WOMEN SERVING AS PASTORS
THE USURPATION OF DIVINE ORDER
By: Victor T. Stephens
"People often claim to hunger for truth, but seldom like the taste when it's served up."
~ George R.R. Martin
INTRODUCTION
The number of women ordained as preachers and pastors is rising in today's church age. Some time ago, I was engaged in dialogue with a fellow believer and co-worker regarding the ordination of women into authoritative leadership positions in the church. That conversation prompted me to write this article.
In this article, I affirm that God exclusively ordained men to lead in the church assembly. Scripture is abundantly clear that God has established distinct roles for men and women in the home and the church. Unfortunately, the principle of leadership by men has become corrupted due to the infiltration of false church leaders, ignorance, and the secular feminist movement. Because my retort may not appeal to many, some people may not take kindly to my perspective.
In Genesis 3:1, 5, Satan says to Eve, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Satan deceived Eve into believing that she would be like God. Today, Satan and his ministers are employing the same methodology of deception. Unfortunately, like Adam, some men allow women to deceive and seduce them into believing this lie.
Many who are bent on promoting women pastors have maliciously chosen arguments concerning superiority, inferiority, and ministerial deprivation as a basis to push back against those who refute the ordination of women in ministry. Therefore, I will state for the record that this matter should not be confused with an issue of male chauvinism, prejudice, or the suggestion that men are superior to women. By no means are women to be marginalized to any second-class status. In Christ, women occupy the equivalent person-hood as men and bear God's image equally (Gen. 1:27). God created men and women thoughtfully variant from and complementary to each other. Functional role distinctions have nothing to do with superiority or inferiority but only with divine roles that God has appointed men and women to perform in the home and the church.
Women have made significant advancements in the gospel. It should come as no surprise that many narratives in the Bible plainly and effectively disclose the inherent gifts, values, and vital roles women played in the early church. For example, older women were encouraged to teach younger women (Titus 2:4-5). Priscilla and Aquila spoke privately to Apollos (Acts 18:24-26) and corrected the errors in his teachings. Some women played roles in the ministry of Paul (Rom. 16:1-16; Phil. 4:2-3). Likewise, women played roles in the ministry of Jesus Christ (Luke 8:1-3). At the upper room prayer meeting, women were among the disciples in prayer and supplication (Acts 1:12-14). Although women were created equally with men, possess spiritual gifts, and held a place of prominence in the expansion of the gospel, in the context of teaching and leading a church, the Bible is emphatic in upholding the male leadership principle. Women are never alluded to as pastors and preachers in the Bible.
While many women have the ability to teach, let's remember that there is a distinction between ability and responsibility. "Ability" does not always mean "authorization." God has placed the sole responsibility of authoritative teaching upon male leadership. In today's modern church age, women who hold the pastoral position have entered a domain of activity for which the Lord has never devised for them; and thus, have sinned by stepping out of God's divine order.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN’S ORDINATION
In the church, a state of discord brought about by the fall of Adam and Eve is causing women to vie for positions of authority over men. Christian feminists, contesting that women are equally capable of qualifying for the pastoral function in the church, is the major contributing factor to cultivating the idea that God permits women to teach in a position of having authority over men. Rather than being content with their God-given roles, feminists have used manipulative power plays against unconcerned and nerveless men to accomplish their desires.
Below is a list of some beginning dates for the ordination of women. Since the ordination of women began in the seventeenth century, this list is not all-inclusive.
1. In 1647, George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, ordained Margaret Fell (1614 - April 23, 1702) to the pastoral office. The Quakers subscribed to the egalitarianism perspective, that is --- there is an acknowledgment of equal worth for every individual, autonomous of their gender or class. Using this reasoning, they found it acceptable to ordain women to leadership positions within the church.
2. In 1853, the Congregationalist Church in Butler, New York, ordained Antoinette Brown (May 20, 1825 - November 5, 1921). She was a notable lecturer at many Women’s Rights meetings. In 1920, at the age of 95, she was the sole participant of the Women's Rights Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts, to observe the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote.
