More Questions than Answers

It would be interesting to hear now about any comments received by women theology students while at seminary or while out in the local churches.

The reason I ponder on those comments is because, being a fourth generation Adventist women who was never given any indication that there were any areas of life which I was excluded from, I often ask myself where conversations on the role of women in ministry stem from. Are they real? Are the restrictions on women in ministry new or have restrictions always existed? Did I miss out on the conversations are was there a complete lack of discussion because it had never even been considered a possibility? And, what is the basis is for current conversations and debates? Is sensitivity to such debates heightened by a situation which really does exist out there and is there real and tangible opposition to women in the ministry? Or is there more support than people would let on? Will these questions be answered while we are still in seminary or will real opposition only come once we get out there and are posted in a church?

If the answer to that last question are yes, then how much of our attention will be focussed on trying to do the day-job rather than establishing an effective ministry which reaches the needs of the local community? If our energies are negatively refocused in this way will we be able to fulfil our calling to the ministry?

I know this poses more questions that it does answers but that reflects the complexity of the matter, the myriad of unanswered questions which do exist and which, many generations from now, women ministerial students and women ministers may still be asking.

Rather than answering any questions, I am going to leave one more for consideration and, possibly even comments. What was the basis for the decision to do nothing unless and until every conference votes in the affirmative? And how can that decision be taken when there is no baseline data to support the decision?

Carole Williams

Can Women Preach?

Of Lulu Wightman who planted churches in Hornellsville, Gas Springs, Wallace, Silver Creek, Geneva, Angola, Gorham, Fredonia, Avoca, Rushville, Canandaigua, and Penn Yan USA, Bert Haloviak said of that she ". . . tangible evidence of her `call' to gospel ministry," "Indeed, the results from her evangelism would rank her not only as the most outstanding evangelist in New York State during the time, but among the most successful within the denomination for any time period."

Women Should Refrain from Speaking in Church!?!?

Many people find themselves in hot water when they quote Paul’s first letter to Timothy and assume that he was suggesting that women should stay at home and that they should not be able to teach in church.

Two thousand years later and this text is being used to discourage women from entering the ministry or, if they do enter the ministry, it is used to stop them playing a full role.

Interesting, however, readers continue to make the same perennial mistake and take the text out of its socio-historical setting. They also fail to appreciate or to recognise that there are different kinds of passages within the Bible. There are those which a) describe events practices at that time and b) to describe teach principles for universal application.

The passage in 1 Timothy 2:9-15 describes events and practices.

Without putting much effort anyone who is interested can find out that Paul was encouraging Timothy to confront false teachings within the church at Ephesus because his own trip was going to be delayed. In the meantime, his set his words down on paper and suggested that Timothy tell the women in that day and at that time to refrain from teaching as their teachings were false. They were, however, not alone in giving false teachings. There was much of it going on in the church and the men had an equal part to play.

It is also clear from reading other passages that Paul was, in fact, supportive of women in the ministry. See for example Romans 16:1,2,7 and Philippians 4:2,3. Note that, it is in this passage that the only female apostle is mentioned and that, despite the ongoing debate among scholars about the identification of Junia, no record of the male name "Junias" has ever been discovered in extra-biblical Greek literature. (What ever you think about women as minister, read the book reveiw about Junia or even buy the book for yourself.)

Paul also referred to Priscilla as ‘a fellow worker in Christ’ Jesus (Rom 16:3) and of Euodia and Syntyche, he said, ‘these women who laboured with me in the gospel’ (Philippians 4:3).

In reality, there is neither the time nor the space in this blog to do justice to the depth of study needed to tackle the sort of comments thrown at women as they go through seminary but there are plenty of resources on the internet which can be used to help deal with the simplistic generalisations we all too often hear.

Whatever your thoughts, this would make a good dissertation for Greek scholars out there!


Carole Williams