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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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Women in Partnership in Ministry

This is part 3 in a series of articles on leadership (specifically women in leadership) written by Joshua Brandt, Lead Pastor of The Gathering in Muncie, IN, and Stephanie Collins, Next Generation Pastor of The Gathering. As they share their ministry stories, you can’t help but notice the contrast. I so appreciate Stephanie’s willingness to be open, transparent, and vulnerable about her journey. And I am so thankful that she is at one of our Indiana congregations because she brings an incredible heart for ministry, sound training, and empowered gifts. Stephanie’s story reminds us that we still have work to do in our tribe in order to fully embrace God’s leadership gifts. Thank you, Stephanie.

Women in Partnership in Ministry

by Joshua Brandt

As a matter of fact, the prevalence of women preachers is a fair measure of the spirituality of a church, country, or age. As the church grows more apostolic and more deeply spiritual, women preachers and workers abound in the church…” C.E. Brown

It is interesting how perspectives can be so different. Our journey molds who we are and how we see the world. When we choose to see things through the eyes of another, we can begin to broaden our horizons. In this article, Joshua Brandt and Stephanie Collins share their own experiences and journeys with the issue of women in ministry.

Joshua
I was called into ministry when I was in 9th grade. In the calm of an open field during a time of prayer at a youth camp, God clearly called me to ministry. I have wrestled with that call over the last 25 years and it has matured along the way. As I told people at my church, and my family, I was encouraged, prayed for, and celebrated.

Stephanie
I accepted a call to ministry in 2008, at an International Youth Convention in San Antonio. I too was affirmed by my family, however I remember the shock and disbelief I felt at nineteen years old when my father, who is a Church of God pastor, said to me, “Ministry won’t be easy for you, Stephanie. The road isn’t easy for a woman in ministry.” As most nineteen year olds do, I kind of scoffed on the inside and thought that I knew better than my dad. I reasoned, “But this is the Church of God! We affirm women in ministry! Women have a place here!” Little did I know that my father was preparing me for the hard journey I would walk through for the next seven years.

Joshua
I became a youth pastor while I was still in college. At 19 years old, I was responsible for the discipleship and safety of a group of youth in a small church. I made so many mistakes in those years- trying to rent vans when I wasn’t old enough, thinking flashlight tag could be played every week, ordering enough pizzas for 150 kids when only 40 showed up. In each and every circumstance I was shown grace and encouraged to be better.

Stephanie
After receiving so much encouragement for ministry in the first few years of my calling, to my surprise, when I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, I could not find a church to serve. I sent

out resume after resume, looking for someone to take me in, give me a chance, and nurture me for the work of the Kingdom. I found no one. For the first time in my young life, the future began looking bleak for me. I was applying to the same churches that my male classmates were and they were getting hired, while I couldn’t even get an interview. My father’s words began ringing in my head… “Ministry won’t be easy for you, Stephanie. The road isn’t easy for a woman in ministry.” Would this be my life? Would this be how my story would read? I couldn’t help but feel defeated and uncertain of what the future would hold.

Joshua
I entered Anderson University School of Theology for the first time in the fall of 1999. I have gone off and on over the years (I have just one more class to go!). The joke is if you have been to SOT in the last 15 years we probably had class together. One of my first classmates is now even a professor! SOT was a great way for me to be discipled and to find respite. As the churches I served changed, SOT allowed me the space to dream and think differently.

Stephanie
After being unable to find a position at a church, I decided to enroll in seminary. At Anderson University School of Theology, I again felt affirmed and supported by all of my professors. They gave me the confidence I needed to again step out into the church world and pray that a position would open for me. Upon graduating I did just that. I stepped out in faith, seeking a church to take me in and give me a chance. Once again I found no one. One day, when the weight of another church rejection was upon me, this time solely because of my gender, I wrote these words in my prayer journal, “God, I don’t understand. Did I hear from you wrong? Am I not really called to do this? Haven’t I been faithful to you? Haven’t I studied and worked and walked through every opportunity you’ve given me? Why am I not good enough? Why am I unworthy? I’m so tired. I’m so weary. I want to give up.”