3. In 1863, there was the ordination of Olympia Brown (January 5, 1835 - October 23, 1926) by the Universalist Church. As a blossoming preacher, she devoted much time fighting for women's rights. She played a supportive role in the women's suffrage movement and was one of a small number of suffragists to vote in the 1920 presidential election.
4. In 1880, there was the ordination of Anna Howard Shaw (February 14, 1847 - July 2, 1919) by the Methodist Protestant Church. Along with accepting the pastoral office, she was a leading civil rights leader and a physician. Moreover, she was engaged in the temperance movement, serving as national superintendent of a franchise for the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She was one of the chief leaders in the women's suffrage movement, heading the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1904 to 1915. During World War I, she was the first woman awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for her work as chair of the Women's Committee of the National Council of Defense. In 2000, the induction of Shaw into the National Women's Hall of Fame took place in Seneca Falls, NY, the birthplace of women's rights. As an establishment in her honor, the building of The Anna Howard Shaw Center at the Boston University School of Theology served to advance and cultivate the practices of women's empowerment.
5. In 1889, there was the ordination of Louisa Woosley (March 24, 1862 - June 30, 1952) by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Three years later, Woosley published her book "Shall Woman Preach" which explained and defended the ordination of women. Woosley, believing that "God is no respecter of persons," associated women's ordination with equality of men and women.
6. In 1965, there was the ordination of Marjorie Matthews (July 11, 1916 - June 30, 1986) by the United Methodist Church. While serving the Wisconsin Episcopal Area, she attempted to "accustom people to the idea that either a man or a woman can be a bishop." Matthews was a strong advocate of women's empowerment, accentuating to women in her workshop, "There's nothing wrong with ambition. Where do you see yourself in the ministry ten years from now?" Her passion for her profession led her to seek the position of district superintendent. In 1980 Matthews was elected to the office of bishop at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference.
Again, this list is a small example to illustrate the ordination of women into leadership functions within the church. Today, there are thousands of women who occupy the pastoral position. Consider the following statistics:
1. The Assemblies of God have ordained approximately 4,000 women.
2. The Southern Baptist Church has ordained 1,225 women.
3. The United Methodist Church has ordained 4,743 women.
4. The Presbyterian Church has ordained 3,715 women.
5. The United Church of Christ has ordained 1,803 women.
6. The Evangelical Lutheran Church has ordained 2,358 women.
7. The Disciples of Christ Church has ordained 1,564 women.
8. The National Council of Churches reported that women ordained to the ministry in 1986 elevated from 10,470 in 1977 to 20,730 in 1986. The research indicated that 84 of 166 denominations ordained women to teach.
These facts give testimony to the apostasy that exists in our present time. A feminist ideology, which undermines and rejects scriptural compliance, is gaining strength within the church. Using a method typical to false teachers, many liberal and evangelical feminists have twisted and exaggerated their interpretation of Scripture while distributing anti-biblical maxims and secular truisms for self-fulfillment.
Interestingly, many professing Christian women say, "I want to serve God, I want to bring honor to God," but will deliberately violate God's command relating to divine authority in the home and the church. Ironically, in their efforts to gain leadership functions, so-called Christian feminists have defamed femininity by deprecating natural gender distinctions.
The dismissal and denial of the veracity of Scripture by representatives of the secular feminist movement have been unopposed by apprehensive, passive, and irresolute men in politically correct churches. Rather than possessing the spiritual and moral fortitude to exercise their role as leaders by confronting this issue, they have found it more convenient to conform to an infidelic and social agenda by adapting to a policy of theological liberalism. As a result, instead of adhering to God's Word, they have allowed many women to lead them into disobedience and sin.
Next: The Context of 1 Timothy 2:11-14 and 1 Corinthians 14:34-37
