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Not In My Neighborhood

How did we fall so far? Mention women in leadership in the Church of God, or more pointedly, women in senior leadership and you will hear the same response from pastors and congregants, “Nothing wrong with women in leadership. Nothing wrong with women as lead pastors. But that won’t work here.” 

Since the beginning of our movement, women were affirmed in their leadership gifts. For generations in the Church of God, the church affirmed and called women as senior pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and national leaders. Since the early days of the movement, women in key leadership positions have blessed the church with their gifts. I grew up in a Church of God that had Slovak roots in Johnstown, PA. 

In the early days of the church, women sat on one side and men on the other. Because of its eastern European heritage, men were the unquestioned authority in the home. You would think that because of the influence of eastern European culture, the church would be very resistant to women in leadership but the opposite was true. Through the years, the church invited numerous female evangelists to hold revivals. As a child, I remember a female African-American chalk artist who did an incredible week-long revival at our church. Amazingly it wasn’t even on their radar to resist female leadership in the church. At our Slovak camp meeting in Hubbard, Ohio, Sister Lillie McCutcheon was a rock star. She was the featured evangelist at Hubbard many times. What could it have been that caused people steeped in the patriarchal eastern European culture to open their arms to female leadership? I will try to answer that question through the lens of my grandfather, Karl Matas, who was a pastor and leader in the Slovak Church of God. The question of female leadership in the church was never an issue for my grandfather for two reasons. 

First, my grandfather LOVED the Church of God. It was the church that reached out to him as a young immigrant coming to America alone after World War I. He was saved through the efforts of the Church of God. He believed in the Church of God. He owed his salvation to Jesus and to the gospel preached by the Church of God. So if the doctrine of the Church of God affirmed women in leadership, that was good enough for him. Secondly and more poignantly—for Karl Matas—the Church of God welcomed him when others did not. My grandfather faced his share of prejudice when he came to America to work in the steel mills of Johnstown. He was derided, called names and made fun of, but he knew he mattered to the Church of God. The Church of God was the group that cared enough to plant Slovak-speaking churches to reach him and others like him. Years later, the Church of God affirmed his calling to ministry. The Church of God didn’t marginalize him because he was different, they welcomed him. So maybe that’s the more telling reason he so easily dismissed any temptation to resist female leadership because the church that welcomed him with the message “you can be anything that God called you to be” also gave that same gift to women. 

For Karl Matas, the Church of God broke down barriers; it welcomed and affirmed everyone that was washed in the blood. Because of that, his cultural heritage was never an issue when it came to women in ministry. Before he came to America, he never met a black person. Yet one of his favorite places to worship was with his brothers and sisters at the National Association camp meeting at West Middlesex, PA. For my grandfather, the Church of God was a movement that broke down walls, removed barriers and welcomed everyone. It was a place where a person—regardless of ethnicity, race or gender—could become what God called them to be.

But something happened in my lifetime. For the last 30 to 45 years, the doors that once welcomed women into leadership roles in the church have been closing. Women increasingly are relegated to traditional roles in children’s ministry and administration. The word “traditional” is ironic because we have moved far away from our tradition of affirming women in leadership. 

“Not in my neighborhood” is a subtle but powerful phrase that is often used to effect bigotry and prejudice. “There might not be anything wrong with [fill in the blank], I just don’t want them in my neighborhood.” It is our way to feel good. We don’t have to acknowledge our prejudice, having those people in our neighborhood won’t work here. When it comes to women in ministry, far too many churches in our movement have a “not in my neighborhood” mentality. That way, we don’t have to deny or contradict an essential doctrine of our movement; we take a false utilitarian stance and state “nothing wrong with women in ministry or women as lead pastors, but it won’t work in this church.” Sadly, when it comes to women in leadership—especially in a lead pastor role—a vast majority of our churches take a “not in my neighborhood” stance.

I can only imagine the emotional trauma this causes gifted women in our movement. If the movement affirms women in leadership, yet no church will even talk to them about open leadership positions, they are tempted to think “something must be wrong with me.”

How did we get here and what do we do about it?

Reformed theology is pervasive in popular Christian blogs and with young well-known celebrity pastors. Many of the Christian bloggers that I follow are reformed and they make it a point to drive home their complementarian beliefs. They address the role of men and women on a regular consistent basis. Yet there is relative silence among pastors and leaders who hold a different view—that God doesn’t give spiritual gifts based on gender. Our doctrine comes right out of Scripture, yet we are silent. We need to speak up. We need to preach and teach that God doesn’t limit the gift of leadership only to those who have an XY chromosome. It has been said that the church will never rise higher than the pulpit. The reason why so many in our congregations hold a negative view of women in leadership is because the only voices they hear are from those in the reformed tradition. It is imperative that we speak loudly, firmly and clearly. We as pastors and leaders need to teach our people because if we don’t someone else will.

Karl Matas fell in love with the Church of God because it welcomed him, it affirmed him as a leader. He gave his life to a movement that broke down manmade barriers and divisive walls. In our increasingly polarized nation, may we once again be the people who welcome, who affirm, who break down manmade walls of prejudice and discrimination. The world desperately needs what we once had to offer. May we find the strength and courage to offer it again.

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11 Questions to Help us Dig Deeper & Think Thoroughly

This is part 6 in a series of articles on leadership (specifically women in leadership) 

written by Ann Smith
published June 2016 in IM Enews

One of the prayers I frequently pray is, “God make me a contagious follower of you. Remind me that my task is not to defend you but to reflect you.” In the early days of my faith journey I felt the main task of a Christian was to defend God and as a result, I became an abrasive Christian. What a relief it was to discover God was big enough to take care of Himself and did not need my defense. 

