Deaconess/foremother

Romans 16 is a letter of recommendation, the earliest letter of recommendation for a Christian minister, and it's written for a woman, Phoebe, who is, in the beginning of the chapter, said to have been a deacon, not a deaconess--but a deacon in the sense of a preacher, a minister--because Paul uses the same word for himself. He calls himself, in a number of instances, a deacon of the new covenant in 2 Corinthians. -HELMUT KOESTER

One of the common arguments against women in ministry is that the word deaconess is used when referencing women in the New Testament with regard to calling and gifts. This point of view defines deaconess as one who helps only, not one who leads. If women are always denoted as deaconesses and not deacons in the Scripture, then clearly they are not meant to be lead pastors or shepherds. However, this quote is from an article that refutes the idea that women cannot be preachers/ministers. The author makes the argument that translators have commonly interpreted the same word as deaconess for women and deacon for men.

So, it looks like Phoebe could and should be a role model for women. She is our foremother. By the way, my computer didn't recognize the word foremother. But it did recognize deaconess.

Hmmm....

I am neither

I am neither a man nor a woman but an author. -Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855)

Do you ever wish that you were not defined as a woman but rather as a minister?

The Woman Who Forgot to Live

The Woman Who Forgot to Live

First, I was dying to finish high school and start college.
And then I was dying to finish college and start working.
And then I was dying to marry and have children.
And then I was dying for my children to grow up and get out of the house.
And then I was dying to retire.
And now, I am dying…and suddenly I realize I forgot to live.

This is a reminder that we need to live now. We need to do what we need to do...now. Whether you are 28 or 82 it is time! As a woman in ministry, a woman considering ministry, a woman doing ministry, a woman considering doing ministry, a woman raising children, a woman going to school, a woman about to retire...it is time to do it now. Don't put it off. Don't wait until everything is perfect. Don't make excuses. Otherwise you will one day be dying and may realize you have missed your opportunity.

However, with this call to action, I must balance the above sense of urgency with a quote from the book I am reading for my last ordination course. Author Sherwood Lingenfelter quoting William McConnell in his book Ministering Cross-Culturing reminds us that time is a "gift from God, and that his priorities can always be fulfilled in the amount of time we have been given...God is lavish with his gifts, so that there is always enough time to do what Jesus calls us to do."

So, perhaps the thing to remember then is to not miss the opportunity given to us to do what Jesus calls us to do. He gives the time and the gifts. We just need to use God's gift of time while we are living.

I don't want to look back and realize I did not honor God's gift of time He gave to me.

Can a man represent Christ better?

One of the influences working against the acceptance of the ordination of women is the belief that a woman cannot represent Christ because she is not a man. People often express surprise and some even express disbelief when confronted with this idea. I believe we should be aware of the argument or it will take us by surprise. In his article "Did Christ rule out women priests?" The catholic priest and theologian, Father John Wijngaards, delivers the argument. In the end he refutes the argument.

It is true there is no explicit teaching in Scripture that restricts the priesthood only to men. How then, you may ask, can we deduce that women are excluded from the ministry? Such a conclusion can be arrived at, with practical certainty, from the combination of the following facts:
1. Jesus Christ chose only men to be his apostles. He obviously did this on purpose and so fixed a norm.
2. The Church always followed this example of Christ. Both in apostolic times and in later centuries only men have been ordained priests.
3. A priest is the sacramental sign of Christ's presence at the eucharist. A man can represent Christ better because Christ too was a man.-FATHER JOHN WIJNGAARDS

However, after a very lengthy article Father Wijngaards concludes his commentary this way:

The question: Did Christ rule out women priests? I have answered in the negative. The fact that Christ chose only men to function on his apostolic team was not determined by his own specific preference, but by the social pressure of his time. In the circumstances Christ could not have appointed women to a priestly task. But in no way did he at any time rule out the possibility of women being ordained priests. On the contrary, the priesthood he instituted is of such a nature that it breaks with all previously established human limits. -FATHER JOHN WIJNGAARDS

Was woman created in God's image? Can women represent God? These are questions we need to be prepared to answer. Perhaps I will write more about them...

Are we embarrassed?

As Methodism became established, following Wesley's death, there was clear embarrassment about the existence of women preachers (cf., Brown, women, p. 175) which led to the denial of ordination for women in the main Methodist church until the mid-twentieth century. While the early holiness "sects" were progressives, with as many as 25% of their clergy being female, this number dropped steadily as they became "churches." It is now closer to 5% (cf. Hardesty, et al., "Women in the Holiness Movement," pp. 244-46; and Dayton, Evangelical Heritage, pp. 97-8).-Randy Maddox's footnotes to his article WESLEYAN THEOLOGY AND THE CHRISTIAN FEMINIST CRITIQUE

The number has dropped in the Wesleyan Church. Is there reason to think it is because we are "embarrassed?"

89 year old female pastor

I just had lunch with a 89 year old female pastor who is currently the solo pastor of her church. She was ordained in 1947 and has pastored in one area for nearly 50 years. She has always been a solo pastor. She still has a strong sense of her calling. Although, she states that she has not experienced some of the obstacles some have, she acknowledges that she was a rarity even in her beginning days.

I left wondering what I could learn from her. I think the most significant thing to me is that she is still sure of her call. She does not look back, and certainly does not wonder (and likely has never wondered) if it is okay for her to preach the gospel.

While we were eating, she counted (on her fingers) how many female ministers in various denominations there are currently in her little town. Guess what? There are 7.

After almost 50 years of Rev. Betty Miller ministering in this small town, I don't think that is just coincidental!

How would his Disciples have ever known?

This excerpt might be helpful for those who think that the move to ordain women began in the 1960's as a result of the Feminist Movement. Margaret Fell Fox, wife of George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends/Quakers writes this article in 1666. After reading the excerpt click on the link below to read more of what she has to say about what the Scriptures say with regard to allowing, justifying and proving that women may 'speak'.

Women's Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures

"Notice this, you who despise and oppose the message of the Lord God that he sends by women. What would have become of the redemption of the whole body of mankind if they had no reason to believe the message that the Lord Jesus sent by these women about his resurrection? These women had received mercy, and grace, and forgiveness of sins, and virtue, and healing from him, the same that many men had also received. If the hearts of these women had not been so united and knit to him in love that they could not depart like the men did, but they sat watching, and waiting, and weeping about the tomb until the time of his resurrection and so were ready out of their tenderness and love to carry his message as it was revealed to them, how would his Disciples, who were not there, have ever known?"