Women in Leadership

This article is the first in a series about women in leadership that is intended to help us take proactive steps in practicing our theology more faithfully.

Women in Leadership

by Doug Talley

I remember the gender wars of elementary school. As kids looking for validation of our worth, we guys would declare that we were the superior gender and, of course, the girlswould make the same claim. We’d argue back and forth, but I don’t remember anyone ever winning. The arguments led to tension but not to resolution. By the time we got into middle school or high school, we readily abandoned those arguments. But thatdoesn’t mean that gender bias went away.

As I work with congregations who are searching for a pastor, I find that gender bias isstill alive and well… unfortunately. I don’t generally get pushback on the idea of women being a church board member (I sometimes wonder if that is due to need to fill a board slot with a warm body rather than an actual embracing of women in leadership.), but I do regularly encounter people who have a problem with a female pastor – especially if that person is going to be their female lead pastor.

This isn’t just a male gender bias. I usually get as much reservation from women asmen, and the resistance isn’t necessarily age related. In a day where women are CEOsof successful corporations and are in various other leadership capacities, the resistance strikes me as peculiar and either uninformed or a bit naïve. What does gender have todo with a person’s ability to lead or be used by God to make a Kingdom difference?

In the patriarchal culture of the Bible, women led and led effectively – and with God’s calland blessing. The Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, are replete with stories of women in leadership. Miriam was part of the leadership team (with Moses and Aaron) that led the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage. Deborah was a female judge (someone serving as leader and prophet before Israel had its first king) who led a successful counterattack against the forces of an enemy nation. Esther provided key leadership in preventing the genocide of the Jewish people back in the day of King Xerxes. Priscilla teamed with her husband to provide valuable leadership to Christ followers and congregations. There are scores of other women referenced in the Scriptures. In addition many women in the Church of God heritage have and are providing valuable, God-inspired leadership at various levels – including lead pastor.

In our tribe (Church of God), women in leadership and ministry have been part of our earliest history and practice. Women and men were captured by the vision of living a holy life, being one with all Christians and actively spreading the Gospel message. Our heritage is loaded with women who were very effective in preaching, leading, and other areas of ministry.

I am thankful to have a church heritage that affirms and values women in ministry, women in leadership, and female pastors. Yet, I have been embarrassed that this affirmation is often times more in theory or history than current practice. As I work with congregations across Indiana, I find that some have imported a bias against women in leadership from other tribes. I hear search teams say they are not open to a female pastor. While we have a history of valuing women in leadership, women often find it very difficult to be placed in a ministry position as a pastor, especially lead pastor. We have got to get our act together by addressing belief and placement inconsistencies.

I have to confess that I’ve been passive in both confronting and trying to change theresistance. I’ve worked with a number of women leaders who made gender a non-issue because of their spirit, capability and skill. I’ve naively thought that over time people would notice that the call to leadership and ministry is not gender based. But, alas, I realize I had my head in the sand. It appears that for some it is about gender. And examples of capable women do not sway their thinking. I cannot support that perspective.

I’ve repented of my mistaken assumption that people seeing capable women in leadership will erase their bias against women in leadership. (My conclusion is there are plenty of examples of God-anointed women leaders but the bias continues.) I’ve also repented of my passive position of letting people oppose women in leadership because of their personal preference or prejudice. It is time to call that what it is –sinful. It is a symptom of gender prejudice and is not rooted in Scripture or biblical truth.Like any sin, it needs to break our hearts, be confessed, repented of, and turned from. And then we must behave differently.

I need to apologize to my sisters in Christ for not more actively supporting their calling to leadership and ministry. Sisters, please hear that I’ve never doubted your calling orleadership. I’ve just not been willing or seen the need to champion the equality of gifting regardless of gender. As a result, I have been part of the problem. Please forgive me.

If there is truly “no male or female” (Galatians 3:28) in the Kingdom, then gender isneither a condition for entering God’s Kingdom nor providing leadership in God’s service. We’ve historically prided ourselves for believing in women in leadership and ministry. It is time we embrace it with our hearts and practice it. To get there, we need to begin with a broken and contrite heart for falling short… way short. Will you repent with me?

If so, what proactive steps will you take to support women who are called and equipped to serve a local congregation, the church at large, and the Kingdom? Email me and let me know.

Blessings, Doug Talley

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We Can Do Better!

Do you know that in the first 20 years of the Church of God Reformation Movement, from 1880 to 1900, that 66% of the recognized ministers and evangelists of this young, fledgling movement were women?

66%!  2 out of 3!  Can you imagine?

Do you know that today in the Church of God in Kenya that this number is nearly the same?  More than 60% of the active pastors of the Church of God in Kenya are women!

In East Africa the clear majority of pastors in the Church of God are women!

Do you know that today in the Church of God in North America that this number is now below 10%, that less than 1 out of 10 of our active pastors are women?

Really?  Are you serious?

I have a simple message:  We Can Do better!

The hermeneutic of the Church of God has long read the promise of God in Joel 2:28-29,

“And afterward,

    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

    your old men will dream dreams,

    your young men will see visions.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

    I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”

as being fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:17-18,

“In the last days, God says,

    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

    your young men will see visions,

    your old men will dream dreams.

Even on my servants, both men and women,

    I will pour out my Spirit in those days,

    and they will prophesy.”

This is not a new or modern interpretation of Scripture, nor is it a radical or reactionary departure from the Bible.  In fact, this is exactly what Luke claims in Acts 2:16, “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.”

From the Day of Pentecost to today and until the Lord Jesus returns we live in these days, the days when God has poured out His Spirit on all people, when both sons and daughters do prophesy, and God calls both men and women to be his Spirit-filled servants.

Yet when I was an undergraduate student all of my fellow male Bible/Ministry majors received internships in local congregations while that year’s sole female student, whose GPA was higher than most of our own, was not placed for a local church internship.  The message was something like, “Perhaps the Lord has some other plan for you.”

We Can Do Better!

For too long too many called women of God have received a similar message, “Perhaps the Lord has some other form of ministry for you other than being a pastor in the Church of God.”  Those women have gone into a host of other ministries where they are accepted, such as cross-cultural and missionary service, hospital and institutional chaplaincy, and other denominational clergy roles.

The Church of God has missed out on the benefits of several generations of capable pastors, who happen to be women, because of this often unspoken bias.

We Can Do Better!

I serve on a multiple staff church.  We have 12 people who currently carry the role and responsibility of a pastor – either as a ministry director, associate pastor, pastor, or senior pastor.  Among the 12 of us, 7 are women – and our congregation is blessed by their leadership.  My sisters-in-Christ who are my colleagues and peers lead, serve, care, strategize, preach, and teach in inspiring and exemplary ways.

I challenge you to reconsider both what the Scriptures teach and how God is calling both His sons and His daughters to ministry.  This is an exciting season of life for the Church of God and we will be better positioned to hear and follow our Lord’s leading as we fully embrace and empower all of His children.

Church of God Reformation Movement – We Can Do Better!

Steve Rennick, State Pastor

I would love to hear from you.  If you have questions or if there is any way I can help you as you consider the promptings of Scripture and the Spirit, please don’t hesitate to contact me at slrnco17@gmail.com.

I look forward to hearing from many of you!

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