Who am I that I should withstand God?

As a result of Wesley's changing attitude about the role of female preachers in his movement and the testimony of many witnesses to the abundant fruit of their labor, the English Methodist Conference was eventually led to recognize officially a number of these exceptional women. In these later years, when Wesley was asked why he encouraged certain of his female devotees in this practice, the elderly sage replied simply, "Because God owns them in the conversion of sinners, and who am I that I should withstand God"-Chilcote, John Wesley and the Women, 182.

First Women's Rights Convention

Women’s Rights Meetings Held in Wesleyan Methodist Chapel-1848

"The first Women’s Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York, in July 1848, in the Wesleyan Methodist chapel. Four years later, when the New York State Temperance Convention refused to recognize delegates from the Women’s State Temperance Society or to hear Miss
Susan B. Anthony, Luther Lee defended the women’s right to participate. When his efforts to convince the conference failed, he opened his church, the Syracuse Wesleyan Methodist chapel, to the women for an evening meeting. The church was packed, while the convention was almost deserted." --Women in Wesleyan Ministry: A Brief History by Mari Gonlag

The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

In an earlier installment on this blog (1/29/09), I referred to the misconception called complementarianism. This position is taken by co-authors John Piper and Wayne Grudem of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: a Response to Evangelical Feminism. Dennis Bratcher of CRI/Voice Institute http://www.crivoice.org/index.html informs us about Wayne Grudem and the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood:

Wayne Grudem...happens to be the president of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. That organization, whose voice is primarily heard in opposing women's involvement in ministry, has roots deep in the Southern Baptist Convention. Basically, the position of this organization is that all problems in marriage and family come from a failure of the husband to be in charge. Note one of their statements of belief: "In both men and women a heartfelt sense of call to ministry should never be used to set aside Biblical criteria for particular ministries. Rather, Biblical teaching should remain the authority for testing our subjective discernment of God's will." In other words, God himself does not want women in ministry, and any who think otherwise, no matter how "heartfelt" their call, are simply wrong. -Dennis Bratcher

Miriam

"Sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea." -Exodus 15:21

Did you know it was Miriam, the sister of Aaron, who sang this verse that we sing in our worship songs? She sang it celebrating the victory of crossing the Red Sea.

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.