopal priesthood just over a month ago, and did in fact give the sermon at her church today, so we can go with that.
No on both questions.
1) Yes. My wife and I are both ordained. On a normal Sunday I’ll preach while she does everything else. That’s more a reflection on our individual abilities and the time we have to devote to Sunday morning prep during the week.
2) We don’t use the title ‘pastor’ in our denomination but the answer is essentially ‘yes’ and we have done for over 130 years.
No women preachers or worship leaders today.
We do not have any women “pastors,” but our Director of Children’s Ministry and our Director of Women’s Ministry are women.
No. But we are a new church start and I am the only pastor/teacher for now. We have had female worship leaders in our pre-launch stage and will certainly have women teach at some point. We are a United Methodist church and absolutely support women in every ministry role.
1. yes, I preached today and I am a woman seminarian who attends my home church while I work on my MDiv.
2. Yes, our one pastor is a woman.
Yes– a woman led the worship today
No- we do not have a woman “pastor” though women pastors have preached in our church.
I never sat under one.
We have a woman pastor at our church, but not a preaching pastor. I think she’s given one or two sermons.
Yes, lead pastor.
Yes, guest pastor preaching this morning.
Yes, worship leader
No female pastor but our denomination has several and has been open to ordination of women from the start.
Female worship leader (me)
no, nil, nada… no way! They can take up the offering, seat people and, of course, they can teach children. It’s even seldom that a woman is called on to pray in our Bible Study class. Uhm…why do I go there?
First question Yes
Second question No
Yes! and Yes!. Outstanding husband/wife co-pastors.
No. It’s not Biblical.
“A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” (1 Timothy 2:11-12)
Yes on worship leading.
Yes on pastoral staff but we don’t really call anyone ‘pastor’ that much (or any other title). Unless it gets us out of a speeding ticket…
Yes on a woman leading worship.
No on the other questions – although we would not have a problem with a woman teaching/preaching.
Yes and Yes. My wife and I are both seminary trained pastors and she’s a far better pastor than I.
1) not today
2) yes, but her title is “Minister of Christian Nurture,” not “pastor,” though she does plenty of pastoring.
Sadly no and no.
How many of you, in your church today had a woman preach, a woman teach, or a woman lead worship? Yes
Second, how many of you have a woman who has the title of “pastor”? Yes
Great set of questions… a year ago the answer to both questions would have been no. As a church we have taken huge steps in this area, but it has been painful.
To God be the glory.
No, a woman did not preach or teach. Yes, a woman led worship. Yes, there is a woman on staff with the title pastor.
1. Yes, a woman taught
2. No, I don’t think so, but our official titles aren’t the typical ones. If they were, I think my answer would be yes.
No and no
I have to type extra words b/c the comment was too short
1. Yes. I preached today. I preach 2 or 3 times a month in two different churches.
2. Yes. I am the solo minister in the church.
1. No. I’m Orthodox. The worship leader is the priest at the altar, and a priest usually gives the homily. But women do give homilies in Orthodox churches in the US, with the blessing of the bishop and the parish priest. Orthodox seminaries have plenty of female professors, who instruct the seminarians in any subject for which they are qualified.
2. In the last church I was in before being received into Orthodoxy, the senior pastor was female. I believe that for Protestants, there are no scriptural restriction on women doing anything for which they are obviously gifted, from an open life and God-honoring character.
Dana
Yes, 2 of our 3 pastors are female and both preached today.
However the results are skewed because we won’t attend a church where woman aren’t leaders — I am raising a daughter.
Yes and yes. Pastor is a woman. She was at a retreat teaching our youth group (4 young women). And her fill-in in the pulpit was a woman this morning.
And my mother, until she died, was the Mennonite equivalent of a bishop over a number of churches.
So…women in ministry? Not a problem here.
No to a women teaching, preaching, or leading worship.
No to a woman pastor.
Wish I could say YES to both. Many years ago our church leadership decided that women could teach and preach, but could not be elders or pastors. The teaching/preaching has never happened, however. We have had women worship leaders. When I broach the subject of women in our church teaching, it is quickly squashed. I will most likely become an elder soon; I’ll have to prayerfully consider if/when to raise these issues again of teaching/leading/pastoring again.
