Wimmin in Ministry...

...Just so's you know...I have nothing against female missionaries, female sunday school teachers, or female small group leaders. I think wimmin can do most anything a man can do. That said, I still have a hard time reconcilling women in authority over men in the church. Some churches have wimmin pastors and that's their choice. They think they have the right to do so and have been able to back it up with scripture (I think "spin" is a wonderful word don't you??). I think that men, who have gotten so tired of radical, feminist ranting about how evil men are, how men don't understand wimmin, (We don't most of the time and some of the time we understand you better than you think!), and how men let the power of a patriarchial society, inside and outside the church, go to their heads and put down and destroy wimmin in general. These same men have given up leadership to wimmin.

(My mom was the spiritual leader in our house growing up. Dad wasn't a Christian and still isn't. I had mainly men sunday school teachers throughout my church life but had more wimmin than men school teachers.)

Now men are starting to assert themselves more. And some wimmin are glad of that. Some aren't. Some see it as an usurpation of their power base although I doubt any of them would willingly admit it. After all, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely regardless of your gender!

So I stick to a mainly conservative approach to wimmin in ministry. Mine might be a little more liberal than some of the more staunch, die-hards of the faith, but I still say wimmin pastors are a no-no. Like I said in the first paragraph, I can reconcile wimmin missionaries, (Yeah Kari!) wimmin sunday school teachers and wimmin small group leaders (of other wimmin). I'm not a misogynist. I'm not "putting wimmin in their place". I'm not forcing submission of the "weaker" sex. It's what I believe based on what I read in the Bible.

This has become a topic of conversation over at the BHT. Ellen has a pretty good post on the subject HERE. And Michael has one HERE.

You read, you decide...

Eric