It was Lloyd Ogilvie who first raised the questions for me, “What would have happened to the prodigal son if it had been the elder brother standing at the gate instead of the father?” The prayer of my heart is that no one will remain in, or return to, the far country because they meet me before they meet the Father. 

I believe it is easy for us to be so concerned about having the right theology, right doctrine, right beliefs that we fail to realize that the right spirit is perhaps far more important. While those things are crucial, it is the right spirit that opens the door to new insights, to growth, to greater effectiveness, to sensitivity to God’s guidance, to honesty about our journey, to willingness to change, to the ability to live with unanswered questions. After all, God calls us to be full rather than complete. There is still so much learning, discovering, stretching and becoming to do. He is increasingly shaping us into the image of Christ. 

I believe having the right spirit makes us more aware of how important questions are. Too many times in the past I have been so eager to give answers that I have not taken the time or opportunity to listen to the questions inside of me, the questions that come from God or from others who are also on a faith journey. 

The Church of God has recently been engaged in reflecting on how far apart our teaching and our practice are in regard to women in ministry. I would like to invite us all – men, women, lay people, ordained clergy, all followers of Jesus – to engage in asking ourselves some questions and honestly, as we are all able, about women in ministry. Hopefully, the questions we ask ourselves about women in ministry will be helpful as we apply them to other aspects of our faith journey. 

For me, I have found that honesty and reflection are necessary elements of my growth process. Here are a few questions I am asking and I invite you to use these if they are helpful but also invite you to ask God to bring to your mind the questions that are unique to your spiritual journey. 

  1. Am I basing my position on a specific proof text rather than the role of women throughout Biblical narrative? 
  2. Throughout our life, we wear all kinds of labels. Which do I know better – my label or who God called me to be? 
  3. How aware am I that it is possible to be sincere and wrong at the same time? 
  4. To what degree do stereotypes determine how I relate to others? 
  5. It is possible that sometimes my attitude or positions grow out of my desire to control?
  6. How do my ego needs show up in my words and actions?
  7. How does my privilege and power inform my responses to the words and actions of others with less privilege and power? 
  8. Do our words and actions create barriers or build bridges? 
  9. Do I honestly admit that opposition to women in ministry is found in both men and women? Is it more of a heart problem than a gender problem? 
  10. To what extent does the individualism of the society in which I live hinder my understanding of the Biblical concept of the Body of Christ and how it should function? 
  11. Do I sometimes try to take over God’s job? 

I have many more questions that I ask myself. I encourage you to make your own list and deal with them as honestly as you are able by God’s grace. 

How grateful am I for the various opportunities God has provided for me to be involved in ministry over many years. Hopefully it has made a difference in people’s lives. It is a wonderful feeling to look back over 91 years of life and honestly feel that if I could live life over again, I would not change the direction. It has been an ongoing process of discovery that God, self, relationships, and how God wants to use me. The discovery continues! What a journey! Thanks be to God! 

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We Are NOT Progressives, We ARE Biblical

Joshua Brandt was primarily raised by his mother and grandma. He and his wife, Laura, are raising three girls and a sheltie named Charlea (who is also a girl). When he steps into the offices of The Gathering he is surrounded by women leaders who are advancing the the Kingdom. His church is full of sons and daughters of God who are working together to impact Muncie and the surrounding area. He is a better leader, a better person, because of all the women leaders in his life.

We are not progressives.

A while back I received an email from one of my friends. She was concerned about a church she was checking out online. This church made it very clear that they did not support women in leadership, especially as pastors. She could not believe it. She asked, “Don’t they know it is 2016?”

A four-year-old from our church was recently told by a preschool classmate that she could never be a pastor because she is a girl. We can almost hear someone ask, “Isn’t it 2016?”

A few weeks ago my social media feeds were full of the joy-filled faces of recent Anderson University School of Theology graduates. Many of the women who have proudly completed their degree know that the real work is just beginning. I hear myself asking, “I thought this was 2016?”

The question is understandable. We look around at all of the issues facing the church. We see all of the consistent change happening in our culture. We fall on our knees wondering how God will use this season in our country. We know that the world is different. It seems to some that women in leadership is just one more rallying cry for change.

It is not. 

I have been called many things over the years- a maverick (Thank you Doug Talley… I think?!?), “cutting-edge,” and an outsider. I take joy in my ability to see trends and respond to them. I desire to be a person who is open to bringing about transformation in the lives of people and the church. However, I want you to know that being a supporter of women in leadership is one of my most conservative values. 

When it comes to women in leadership, we are not progressives. We are taking a radically conservative stand.

The cry being heard from an increasing number of men and women in our tribe, in our movement, is not a demand for change. It is a call to remember. Yes, it is a call to remember who we are. To remember that our tribe has been calling women into leadership over and over again for over thirteen decades. It is perhaps too easy to say this discussion is closed. The experiential evidence abounds.

I think that argument can be too modern, too contemporary. Instead our radical commitment to women in leadership is directly tied to our commitment to the truth Scripture. I understand that there is, and perhaps always will be, discussion over “problem passages” in the New Testament regarding women in leadership. We must ask ourselves what advantage is there in advocating for a view of those passages which would limit women in leadership or remove them all together? I see no advantage for women.

I am committed to women and men leading the church because I believe it is the holistic witness of Scripture. Not because it is progressive. I take this stand because it is Biblical.

Perhaps it is time to take this discussion more personally. To sit in coffee shops and tell our stories to each other. To search Scripture together. It is worth the effort to hear and value one another. Why? Our ability to powerfully spread the Gospel is at stake.

I would love to sit and talk this through with you. Perhaps you have felt alone in your conviction about women in ministry. Give me a call. Let’s talk it through. Maybe you have been “supportive” but have not yet taken action. I would love to hear from you. And you might just be convinced that I am wrong. I look forward to hearing from you. Maybe we can help each other be better.

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