Yes – Female Worship Pastor led worship today. Our congregation voted to change our policy from no female pastors or elders to Yes in 2007. We now have two women on our board.
We have a woman who frequently leads worship in the worship band. No female pastors or elders though (although our denomination (Evan. Cov) allows them.
At the church I currently attend:
Yes – a woman preacher this week.
Yes – women pastors on staff. (A woman serves as Senior Pastor as well as the Associate Pastor).
At my previous church (where I was lead pastor):
We didn’t have any women as teaching pastors (we had a woman worship pastor), but had women preach about 4-6 times a year (lay preaching ministry, guest preachers).
Yes. A woman led part of today’s worship service. This is the case about 3/4 of the time for our church. (We usually have 2 worship leaders in addition to the pastor in each service.)
No female pastors on staff currently, but we have had female clergy on staff in the past and have ordained many women ministers and deacons for over 40 years now. Over half of our current deacons are female.
How many of you, in your church today had a woman preach, a woman teach, or a woman lead worship? Second, how many of you have a woman who has the title of “pastor”?
1. Yes…we have women that lead songs as part of the worship team and we have women that teach in our Bible studies (both individually and with their husbands.)
2. No…we have one pastor (our senior pastor) and all other positions are ministers to specific areas which include women. Our church convictionally believes that the office of pastor is to be held by men. We put a lot of time, study, and prayer into this decision and didn’t take it lightly.
Thanks
Yes, led singing. Also prayed.
No, no female pastors or elders at our church. I disagree strongly with that stance.
1. No.
2. No.
We are a large Christian & Missionary Alliance church in California.
For clarity(#105), I disagree with my church’s stance of not allowing women any role in leadership.
Yes, led the singing. No we do not have a female pastor on staff.
No! In our church women only allowed to teach the “less importent part of the male congregation” – the kids… the future male leaders of our church!… I hope they will recognise one day the schizophrenic nature of that practice and do it better.
Yes! Our church invited a female seminary student to preach to a church for the very first time in her career, and a woman also led the worship.
Yes! About a year ago, our church voted to have two pastors, one of them a woman, without naming one of the two as senior pastor. The woman was already serving as a pastor because she is the wife of the male pastor. But now we no longer have a pastor and his wife–we have two pastors and they happen to be married to each other.
Women lead worship.
We have a woman on the pastoral teaching team, but I’d prefer we did not.
I am afraid that this conversation often neglects an undergirding current that is at work in the egalitarian movement. Regardless of one’s stance on the issue, I am concerned when we start using words such as “empowerment” or “liberation” when Jesus and the Apostles seemed hardly at all concerned with entitlement like we are–in fact, they were concerned with quite the opposite.
We don’t have a female pastor, we did have a woman lead worship and one teach yesterday
Yes – leading worship this week, but no problem with preachers.
No – but not through dogma – who knows (well, He does) who we will choose as pastor next time.
Thanks for the questions, Scot.
Yes and yes: I am the sole pastor of our Baptist church (in New Plymouth, New Zealand) and I preached yesterday (I do about 75% of the preaching).
No woman pastor on staff currently — though there had been one who transferred mere weeks before we began attending regularly last summer. The director of Christian Ed, Music, and Youth Ministry are all women. The denominational policy (UMC) is open to women in preaching/teaching/leadership positions.
Yes…pastor Karen is awesome!
No, and there’s no chance they ever would, unfortunately.
I graduated from seminary in 2007, ordained in 2009. Fortunately I am United Methodist, so finding a church to serve has never been an issue. I am senior pastor (of a good size church), yes – I preached and I taught yesterday.
no/yes. We meet in an organic “simple” church fashion. There is no pulpit preaching period, male or female. There are no titles such as pastor. We ate grilled chicken, sat around an outdoor fire pit (so. Florida) and shared needs and prayed for one another. Someone (a male) felt inspired to read Psalm 51.
imho the whole gender thing is an unecessary issue that arises when we use liturgical or reformed-business models of congregation.
