Women in Pentecostal Leadership: Why Not?

by Deborah Taggart

In his last post, Shane overviewed the current situation for woman in ministry in the AOG - basically, that while in AOG rhetoric women are acknowledged to be equally gifted and empowered by the Spirit, they are very under-represented in current credentialing statitistics, and completely unseen at the national leadership level. Why? Shane has asked me to respond to his question from my perspective as a female (called, I believe, to some kind of servanthood/leadership) in the pentecostal church.

One thing I noticed when reading through the AOG constitution is that while they used ‘he/she’ to describe people wishing to apply for PMCs (probatinary ministry certificate, hold that OK for a couple of years and you can apply to be ordained - OMC) and SMCs (special ministry certificate - this is non-progressive); the gender-inclusiveness stopped and it was all 'he' when it went on to talked about state and national office-holders.

I think in some ways it's because of the time clauses were added....'he' was more likely to be thought as an inclusive term when they wrote about the state and national office-holders....and then by the time they were adding clauses about PMCs and SMCs writing had moved to require 'he/she'. But nevertheless, when you read the constitution as a whole document it definitely feels like a barrier - and the very fact that it goes unnoticed probably points to (and reinforces) the subconscious picture in most people's minds that people on the state and national executive will be male.

But there is encouragement in article 14(b), which states:

“believing that in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in this dispensation of grace, the Lord has made no distinction in pouring out his Spirit both on his handmaidens as well as his brethren, we recognise the right and privilege of those so called and gifted to minister, whether they be brethren or sisters in the Lord.”

But even that really only explains part of the barrier to execuive leadership - it seems most people on the state or national executive are senior pastors of 'successful' (usually read as 'big') churches (here I am not criticising the lovely people on our executives, maybe just wondering if we gain more from having a broader representation of perspectives). And with only a 4% pool of female senior pastors to choose from, it's not that surprising there's only one lady on one state executive.

So why aren't women senior pastors? Here are a few of my thoughts:

• there is still a huge proportion of people (men and women) who interpret the biblical passages on headship to mean only men should be senior pastors
• lots of people (well, people I talk to at least) tell me they would simply be uncomfortable in a church led by a woman....some even simply for cultural reasons rather than their interpretation of Scripture. They're not used to it...
• even if a married couple are in theory joint senior pastors, normally the husband is assumed to be the 'senior' senior pastor
• it's simply not modelled or encouraged as it could be. Who knows how many women are out there with amazing potential, but in all their imaginations of their future, pastoring a church doesn't occur to them because there are virtually no precedents, no images or mentors to work with? (I know Shane mentioned the pioneering women in our history, but the AOG isn't big on history at the moment - we're very "NOW!" and occasionally future-oriented (which isn't altogether bad - we don't want to bury ourselves in the past, but learning from it and holding onto the good of our heritage and identity is important).
• For the women who do break through into unexpected positions of leadership, there is a lot of misunderstanding and little support. Christianity seems to be shy about dealing with questions of sexuality and male-female relationships; sometimes we go overboard so that 'boundaries' become barriers and the sole female is isolated from the support and friendship of all her colleagues because they happen to be overly cautious males. Pastoring support networks and expected leadership styles are often designed with males in mind - for example, attending leadership gatherings where a major topic is 'how to show your love for your wife' (not that women would complain about their pastor-husbands being encouraged in that department, but for the one woman who has made the effort to come, it is only one more discouraging incident in a series of awkward moments).

Another interesting look at how women are (not) recognised in the church comes through reports in the American church. Out of the '50 Most Influential Churches' (http://www.thechurchreport.com/mag_article.php?mid=671&type=year), only one has a woman's picture (Paula White from Without Walls Church) next to it (and then I looked up this church, intrigued with hope....only to be disappointed when the blurb on the 'our pastor' link spoke exclusively about her husband). I shudder to think how that could be interpreted by women who are looking for a faith and a God that empowers them.

I think often Christians somehow tend to be quite docile when it comes to social change in a lot of spheres. Is it because we have a wrong understanding of the Christian ideas of meekness, mildness, peace-lovingness, humility - one that makes us slow to fight for important causes (whether women, the environment, whatever...)? And I guess the secular world cares about these things more because they feel this is the only world they have to make a difference in; whereas maybe our eschatology causes us to make ourselves content with status quo now because we're holding out for God to come and set everything right (because we can't be bothered?). Or maybe we just get distracted with 'little causes' (dare I say some of the trivial things we do in the local church?) and miss the big picture (of the opportunity of participating in God's plan for global transformation)? But how do we live in that tension? How can we shift our understanding and practice of what it is to be part of the church, and called to transform all of society into something more like God's Kingdom?

And maybe at this point I've wandered off-topic anyway because in regards to liberating women, sadly much of the world is ahead of the church....but why do we let it get that way?

So there's my thoughts....comment and tell me where you agree or disagree or have some other suggestions as to why women are under-represented in AOG leadership. Maybe next post we can discuss how we can make a difference and join the Spirit in empowering women to serve him with all their might (and the full support of the church!)...

Comments

[Vickey Silvers]

I am an editor for Christian.com which is a social network dedicated to the christian community. As I look through your web site I feel a collaboration is at hand. I would be inclined to acknowledge your website offering it to our users as I'm sure our Pentecostal audience would benefit from what your site has to offer. I look forward to your thoughts or questions regarding the matter.

Vicky Silvers
[email protected]