WHO IS AFRAID OF FEMALE
PASTORS?
Foluke, 15, a very observant daughter of a general overseer of a Pentecostal Church called her father and said: ‘Daddy, why would you not give women more roles to play in the Church?’
The father could not fathom where she was heading to. He asked her why and what roles. The daughter said, ‘I noticed something not only in our Church but in so many Churches around. Majority of members are women while the majority of the Church leaders are men. Why? ‘In so many Churches’, she added, ‘no woman features on the altar. Some Churches would not ordain women as Pastors or Bishops. In our Church, you have not ordained one female Pastor, yet virtually all the activities of the Church are strengthened and shouldered by the women. It is unfair, Dad.’
Caught unawares, he kept mute. When the daughter nudged him to respond
at all costs, he said, ‘My daughter, that is how we met the world. I did
not start it.’ He picked up his Bible, leafed to a particular page,
walked toward his daughter and said, ‘read this. 1 Timothy 2: 11-12.’
The daughter got the Bible from him and read:
11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
After she read, he got the Bible and flipped to 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, and said, ‘read’, handing the Bible to her:
34 Let your women keep silence in the Churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the Church.
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CONSTRUCTION OF RESTRICTIONS ON WOMEN
The restrictions and gender inequality in the Church were constructed from these two portions of the Bible. Side-by-side these are the traditional lenses with which women are being viewed. They are regarded as unclean and should be kept out of places regarded as sacred. Also, women are expected to be at the background, not outside playing leadership roles or competing with men. In societies with patriarchal mentality, women are not allowed to do spiritual duties like naming ceremonies, share the grace and benediction or call to service in the Church nor allowed to lay hands for impartation. These litany of can’ts or don’ts are said to have been sourced from the portrayal of women in the Bible.
Writing on Gender, Gender Equality, and the Church, Nantondo Hadebe contends that the restriction on women or the attitudes that contribute to gender inequality started from the depiction of women in the source of our faith, the Bible. Hadebe citied four examples:
a. As secondary role players in God’s plan for humanity. When looking at the heroes of the Bible, there is inequality in the number of men to women. Men are the key role players starting from Adam to the apostles in the New Testament. A strong male bias runs throughout the Bible. Though there are women heroines like Deborah, Ruth, Rahab, Mary, etc., the reality is that their stories and contributions are not given the same attention in sermons and teachings as those of their male counterparts.
b. As “background”. In some cases, women’s names are not even mentioned. For example Noah’s sons are named but not their wives, Job’s wife and many more were not mentioned. Where they are mentioned as in the case of Moses, their roles are not given the same attention as those of their husbands. The book of Genesis says that God is the God of “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” and there is no mention of their wives, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. This may seem like an insignificant point but when we try to understand the exclusion of women from leadership positions in the Church, every instance of exclusion becomes important.
c. As embodying negative characteristics which are detrimental to men. Infamous women who are remembered for their negative effects on men such as Delilah, Jezebel, Bathsheba and Eve are consistently blamed for the fall of the great men of God. Without justifying their actions, should the women be seen in the light of their roles or the message God intends for readers? It is these blames on women that have played a bigger role in shaping the perception of women in the Church than the stories of the heroines.
d. As outside the character of God. Even the construction of the Person of God has a male bias. It seems as if God is male and therefore men are able to represent God as leaders in the Church. Many of us grew up thinking that God was male. Consciously or unconsciously, we were taught that only men can be leaders because they can represent God best.