If churches choose to function like modern business corporations … they should also adopt modern business values regarding gender… female CEO’s = female senior “pastors”
1. No
2. No
There are women on staff but none with the title of pastor. There are no women worship leaders at this time; there have been in the past. The elders and deacons are all men.
On an added note, if you compile this information, could you share it with us? thanks!
@John (#112)– What if it’s not about entitlement, but about justice… something God was and is very concerned about? Just a thought.
In answer to Scot’s questions: yes and yes. I work alongside a female lead pastor (Brethren Church). She and I both preach (she most of the time). I am the worship pastor, and also oversee our mission/missional ministries. We have equal gender representation in our leadership community.
Yes, our interim Senior Pastor preached yesterday.
Yes, a woman preached. Yes, she’s the senior pastor. And yes, she did a phenomenal job.
1 – Yes
2 – Yes
We had a woman preach yesterday, and a different woman the week before. Both have the title “pastor” although we are not always so committed to actually using titles.
Preach– no. But she did preside at the Eucharist.
Priest on staff– yes– my wife! She is also chaplain for the school related to the parish so she leads worship weekly multiple times, and is part of the regular preaching rotation on Sunday mornings as well.
No, our assoc. pastor, a man, preached. But the senior pastor, a woman, preached the Sunday before and will preach next Sun.
1. Yes. 2. Yes.
Yes and Yes. We are a small church with a married couples (both Princeton Sem grads) as our pastors. She generally leads worship while he preaches, although once per month he leads worship and she preaches.
Peace,
Randy Gabrielse
Yes, a female pastor preached the sermon and yes a female worhip leader led the service. We have one women pastor on staff but not the senior pastor. We have a staff of five and all but the senior pastor are female. I am a member of a Evangelical Covenant Church.
Yes – I think this counts- Children’s Pastor presided over baby/child dedications with short lesson on what it means
Yes – Children’s pastor
My answer is yes for all of the above.
Yes.. and yes. I am the pastor and while I didn’t preach yesterday our guest preacher was also female.
Yes and Yes.
-I tried to send this comment just as “Yes and Yes” but it told me my comment was too short. So instead of adding my church story I’m telling you this story. We’ll see if it works this time.
Yes–woman preache
No–currently between pastors (previous one a woman)
no women pastors
no women preaching
no women elders or deacons (not allowed)
In addition, Knox Seminary run by the church does not allow women to enroll in the MDiv or DMin programs! I am allowed to and am taking classes as a “special student” for my MDiv equivalency as I am in the DMin program at Gordon-Conwell.
I do want to add what happened this week. I was in the library talking to a fellow student when the Dean came in and was taking to him about some work he was doing for the Dean, tuition adjustment, pay, etc. I jokingly said, “have any work for me to do?” Without batting an eye he said (and I am serious) “I probably have some typing you could do.” I have a MA and am an Adjunct Professor at another university and he says typing???? Oh, how I wish I were somehwere else!
Briefly,
1. Yes
2. No
No and No. We do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over men. From David at Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Ndola, Zambia.
Yes and Yes, thank the Good Lord, because the Holy Spirit is alive and well in my church and instucting us on how to interpret the Bible: what teachings are for all time and what are only for particular instances the early church encountered.
By the way, gotta love it when those with power lecture those without power on how bad it is that they feel entitled to have a voice.
yes and no (unfortunately)
No, but we are open to it; have had two consecutive women pastoral interns. I believe our Palmer Seminary is training as many women as men now, and the preaching classes I teach are generally gender balanced.
Attended a worship gathering last night where the senior pastor preached an impactful message. She has been the senior pastor there for 30 years! My wife and both commented that she delivered the sermon with such depth and empathy! Her church is Runnymede United Church in Toronto Canada.
No (though women preach/often, just not this Sunday)
Yes (led worship, which is MORE than just the music)
*comment above should read “preach/teach often…”
Yes, the pastor that spoke at my church yesterday was a woman — and did a fantastic job, I might add.
Yes, she carries the title of pastor
This is unusual, though, in the Denver area.
