Should Women Preach?

Yes. Yes. A thousand times, yes!

While I may emphatically support women in ministry, including preaching, it surprises me there remain many who disagree. In fact, instead of welcoming the insights, perspectives, and wisdom of women, some are doubling-down on excluding or sidelining the voice of women. (I’m looking at you Southern Baptist Convention)

It disappoints me this question is still being debated in the Church today. It saddens me when a woman is the one asking as I learned about recently.

The heart of the question seems to have sprung from the age-old argument that, following the example of Eve, women are “bad” (cf. Genesis 3) and should not be in spiritual leadership.

While I am certain there are better answers and whole volumes written as response, if you’ll indulge me, I think there are several things we can offer concerning Eve’s sin disqualifying women from certain forms of ministry.

1. Adam was as guilty as Eve of disobeying God. Holding Eve singularly responsible for humanity’s broken relationship with God is to ignore Adam’s participation in turning from God. If we claim Eve enticed him we simply make Adam out to be a weak-willed puppet. Not a strong case for why men should preach/lead and women should not. Further, if disobeying God disqualifies Eve, and thereby women, Adam would be similarly disqualified, and by this logic, all men with him.
   
2. Eve cannot be used as the sole representative for all women. She may have been the first woman (let’s suspend discussion of whether she was an actual person), but first doesn’t mean universal or even typical. The same can be said for Adam. If we met one person and then treated all others based on the interaction with that one person, we would soon see how our generalizations fall apart. In truth, stereotyping a group based on limited exposure or creating a caricature to be applied to all people in a group, is lazy and unhelpful and potentially deadly as our history continues to teach us. No one person, perhaps aside from Jesus, can stand as a representative for all humanity.
   
3. We should put the Fall, Adam and Eve’s turning away from God, in context. As we read in Genesis, “in the beginning…” everything is created good, and humans, both men and women are said to be “very good.” The starting point is God’s love and the partnership God initiates with all humanity. Adam and Eve are created as companions who are meant to help each other. I find the ideas we have about male superiority and female inferiority to be later additions to our history and are not the picture God paints “in the beginning.” Superiority is not the plan for men and women, but mutual support and cooperation.
   
4. Jesus doesn’t say anything about women being more sinful than men or unworthy of being in ministry. In fact, Jesus seems to go out of his way to include women and recognize their worth. The woman caught in adultery, the Samaritan women at the well, the Syrophoenician woman, Mary and Martha, and Jesus’ own mother all come to mind. Jesus had plenty to say about including the ones the Church tried to exclude. Seems like we still get this wrong.
   
5. The first witness(es) to Jesus’ resurrection, and thereby the first to proclaim/preach the Good News of Easter, are women. While we may focus on Eve’s disobedience in Genesis, scripture is full of women who are faithful and strong. A few of the many examples…Miriam saves Moses and is recognized as a prophetess (Exodus 15:20). Deborah is named a judge/ruler before kings were established. (Judges 4 – 5)  Esther becomes Queen and saves the people of God. Lydia is a successful business women who helps the early church (Acts 16:40). Phoebe serves in ministry in the early church (Romans 16:1-2). Women shape the world and hold significant positions of power and authority in scripture.
   
6. Prohibiting women from some leadership while encouraging other forms is a shallow attempt at control. Women cannot preach, but they can teach a class of children? Women shouldn’t exercise spiritual leadership, but they can play music in worship? Women are inherently less than men, but can we honestly claim such when we have a long list of men whose moral failures have been well-documented in the Church (and scripture, for that matter)? Women don’t fail because of their gender; they fail because they are human, the same as men.

With all of this said, we do well to remember while scripture is our primary source of authority, we are called to understand and interpret scripture with reason (does it make sense), experience (have we seen this in our lives) and tradition (what has been understood overtime). Every church I have participated in has been and is filled with faithful and faith-filled women. They preach and serve in all the ways men do and these churches are better for it. I cannot imagine cutting off half of humanity and all the gifts, talents and graces they possess. The Church would certainly be less (and has been when such is practiced) than the glorious partnership God created for us. Inequalities still persist, but I am grateful the United Methodist Church values and affirms women alongside men in ministry. Should women preach? Yes! Should they be included in all aspects of our life together as people of faith? Again, the only answer for me is a resounding, YES!

Life is better together,
Shawn

A couple of articles I found helpful regarding women in ministry:

Why Do United Methodists Ordain Women?

Why Do United Methodists Ordain Women? (an overview with the above article linked)