Joshua
Last year The Gathering was looking for our NextGen Pastor. New families were coming and we knew we needed to take our children & youth ministries to the next level. I had many conversations with potential candidates and read through countless resumes. Something was missing. We needed someone who could grow into our ethos. Someone who was clearly called to church leadership. Someone who could be a vital part of our team. I was getting frustrated that we couldn’t find who we were looking for.

Stephanie
Nine months after graduating seminary, I heard back from a church I had expressed interest in. They wanted to meet me for an interview. As I walked in the little diner where I was meeting the Pastor, Joshua Brandt, and Worship Pastor, Leo Flores, I was so tired and weary and truthfully didn’t expect anything good to come of this meeting. Rejection had become part of my identity. Inwardly, I had picked up this sense of rejection and shame and made it part of who I was, just as much as I had brown hair and blue eyes. Within an hour of meeting with Joshua, I sensed something different. I could tell he believed in women in ministry and leadership, possibly even more than I did!

Joshua
It is funny how conversations turn. When Leo and I met Stephanie that first time, it was clear that weariness was taking over. I wish I could tell you that The Gathering and I hired Stephanie because we are champions of women in ministry. I want you to know that we asked the best person we could find to join our team. Isn’t that the goal? We are all about accomplishing our mission and with Stephanie on our team we are so much better prepared to do that. My prayer is that in the Church of God, leaders, elders, and churches would fully embrace what Scripture tells us about leadership.

Stephanie
I’ve been at The Gathering for exactly a year now. It has been one of the greatest years of my life. I am finally getting to do what I was called all those years ago to do, what I have been equipped to do, and what I am gifted to do. Without a church like The Gathering and without a pastor like Joshua, I can’t help but think I would still be floundering somewhere in feelings of discouragement, worthlessness, and depression. Those are the feelings I was facing on a daily basis as I was stuck in a place of not being able to do what I believed God had created me to do.

What would happen if every church in Indiana decided to live out Paul’s words in Galatians
3?: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Our Boards would be stronger as a mix of perspectives guided the conversations. Our teaching teams, paid and volunteer, would bring deeper wisdom in Scripture to light. Our children would have the advantage of seeing a counter-cultural church where women and men lead in their calling and gifting. The Church of God has always been counter-cultural and challenged the status quo. It is our prayer that we would begin doing this again with women in ministry.

Published: March 24, 2016

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Our Sad Secret in the Church of God

Pastor Bob Moss writes the 2nd in our in-depth series on Women in Ministry.

Our Sad Secret in the Church of God

By Bob Moss

Long before I ever heard the word “egalitarianism,” I saw it being lived out in the church of my childhood. For me it was completely normal and natural to see men and women serving and working together in the church. There was no subjugation of women in the Church of God—or so I thought.

Normal, in my childhood, meant a woman stood in the pulpit. Our pastor, Lillie McCutcheon a.k.a. “Sister Lillie” was an iconic figure. My grandparents accepted Christ under her preaching. She presided at my parents’ wedding. She launched my grandfather as a church planter, and as a result of her preaching ministry I heard God’s call to ministry.

Normal meant hearing the word proclaimed clearly, creatively and compassionately from the voice of an exemplary woman pastor who had the reputation of calling the best from people, and for sending them out. The imprint of this woman pastor is seen in the lives of many Church of God leaders who grew up under her influence. Barry Callen, Norman Patton, Jeannette Flynn, Robin Wood, Ryan Chapman, John Ackerman, Carolyn Ackerman, and dozens of other pastors, missionaries, educators, and leaders bear her ministry legacy.

Normal meant that I held firmly to a belief that the Church of God was different than other groups, that we were the ones in Christendom who believed and lived out the truth that in Christ there is no gender distinction (Galatians 3:28).

Only when I left home, to go to college and to interface with the church on a much broader scale did I become aware of our sad secret in the Church of God.

The secret is that we say we believe in egalitarianism, yet our practice reveals an entirely different reality.

It’s no secret that in our local churches, camps and conventions, we celebrate with young women who announce their intention to enter Christian ministry. We offer them words of encouragement and affirmation. In our colleges and universities, we further encourage women to receive theological and ministerial training. We continue to champion and celebrate gifted and called women in our School of Theology. Women are often the recipients of awards of distinction in our seminary.