In my research I discovered that the two largest Christian denominations in the U.S. are the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Conference. Neither of these groups honors the full gifting of women. For women seeking vocational ministry positions, the United Methodist Church has the highest percentage of female ministers.
I have personally moved beyond Hierarchical churches, but meet regularly with women who have been wounded by churches or Christian organizations. The damage this inflicts on their faith is tremendous. All too many leave Christianity behind as they pursue alternative spiritualities that embrace women. When women make up roughly 60% of the church population, I think church leaders are naive to consider this just a “women’s issue.”
Yes to all. Senior pastor is male, two associate pastors are female.
1. No
2. No. In our denomination women can’t be pastors
No, a woman did not preach a sermon in the main service this weekend. We have only had a woman preach (solo) one time in the main service and that was a few months ago. We do have two female “pastors” but they oversee the high school and college ministries. To my knowledge, they do not perform any marriages or conduct any memorial services. And it is only recent that the pastoral team has been actively working to implement inclusive language.
Yes and Yes. Our senior pastor is a woman (Methodist, ordained) and she led the service this Sunday. Our associate pastor is also a woman (Methodist, ordained, a retired senior pastor from another state, who is an unpaid volunteer) and she will be speaking next Sunday.
David,
Do women publicly prophesy at your church?
Do women publicly pray at your church?
These were gathering actions.
Do women, like Priscilla, at least with their husbands, teach men foundational doctrines?
Are women, like Junia, considered apostolic in your church?
I am a female and the pastor of Grandview Covenant and have been there for 7 years. They have a history of women pastors and women preaching in their pulpit! So blessed!
We have women preach, teach and lead worship.
We don’t have any women elders, but I am open to it.
Yes; female taught men/women Sunday School and sometimes ministers to general congregataion. As Pentecostals we’ve never had a problem with female ministers. It would be awesome if people would honestly reexamine the scriptures on this subject. Keep all verses in context and leave out bias.
No; and no;
But we would be open to either, and women have been on pastoral staff in the past and preach on a regular basis.
Mimi Haddad, president of CBE is a member of our parish.
Yes. My evangelical-Mennonite church frequently has female preachers on our rotating preaching team. And, yes, we have had a woman on staff who has had the full title of ‘pastor.’
1. Yes!!
2. Yes!!!!
yes,but I’m called a “lay minister” which sounds a lot like temple prostitute to me.
Yes–Our deacon (Anglican) is a woman and she preaches about half the time.
Not this past Sunday but we have multiple women on staff and they preach often. And yes, they are called pastors and are considered equal to men on staff. We even have several husband/wife teams on our staff. The women that have a preaching gift and calling are considered equal parts of the preaching team. And I too live in Denver. BTW, know Vaun well for many years and can attest to both her giftedness and the purity of her spirit as she presses forward against the male hierarchical structure of the church.
1) I hear your first question asking – Did a woman teach men in any context? YES
2) NO
I don’t think I’d say – “Unfortunately, the Christian culture in America is still struggling to accept women clergy.”
The argument isn’t about Christian culture is it? Though culture influences – I’d hope we would talk scripture and not begins with words like liberation and oppression.
Where can a conversation begin if that is how you color the argument? You have cast out anyone who disagrees as an oppressor. Please correct me if I am reading too much into the article.
A woman did not preach yesterday, but it does happen.
Our children’s pastor is a woman (and she has authority in the role).
Our church allows women elders, but has never had a woman head pastor.
@ RDH comment 34
You are not backwards, and the fact that you feel that way is a manipulative tool used by many on the egalitarian side to try and sway you to their side.
Take courage and heart in that your church maintains Biblical convictions. Your church is not backwards, but faithful to what the Bible teaches about the role of men and women.
1. No. Our male lead pastor spoke today, but I, female, have preached and am considered to be on our teaching team.
2. Yes, we have two females, including myself, who have the pastoral title. We also have two women on our elder board.
1. Yes
2. Yes. Sr. Pastor
No women were allowed to speak up front at the service I attended this past Sunday. The church I serve does have a woman pastor and she preaches monthly or more often, teaching regularly in Adult Ed. as well. We do not have any women worship leaders.
