Slavery in America was built on the premise that the worst white man was better than the best black man.   Male chauvinism in the church is built on the premise that the least qualified man is more qualified than the most qualified female.    Floyd E. Rose, from "An Idea Whose Time has Come"  clickon this marquee for a pdf copy of the book.

The studies, articles, links, book recommendations, and churches listed on this site are directed specifically to the Restoration Movement churches, which include the churches of Christ, where my family's heritage is.  However, they apply equally to all Christian churches, regardless of denomination.  Some of the information is from writers in the churches of Christ.  The rest of the information is from writers who are members of denominations struggling with the same issues.  For information on the "Restoration Movement" churches which include the Church of Christ, the Independent Christian Church, the Christian Church (disciples of Christ), the following link will supply a historical perspective:  The Restoration Movement

Focusing on the Questions-  Finding the Answers!

becoming the church of the 21st Century!  Gal. 3:26-29

TNIV 1 Cor 12:13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

THE MESSAGE: Gal 3:26 fwd:   28-29In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ's family, then you are Abraham's famous "descendant," heirs according to the covenant promises.

    Over the last several years in the Churches of Christ, we have heard a lot about past and present discrimination in regards to race.  Racial walls and barriers that have existed in many of our congregations, Christian institutions, and Christian universities are being torn down and sincere apologies are being made where discrimination once existed but was not talked about.  However, we still practice a form of discrimination that is equally as bad as discrimination based on race or class and is the oldest form of discrimination known to man.  It began shortly after Adam and Eve were put out of the Garden of Eden and has continued over the centuries just as God told Eve it would.  Racial barriers and gender barriers in our churches go hand in hand.  How many centuries did it take for us to realize how wrong racial discrimination is at any level?  How much longer will it take us to realize that gender discrimination at any level is also just as wrong? 

   

Is God a respecter of persons?   Is God a respecter of race?   Is God a respecter of gender?  Is God a respecter of life status?   How did Jesus treat women involved in his ministry?   How did the Apostle Paul view women and was he setting standards for all generations in his pastoral letters where women are told to be silent or was he addressing specific situations in Corinth and Ephesus (and other churches in other cities) in reference to the customs, traditions, and civil laws of the First Century while handling the  growing heresy of Gnosticism that had infiltrated these churches by the middle of the 1st Century?  Have we mistranslated, misunderstood, and misapplied what Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 11-14 and 1 Tim. 2-3?  Do we understand how the Apostle Paul used certain words in Greek that are used only one time in the entire New Testament and have we translated the sentence from the Greek properly in our present Bibles?  Have we created a whole theology around two verses of Scripture disregarding other Scripture that is in opposition to those two verses? How should we view and apply Gal 3:28?  Did a woman write one of the most profound and beautifully written letters in the New Testament? Who was Junia and was she an apostle?  Can females teach, evangelize, minister, participate in worship, and serve in leadership today when they were restricted in the 1st Century by the customs and civil laws of a male dominated society that kept females uneducated and severely restricted?  And just as important, did females teach, evangelize, minister, participate in worship, and serve in leadership today when they were restricted in the 1st Century by the customs and civil laws of a male dominated society that kept females uneducated and severely restricted?  Were there really across the board restrictions on women being allowed to teach and be leaders in the First Century Church as our churches commonly teach now and is that total control authorized by God or have we just totally misunderstood what Paul was addressing when he wrote to the Corinthians and the Ephesians?  How do these changes in viewing the position of women in the church effect marriage and should marriage and church leadership be viewed as patriarchal, complimentarian, egalitarian, a combination of two or more of the above, or none of the above?  Should we interpret Scripture as "what is written applies to all generations for all time", or should we interpret Scripture as "in the light of the historical setting which may or may not apply to us today?"  Did God intend for the church to be locked into a pattern that tries to duplicate of the 1st Century church in everything, especially regarding how the 1st Century Jewish and Roman societies viewed and treated women, or did God intend for the church to be flexible in its approach to the society it was in at any given time in history in order to become a missional church that was able to reach souls in whatever society or time frame the church existed in? 

