The Mennonite Brethren Conference is currently undergoing a process of decision making about the issue of women in leadership. There has been numerous articles in the Herald, some thoughtful, others reactionary, on this contentious topic. Soon it will be time for decision making. Paul and I are planning to head out to Calgary to vote this July.
It's weird how strongly this issue has polarized people. To me, the issue is sort of a symptom of some greater problems revolving around gender roles and the church. I would be just as a happy if we addressed these problems first, before tackling the whole "women in leadership" issue. What I fear is that after we finally come to consensus about women in leadership, we will pat ourselves on the back and believe that we have resolved sexism in the church.
The first problem I see is with the segregation of women in church programming. Women are separated from men (and men from women) and thus do not benefit from the mentorship of the often male leadership who have theological knowledge to offer. I can see how sometimes this is necessary and healthy for discussion as people may feel more comfortable expressing questions and issues in a single sex context. But too often, women are left out of important theological discussions - I believe that this is mostly unintentional and maybe stems from a desire to maintain appropriate boundaries. But this can leave women's ministry a theological wasteland dominated by pop Christian culture and self help fads. These types of influences often view what it means to be a Christian woman in a very narrow mindset simply because they are marketed for an audience - white, married, middle class stay at home moms with school aged children. This leaves a vast population of women outside the norm - not to mention women who hunger and thirst for more than self help. This could all change if more women entered seminary and full time ministry. But it is likely that this may not happen for a very, very long time - especially when it is not something that is encouraged.
When I was at Bible College, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. Girls were held to a higher standard than guys in almost every regard - academics, involvement, and morality (this is a whole discussion unto itself). Girls generally did better in their studies, they broke less rules and many went on to get their BA's (though not often in theology). But where did they go from there? Did they get hired somewhere? Unfortunately churches do not reflect the reality of Bible College. Women, as deserving as men spend thousands of dollars to never get hired. When they cannot find work in what they have been trained to do they are told that they can volunteer or maybe serve on a committee. Not exactly an answer a male Bible college grad would accept. It's hypocritical to hold girls to a higher standard of Christian living and study, especially when there is no vocation available to them when they graduate. And let's not fool ourselves into thinking that just because we accept the idea of women as senior pastors that it will actually happen.
Sure, many give lip service to the idea of women in ministry. There are female Bible College professors - but how many of them teach theology? There are many great women of the Bible, but how often are they used as models for all Christians? There are many church leaders who encourage girls to enter Bible College, but how many church leaders actively pursue the theological training of women?
Remember the verse that there is neither "Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female?" We need to realize that we are all in this together - male and female. Separating ourselves by different standards or different programs does nothing for unity. Excluding certain people from theological dialogue is not unifying. We all should be challenged, encouraged and mentored. We should all have the opportunity to exercise gifts. A rubber stamp of approval on women as senior pastors will be meaningless unless we also take a good look at our programs and assumptions surrounding gender roles and the church.
