I Never Heard That Preached...episode 2: The Place of Women in Church?
Short notes on the place of women that I have not heard preached in past churches I attended...Let's be curious...
Hey Faith Travellers,
This is the 2nd episode in a series I am writing called “I Never Heard That Preached”. My little notes in this series may not resonate with you. And this of course depends on what type of church you were bought up in or currently attend. Some churches have a huge variety of preaching topics addressed on a Sunday morning but most do not.
Why is that?
Usually they have carefully written statements of faith and do not want to venture far from them. Unfortunately this leads to a unspoken rule not to ask questions that don’t line up with the statement of faith. Curiosity is quenched.
Guess what - I am here to let you know a big secret…. God loves the curious.
It’s okay to ask questions about God, faith, the Bible, the universe and life itself.
It. Is. Okay.
Be curious. Ask questions.
God won’t be offended.
God can handle our questions even when our church leaders may not.
Photo by Dominik Van Opdenbosch on Unsplash
So let’s be curious about the place of women in the Kingdom of God.
Here is what I was taught about the place of women, either directly or indirectly…
It is okay for a women to play an instrument in church and even lead the worship section.
It is okay for women to make and serve food at church events.
It is okay for women to be missionaries and come back to their home church and ‘share’ (can’t use the word ‘preach’ or ‘teach’).
It is okay for women to ‘teach’ children in Sunday school but not to preach in church. Women are to be silent. Oh, but they can sing, lead worship and chair the Sunday service. So not quite silent. They pick and choose.
It is okay for women to ‘teach’ other women in their own separate event.
It is okay for a woman to ‘chair’ the Sunday morning meeting and even to ‘share’ a five minute devotion. Not sure what the difference is between sharing about God in five minutes to a thirty minute sermon except time.
It is okay for a women to be the accountant for the church and produce financial reports (I know because I did this!). But it is not okay for a women to be on the board of elders.
It is okay for a women to ‘teach’ men and women in a home group situation but not okay to ‘teach’ or ‘preach’ on a Sunday morning service.
It is okay to offer seminary/Bible College courses to young men to encourage them and train them to be useful in the church but never ask young women.
So, you get the idea. Has this been your experience? Share in the comments. I would love to hear how your church placed women in the Kingdom of God.
Oh boy am I glad that Jesus isn’t on the same page as those churches!
It wasn’t until the last few years that I realised something huge.
Women were the very first preachers and evangelists after Jesus rose from the grave.
Yes! women!
Now I don’t hear that preached much at all.
Angels at the tomb instructed Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary (James’ mother) plus other women - there was more than 3!1 - to tell the apostles the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection. They were instructed to remember Jesus’ teaching and connect it with the empty tomb and go and proclaim it to the men.
And what did the men think?
And they (the women) remembered His words (note: his teaching prior to his death) and returned from the tomb and reported these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.
Matthew 24:8-11 NASB
They decided the women’s words were nonsense and chose not to believe them. And this still happens today. Actually what is worse is, women aren’t even allowed to bring a word of revelation like this into a church service. Let alone being believed.
I will leave you with a quote from this book 2-
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr
Lucy Peppiatt shows us (in the documentary “Battle for the Minds”) how 1 Timothy 3, the chapter so often cited by the male leaders of the conservative resurgence as articulating why only men can preach, was shaped by English-language translations to look more masculine than it actually is. We assume 1 Timothy 3:1-13 is referencing men in leadership roles (overseer/bishop and deacon). But is this because of how our English Bibles translate the text? Whereas the Greek text uses the words ‘whoever’ and ‘anyone’, with the only specific reference to ‘man’ appearing in verse 12 (literal Greek translation of the phrase is “one woman man” referencing the married state of deacons), modern English Bibles have introduced eight to ten male pronouns within the verses. None of those male pronouns in our English Bibles are in the Greek text. Peppiatt concludes that the problem with female leadership is not actually the biblical text; it is the ‘relentless and dominant narrative of male bias’ in translations.
Were you taught in church that the Greek text of 1 Timothy 3:1-13 doesn’t use male pronouns when talking about leaders in church but uses the words ‘whoever’ and ‘anyone’?
The apostle Paul did write that in the Kingdom of God there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free; nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.3 Some say this is only talking about salvation. But Paul doesn't say that. He is explaining what it is like to live in the Kingdom of God now, compared to living under the law.
Were you taught that our English translations of the Scriptures contain the bias of human (usually male) translators?
Last quote from Beth Allison Barr’s book …
Because women were written out of the early English Bible, modern evangelicals have more easily written women out of church leadership.
There is so much to say but this is just a little note on what is usually not preached on a woman’s place in our churches.
Have you say…
Keep leaning into Him…
Matthew 24 v1-11
The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr - page 147-148. Beth knows what she is talking about! She is a historian who is the James Vardaman Endowed Professor of History at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Her specialities include European women, Medieval and Early Modern England and church history.
Galatians 3:28
The churches i was in for 20 to 30 years did not subscribe to the above. It was common for females to preach.
Because of this, I made the mistake of culling out a book by Jan Campbell on women in leadership - printed I think- in the 90s.
Galatians 3:28 I was fortunate to have thir verse jump out at me when i was about 17. Te main focus then to me, was6 on male/female but the fact that bring a newcreature in Christ was more important than church membership.
Blessings
Lorraine Harrod
Hey Lorraine! Thanks for the comment. Wow that is awesome that women were frequent preachers!!! Yes I love the inclusive nature of God -that in his Kingdom everyone has a place at the table --- no one is more special than someone else