 

There are many more questions that can be asked in search for truth regarding gender equality and inclusion but these are just a few that are asked and do not receive satisfactory answers from the traditional or so called conservative view point!  The linked articles and studies, the book that is downloadable on this web site, and the reading recommendations you will find listed  below will help you to answer these questions for yourself.  No one single source answers every question.  There is a large and still growing library of resources in the religious world on gender repression and gender equality.  Some sources attempt to answer only one or two questions with in depth research and discussion, while other sources attack the problem in generalities that are easily understandable by almost anyone choosing to study this subject.  Of course, our single most important resource should always be the Bible and we need to look to Scripture for examples as to how God viewed viewed the role of women in the Old Testament and if he put them in leadership roles or kept them in secondary roles to man.  Most importantly, we need to take a very careful look at how Jesus treated females in light of the Jewish customs and laws, and how he used women in particular to reveal who he was.  Jesus bucked the system in regards to women right from the start of his ministry.  The very first missionary of Jesus to go to a people who knew nothing about Jesus was the Samaritan woman at the well.  The person who was the first to declare that Jesus had risen from the grave was a woman when a woman in the 1st Century could not even testify at a trial because the male population of that time considered all women to be incapable of telling the truth!  Yet, we want to put women in the church in the exact same place they were in before Jesus started his ministry on Earth.  We need to know exactly how we should understand what the Apostle Paul taught in the light of the latest archaeological and theological research into customs, laws, ancient language, etc, and how that applies to us as we live under different customs, different civil laws, and use a different language in the 21st Century.  We need to look at how language has changed over 2000 years and how we understand the ancient language and word meanings compared to the modern translation.  In many of our churches, we simply disregard a number of customs such as the holy kiss, foot washing, raising holy hands, etc, saying that they were just customs of the 1st Century church so we can disregard them now but then turn around and say that women being silent in the worship is not a custom when we clearly know that this was indeed a custom of the society. Where does that leave us today in regards to gender?  Is gender restriction something that is a custom or a command?

 

    We have a very strong tendency to take a very literal and legalistic understanding based on our present translations of the ancient Greek of what Paul said without understanding the customs and the civil laws of the 1st Century in Corinth, Ephesus, Rome, and most areas of the near East and without understanding how those 1st Century conditions should or should not effect us in the 21st Century.  The correct translation of some Greek words Paul used is still not totally understood and to properly understand what Paul was saying, we have to possess some idea of the historical usage of those words, how he would have viewed a particular situation within the framework of the laws and customs that he and the 1st Century Church lived in, who he was writing to, why he was writing to them in the first place, and why he chose words in the Greek language that are used no where else in the Bible.  Bobby Valentine, in one of his articles I have on my website, tells us about translation fossils. Translation fossils refer to the power of tradition in the retention of renderings that have long been regarded as suspect because of new knowledge, yet do not make its way into the translation process.  We have a surprising number of these translation fossils and some of them show up when looking at the traditional way of viewing gender and gender equality in the church.  We have to look at our own modern translations where there are obvious translation problems because of these translation fossils that set up false understandings of Scripture that can be used to carry on the patternistic, ultra legalistic practice of gender repression.

 

    The attempts to understand the roles women should have in the churches of the 21st Century are not new to our generation.  Sister Selina Moore Holman (please follow the link for a wonderful biography by Al Maxey of this beautiful Christian woman) was a woman who lived more than 100 years before our time.  She took on the male controlled Church of Christ and some of its strongest leaders. She wrote many articles and letters to the Gospel Advocate and church leaders in her life.  Some of her writings and the replies she received will give you an idea that the same concerns being voiced today were being voiced over 115 years ago.  The Restoration Movement, as it has come to be called in this century, was an outgrowth of a reform movement toward simple Biblical Christianity and unity that started in the late 18th Century and which became more organized and distinct during the early years of the 19th Century under the guidance of Alexander Campbell and Barton W Stone.  It was less than 80 years old at the time Sister Holeman wrote to the Gospel Advocate. 