1.Yes! I taught yesterday at all 3 services…
2. Yes! We tend to only call our three ordained teachers “pastor” but I call myself a teaching pastor because that is the best descriptive phrase for what I have been doing at our large church for over a decade.
I had several people comment yesterday that this was the first time they had ever heard a woman teach … And they liked it!
I happen to be one of the 13% of women who has received a full time call. I recognize that this is not the norm and seek to encourage other women as much as I can to pursue their call to ministry.
I have also formed a unique ministry called Missio Lux that has a structure of dispersed missional communities. They are organic, flexible and inexpensive to start. I am delighted that they have provided women a place of significant ministry without having to walk through the discouragement of “being called by a church institution.” Missio Lux empowers both women and men to respond to God’s call on our lives and brings a balance between the male and female ratio of Christian leaders.
one woman led singing
second woman led prayer time
third woman read scripture
man led confession
pastor preached
Yes–Woman priest/rector preached as she does most Sundays.
Preach/Teach/Lead Worship? Multiple YES: this and probably every week women teach one or more of our (mixed gender adult) classes, and have key leadership in at least one of our worship services.
Pastor? YES, currently one of our 4.
Encouraging to see the number of “Yes” (and even the “No, but…”) responses. Glad to have spent my adult life among traditions (UMC, Evangelical Quaker; Church of God-Anderson) that take this seriously.
Yes, the female priest/rector preached.
Yes – 4 member teaching team / 1 woman regularly “rotates” in for 6 services.
Not yet – one woman in seminary on ordination track to become “pastor”
Yes to both… I was raised in the AG with a woman pastor at a young age. Have always had women deacons/elders, worship leaders, and teachers.
Scot: I’d be happy to compile this thread into some statistically meaningless but potentially interesting graphs, if you aren’t already doing so.
Colleen, let’s see what you find. Thanks.
no and no. never.
we talk about valuing seminary for women but some of my friends who want to get an education are rightly worried they won’t be able to get a job because our denomination does not allow women ministry jobs.
@KrisAnne S. Doesn’t seem that God included roles of service as a matter of justice in the Bible, does it KrisAnne? It seems a bit ridiculous when you think about it that way. On the same terms I could say, “It is unjust that I too cannot be President” even if I am qualified.
Has a woman preached at my church? – No
Has a woman taught? – Yes (including teaching men)
Has a woman led worship? – Yes. A woman leads the music service (which is what I assume is meant by leading worship) in one of our alternative music venues. This includes public prayer.
Does a woman hold the title of “pastor”? No. And this surprised me. Only our senior pastor and associate pastor are referred to specifically as “pastor” while our other staff members are referred to as “minister,” as in minister of education, music, youth, men, etc. But after checking, I note that all of the women on staff are referred to as “director.” I had never noticed this until checking as a result of this question, but there does appear to be a distinction being made. Hmmm…this should not surprise me as our church is SBC, but it does a little. My church is making progress in this area I believe. A woman teaching men is a relatively new thing in our church and I am quite sure that some folks simply are unaware of it or there would be some objections to that. Sigh…
Btw, the above answers all apply specifically for this past Sunday as well. In reviewing I realized I wasn’t clear on that.
Yes but ONLY in Children’s ministry (no other roles). Our leadership is not opposed to women teachers in the church, but sadly our local culture still is.
Yes, yes, yes and yes. So what’s the problem?
Also is it just the American church that has a problem? I think not. Do you mean “western church” when you say “American church”? I just talked to some friends from Norway and they seemed to have some restrictions on women in their churches. Norwegians aren’t Americans.
Why do we keep debating this? It’s getting boring and I am becoming desensitized to the whole thing. I am beginning to tune out the illogic and whining.
