"I am working with a well-intentioned man who is considering becoming a part of our congregation. After exploring Wesleyan Doctrine, he is hung up on one thing- that we allow women in ministry. He believes that 1Timothy 2:8-15 is a clear Biblical prohibition against females in ministry"....click on the link below to read more from Pastor Mark O. Wilson's blog. You can either add comments to his blog or to this one.
"..when the true light shines and God's words take the place of man's traditions, the Doctor of Divinity who shall teach that Paul commands woman to be silent when God's Spirit urges her to speak, will be regarded much the same as we should now regard an astronomer who should teach that the sun is the earth's satellite."-Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army with her husbandI do not believe the day has yet come when this is the case that those who teach against woman speaking "when God's Spirit urges her to speak" will be considered out of step with reality. Yet, as we continue to pursue our call we may help to move the thinking and perceptions toward that goal.
"Some Christians have used this verse to justify the exclusion of women from significant participation in the life of the church. But the church is a society of the redeemed. The church should model the Orders of Creation and Redemption, not of the Fall. In creation, female and male are formed equally in the image of God. In Christ, the Redeemer and Lord of the church, there is neither male nor female. In the church, the body and bride of Christ, that should be the basis of polity and practice." -Joseph ColesonThe idea that we are part of a redeemed society should be a matter of celebration! Both male and female being made in God's image and then being redeemed fully back to that image is important to our understanding of the affirmation of women in ministry. So many times the sin of Eve, being the tempter, is used to show that women are weak and incapable of leadership. But we do not live under that curse! When people use the argument of Eve, the tempter, I need to remember that I am redeemed, and so are you! And so is our community of faith!
"I believe we have seriously misread the relevant passages in the New Testament, no doubt not least through a long process of assumption, tradition, and all kinds of post-biblical and sub-biblical attitudes that have crept in to Christianity." N.T. WrightThis, in fact, is the case when it comes to a discussion of whether women should be in the ordained ministry. I believe that assumptions and tradition have the strongest influence on how Scripture is used to exclude women from the ministry. People will call the ordination of women unbiblical and accuse us of not valuing what the Bible teaches. What they really mean is we don't follow their personal interpretation of what the Scripture says. They perceive that their interpretation is really the "truth". They claim to "take" the Bible literally and accuse us of not valuing Scripture. May we always attempt to enter into such discussions with humility and as learners. May we never claim to have a monopoly on the truth. May we always invite the Holy Spirit in and keep our spirits pure as we seek to follow God's leading in this matter. Sometimes, I find this difficult!
"seven Wesleyan Holiness denominations, whose primary objective is to enable women in differing stages of their ministry journey to discover a community of supportive and encouraging clergywomen from the Wesleyan Holiness movement."I encourage you to visit their website and consider going to the "Come to the Water" conference April 15-18, 2010.