 

    From the original Restoration Movement churches have come four major church groups:  the Church of Christ, the Independent Christian Church, the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ, and the International Churches of Christ plus a number of sub groups within those major groups.  Of those four, only the Christian Church/Disciples of Christ has really opened its doors to women in ministry and that has just been in the last few years.  Sadly, the Churches of Christ and the Independent Christian Churches have lagged behind and have created many artificial barriers to prevent women from moving into ministry of any form, with the majority of the barriers having roots in just two sets of verses in the entire Bible.  The only form of ministry that has, so far, really opened to women in the Churches of Christ has been children's ministry.  Children's ministry has opened for women because of the perception that this particular avenue of ministry does not violate the belief that a woman cannot be in a position of authority over a baptized male of any age!  The woman serving as a children's minister is only ministering to children under a certain age so she does not violate any of the supposed restrictions.

 

It is my opinion that the issue of women's roles in the teaching, worship, ministry, and leadership of the Churches of Christ (not to mention most fundamental and evangelical style congregations) will be the single most discussed and divisive issue in the next few years of the 21st Century.  There are other issues that will be heatedly discussed, such as the rethinking and application of the Lord's Supper, grace verses legalistic patternistic practices, instrumental music, and baptism, but they will not generate as much heated discussion as the gender issue.  The present homosexual in issues, which seem to be on top of the hot topic list in many churches and discussions, in my opinion, will actually be a very minor issue compared to the gender issue in the next few years.  Homosexuality is clearly labeled sinful in Scripture so it should not ever be an issue.  However, homosexuality in the pulpit is something that is brought up on a regular basis when discussions take place regarding women in the pulpit.  It's called the slippery slope argument, which is a form of strawman argument, which states that if we allow women in the pulpit, then homosexuals preaching from the pulpit will follow shortly thereafter. For those who do not know what a strawman argument is, the following is a definition from Wikipedia:

 A straw man argument is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by substituting a superficially similar proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.

Unfortunately, homosexuals, adulterers, fornicators, child molesters, and wife abusers have already been preaching from our pulpits for many years.  Some have been removed from the pulpit for their sinful lifestyles and others are serving prison terms for their crimes and sins against children.  However, those who push the slippery slope argument usually will not talk about these already known problems!  It is just the if we let women preach, the next thing that will occur is we will let homosexuals preach!" and the slippery slope strawman argument is thrown out again to draw the discussion away from the real problems.  There are other strawman arguments that come up but the one that is the most ridiculous is the homosexual in the pulpit.

 

Individual Christians, as well as whole churches, have already begun expressing their opinions and taking action to correct this issue of inequality and injustice regarding gender equality in the church.  However, others who are convinced that women are to be in subjection or submission (under the control of) to men are digging deep trenches to fight a war of no-change from the status quo, totally disregarding new historical and grammatical knowledge that makes more sense than previously held knowledge.  Many of our male elders and church leaders, for various reasons, will do anything they can to keep the discussion from even being brought. Many are continuing to hold to traditional ideas based in the views of women that came from a patriarchal society of the time when the letters and gospels were being put on paper and the translation from the original Greek was controlled by men who, whether they could admit it to themselves or not, had an agenda of maintaining their control.  The links on my web wite are to articles on my website, other web sites, and churches that are in support of the Gender Equality issue.  Some of our congregations in the Churches of Christ have taken definite steps to correct this injustice.  Many of those who have been public about their changes have been labeled as liberal, feminist, heretical, and so on by the legalistic, patternistic side of our Restoration Movement fellowship.  When a congregation of the Lord's church practices a Galations 3:26-28 concept of equality, the legalistic and patternistic thinking that is so common in churches that do practice this gender inequality is squashed by the love that comes from a truly grace centered congregation where everyone has equality to worship and work using whatever gifts and skills that are supplied by God.  This legalistic patternism cannot exist in a church environment where there is gender, racial, and class equality! 