Jason #163….Thank you for your comment. I suspect that we disagree on the interpretation of some scripture. Both the egalitarian and complementarian exegesis are out there for people to consider. We can argue ’til the cows come home and neither of us will likely change our minds. My point is that God is calling women to become trained and equipped for ministry and they need to find a context in which to use their gifts and training……and it may not be the local church or a Christian organization. When a woman (or man, for that matter) stands before God on judgment day and is asked what they did with the talents they were given, I don’t think “Religious leaders told me not to use them because of my gender” is going to be an adequate response. Just like the early disciples who were sent out into various towns and villages, when they were rejected they were told to shake off the dust and move on. Our world needs all of what Christian women have to offer. It hurts when we are rejected or don’t get support from those we are closest to — our Christian brothers and sisters. But that should not stop us from being obedient to what God has called us to do. Ultimately, that is all that matters.
No and No. Complementarian and following the outline for teaching in a gathered assembly found in 1 Timothy 2:12.
I’ve done some statistical analysis. The very short version:
Question 1: 104 yes, 70 no
Question 2: 87 yes, 83 no
The long and graphed version can be found here.
Question 1: Had a woman preach for the first time a couple weeks ago (guest preacher for now).
Question 2: No women pastors as of yet.
BTW: To Jordan, #187. See this post by Prof. John Stackhouse on what 1 Tim 2:12 “clearly” says (or doesn’t say):
http://stackblog.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/i-tim-215ff-gender-and-just-obeying-what-scripture-clearly-says/
D.C. Stackhouse isn’t talking about 1 Tim 2:12.
James Gibson @#21 pretty much nails the problem here. IF you look at the overwhelming majority of those that yes to preaching you see dying liberal denomination (e.g. United Methodist), some of which are seeing evangelical uprisings because the evangelical factions are tire of having the result of a worldly culture shoved down their throats, or independents with few ties to anyone to keep them orthodox.
I’ve looked at the same arguments that Scott uses to support women in pulpit ministry and have found them deeply lacking both philosophically and, most importantly, biblically.
Having said that, there is nothing wrong with women leading worship. Worship is a form of prayer and you are not taking any sort of authority over anyone in doing that.
Larger questions of church leadership (eldership and the formal diaconate) are also answered by Paul, and in no uncertain terms. If you can show me a woman who can be the husband of one wife, then you’ll have a case. Cherry picking things, like Stackhouse above contributes nothing.
Preaching – absolutely not!
Worship – yes
we regulary have a woman preach. there are four main people who speak on Sundays and one of them is female. we have a couple who are paid full time by the church and they are two of the preachers. other people speak as well and that could just as easily be a woman as a man.
we haven’t had a woman lead worship for some time. i think that is just because none have asked to for some time. we would be very open to it.
we don’t use the term pastor as a title. we see it as a function and encourage people to take the initiative in showing pastoral care to one another. our housegroups do have lead couples (and one single woman) who try to ensure that everyone is cared for
we do however use the term elder. i think we might just stop short of calling a woman an elder – although i am sure that this as been blurred a little by the couple being refered to as elders. but that might have been a mistake! this isn’t something we would make a big deal about.
sorry that answer is a bit long but i felt it needed quite a bit of explanation. hope it is helfpul in your survey
Preaching – NO. Worship – Yes. We are on a journey in our church. Glacial.
Neither my current Catholic church or the United Methodist congregation I grew up in have any female ministers (although at my
Methodist church both the District Superintendent and Bishop were women).
I think besides culture at seminaries etc you also have to look at self-selection. Most of the women I know who are serious about their faith want to get married and have kids or have already done so. They aren’t interested in any kind of full-time career, ministry or otherwise. This is true of my Catholic, Protestant/Evangelical, and Mormon friends.
And I don’t think that’s bad-our hearts tell us what social science data confirms-that children thrive under the care of a stay-at-home mom. Can other arrangements produce wonderful kids? Of course-but it makes it much more difficult.
Marriage and motherhood are serious callings from God and we shouldn’t attempt to dissuade Christian women from carrying them out to the best of their ability by guilting them into think the churches desperately need them in full-time ministry.
Yes/woman on pastoral staff – assistant pastor and youth pastor, senior pastor male.
Both pastors occasionally preach. Also head worship leader is single, female in her late thirties.
Women regularly come in as guest speakers, but far more men than women.