It’s no secret how we encourage women to prepare for ministry, even while they accumulate debt from student loans—often substantial debt. Then the secret is revealed. Only when our sisters, our exceptional and qualified sisters, attempt to find a position of pastoral leadership do they encounter, head on, the barrier of a reluctant church family.

I heard about one pulpit committee to whom a gifted woman was recommended as their lead pastor. Some on the committee were interested in the candidate but acquiesced when one or two others of the group suggested that it might be upsetting to some in the congregation to have a woman in the pulpit. At that point, the committee simply moved on to other possibilities. I fear that this scenario is repeated more frequently than most of us ever imagine. 

It must feel like a hoax to our sisters. It must seem like a bait and switch. It must sound like, “We want women in leadership, but we don’t want you HERE.” I feel ashamed of this reality. It makes me sad. We are the Church of God! We can do better!

We can change the culture of our church and renew the vision of equality in ministry. We didn’t drift to where we are overnight –but if we are intentional, we can deliberately create a new egalitarian era where spiritual gifts are not diminished with regards to gender, race or class. We can once again fly the banner of the glorious church where all people are equal in Christ and have equal responsibility to use their gifts and obey their calling to the glory of God.

My dream is that it will be normal and common for young people to grow up in a church led by a gifted and exemplary women pastor. This is God’s call to the Church of God in this era of human history. Once the Church of God led the way and the culture lagged far behind. Now, the opportunities we offer women pastors have fallen behind the views of our culture towards women. Let’s reverse that trend. Let’s demonstrate our belief by our practice as we embolden gifted women pastors.

This is not an unachievable dream. I’m personally encouraged that, for the first time in our history, the officers our General Assembly are gifted women. Rebecca New-Edson (Chair), Cheryl Sanders (Vice-Chair), and Diana Swoope (Chair-Elect) lead with excellence. Let’s take note of this. Let’s build upon this. We can lead our congregations to do better. But how?

Here are several suggestions of ways you can help:

  1. We can search the scriptures and read widely.
    1. While the scriptures clearly reveal men and women working together for the gospel, there is a significant portion of today’s Christians who believe that women are disqualified from leadership, largely based upon two New Testament verses taken out of context. One of the best books I’ve read on the subject is very scriptural and reveals the journey and change of heart of many recognizable Christian leaders. I eagerly recommend, How I Changed My Mind About Women in Leadership, Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals, Alan F. Johnson, General Editor, Zondervan, 2010.
    2. Another excellent book is “Called, Equipped and No Place to Go: Women Pastors and the Church” By Randal Huber. Women often face barriers of prejudice when answering a call to pastoral ministry. How can we remove those barriers? Available from Warner Press.
  1. We can open doors.
    1. Seek out and become acquainted with women in leadership. Get to know your sister in Christ as a leader. Keep your eyes and ears open for places where you perceive she would be a good fit and suggest her name to a search committee.
    2. Recognize that if you are a white male, you are considered to be a person of power by many women and nearly all minority groups in our culture. Utilize the privilege given you to be one who opens doors and creates possibilities for those who might otherwise be overlooked.
    3. If you are male, become an advocate for your sisters in ministry. In the wider church, there are many resisters who actively seek to prohibit women from leadership roles. There are others who accept the idea of women in leadership, but do little to help their sisters. A small, select group of men have become advocates for women in ministry. I challenge you to join our ranks. Become a champion for women and others who may otherwise be overlooked. Don’t fall prey to the temptation to play it safe and hire only people who look like you.
  1. We can proactively teach the church.
    1. Quality printed materials are available today. Take time to teach the theological truths about women in leadership to lay leaders of your church. “Go Preach My Gospel” is an excellent publication available to you from Church of God Ministries or from Warner Press.
    2. You will teach the church by how you hire and by those to whom you give the pulpit. Ask yourself how long it has been since a woman preached in the pulpit of your congregation.
    3. Deliberately plan to talk about women in ministry in sermons, in illustrations, and in other intentional ways in corporate worship services.

More is left unsaid than said in this little article. Suffice it to say that we can and must do better in helping our movement live out our calling to give women equal standing in ministry. Let’s work together to change the future so that we no longer tolerate this sad secret of saying we support women in ministry but in reality disregard their potential.

Bob Moss

February 2016

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