 

    Having three daughters (one of whom is a Children's and Family Minister with an Master of Science degree in Christian Ministry from ACU's Graduate School of Theology), and a precious granddaughter who, at nine years old, still has no real understanding of this issue and the fight that is coming for removing all barriers to women in the church, makes this a very close to my heart issue.  What I have seen happen in regards to my oldest daughter over the last few years as she has tried to pursue her career in children's ministry has just reinforced my view that the present practice by our all male leadership of restricting the roles of females in our churches is not scripturally supportable and just plain wrong, if not sinful.  My daughter was led by God to still fairly rare type of Church of Christ congregation that actively supports her ministry and appreciates the effort she puts into the ministry. The discrimination and restrictions on women in the church must be brought to an end if we truly want the church of Jesus Christ to become what he has showed us it should be.  What I pray for is that our future generations will never have to feel the frustration and limitations that many of our older women, wives, daughters, and even some of our grand daughters feel now, and that our children and grandchildren, male and female together, will someday be able to work and worship in equality before God in the Churches of Christ and each person will be able to use the talents God has given them for the growth of the Kingdom of God.  We have made great strides in the areas of race equality and social status equality in the the churches of Christ, but we have not yet been able to get up off our belly and crawl in regards to gender equality.  Crawling is the first step to walking because it brings about coordination of the different limbs.  We have a few congregations that have started using women but they are just one arm pushing up and reaching out in that learning process.  How long will it take for the other arm and then the legs to lift the torso up and begin to move forward?  As it is with a baby when they start to crawl, walking usually comes quickly after they learn to crawl, but crawling takes time as the baby has to gain coordination.  The walking leads to running and the whole world opens up before the child because of its new found mobility.  Although my true home to come is in Heaven in a totally equal atmosphere where we all worship our God and Savior with equal status before them, I pray that God will allow me to live on this Earth long enough to see real gains in equality of gender in the Churches of Christ.  Oh, what a wonderful day that will be!  There is presently a slowly growing trend towards gender inclusive congregations in the Churches of Christ.  As these congregations make themselves known, I will add them to my page Gender Inclusive Churches of Christ.   In my discussions with with others on this subject, I have found there are Churches of Christ in the US that have practiced gender equality and gender inclussion for a few years but have not made themselves publically known because of the ridicule and blasting they would receive from other segments of the Churches of Christ who cannot accept the idea of women speak, teaching men, and taking an active role in the worship and leadership of the congregation.  If you know of one of these congregations that is not listed, please forward it to me so that I can list it.

 

   My wife and I hope and pray articles and links on listed to the left will help you understand the issue of removing barriers based on gender and help you to make an educated and wise decision on this issue.  What I have gathered here is just a very small sample of the research and study being put into Gender Equality.  Of course, we hope you will also come to the realization that the Churches of Christ in general need to change their practices towards the female gender to be more in line with God's Word.  Too many women who have heard God calling them into a life of full time ministry or volunteer service have been deeply hurt and have had the spirit quenched in them because of the attitude of male superiority that prevails over most Churches of Christ.  There is more than enough information available just through this web page alone to make for very in depth study and intelligent decision making.  However, there are volumes of serious study published in print and on the web seriously questioning traditional translation techniques and the present understanding of these passages regarding women in the church.   It is our prayer that you will join with those of us who are traveling the less traveled road of gender equality and support true gender equality before God and in His church.  We need to make this the most traveled road of all!  As Floyd E. Rose said,

 

"It is an idea whose time has come."

 

One last comment.  You will not find any recommendations regarding study material for the "traditional women's role" views that are held by most traditional, conservative, Old Path, and non-institutional Churches of Christ.  Most of the readers of this site will have been thoroughly indoctrinated to that side of the study of gender for many years and these views can be readily found in most church libraries and book stores.

 

Grace and peace to all who are in Jesus Christ

 

Wiley and Linda Clarkson

 

If you are a supporter of gender equality and inclusivity in the Churches of Christ (regardless of denomintion), have written or taught on this subject and would like to have a place to publish your work, please email me.  I will be happy to read what you have written and if it fits into the overall purpose of my web pages on Gender Equality, I would love to publish it here.  This is especially important if you are a associated with one of the following church groups:  Churches of Christ, the Independent Christian Church, the Church of Christ (instrumental), and the Christian Church (DoC).

 

last updated on 02/17/2010 by Wiley Clarkson