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“But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” (I Timothy 2:12)

That verse and the verses which follow are admittedly from one of the most difficult New Testament passages to interpret, especially in a society which wants to be inclusive of women. I do not intend to turn this posting into a Bible Study, nor do I intend to get into complicated hermeneutics (textual interpretation) which would put most of my readers to sleep. It IS true that the Apostle Paul here (also known as Saint Paul) is really “coming down” on women in leadership. Yet in other passages such as Romans chapter 16, Paul praises some of the churches FEMALE leaders! And, during the New Testament era, there absolutely WERE women who were prophetesses and evangelists. I guess the whole issue of “Ordination of women” has probably been a “hot button issue” for the past 2000 years of church history!

On Monday, July 20, “Politics Daily” reported that former President Jimmy Carter has left the Southern Baptist denomination over the issue of how they treat women. You can read about that at:

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/20/jimmy-carter-leaves-church-over-treatment-of-women/?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2009%2F07%2F20%2Fjimmy-carter-leaves-church-over-treatment-of-women%2F

The issue of female pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention has been a big and divisive one for many years. It’s NOT that the S.B.C. won’t ordain women, but my understanding is they don’t allow women to be Senior Pastors or solo Pastors (the only pastor in a small church). This is not to be confused with the American Baptist Churches (formerly known as Northern Baptists) who DO ordain women and have had female Senior Pastors for a number of years. (And, as a side note, there are at least 26 separate and distinct Baptist organizations in the U.S.A. including the Baptist General Conference, the Conservative Baptist Churches of America, and the Baptist Bible Fellowship, not to mention that a number of Baptist churches are Baptist in DOCTRINE but are in fact totally independent and belong to NO hierarchical Baptist organization.) Back to the “women pastors” issue, a lot of people are surprised that the Assemblies of God has women pastors, including Senior Pastors and solo Pastors, and has had women pastors for many decades. In fact, back before 1960, a woman, the Rev. Janet “Nettie” Rowe, was pastor of the church I currently pastor (First Assembly of God of Framingham) for over twenty years!

I will admit I’ve wrestled with the whole “women pastors” thing and I have a very different view from the opinion I had twenty years ago. I used to take Bible passages such as the one I quoted above very literally and very rigidly, and I’d isolate such passages and apply them to any and all situations. In early 1989, I was interviewed on WBZ’s “David Brudnoy Show”. Asked about my view of woman pastors, I stated that the Assemblies of God has women pastors who are completely equal to men but that I didn’t agree with the Assemblies of God on that practice. (I will say that later one of our female pastors here in Massachusetts took strong issue with me about what I said on the radio!) That was twenty years ago. Today, there are a lot more women pastors in the Assemblies of God and in the Protestant churches in general, even in many of the most “conservative” denominations. I count several female pastors as good friends of mine. I still think having a male pastor is an “ideal”; well actually, having a married couple who are each Ordained ministers pastor a church together is perhaps the most desirable situation, but I can see where a woman can be very effective as a pastor, even as a Senior Pastor or solo Pastor.

Having a woman pastor is admittedly not without potential problems. I remember a number of years ago hearing of a study of children who were raised in Pentecostal homes where their mother was the pastor and their father was just a guy in the church. Kids had a hard time figuring out who the real leader of their home was and who had the ultimate authority. I can see where that might be problematic.

I will admit that I’m still traditional enough that I want all of the four executives (General Superintendent, Assistant General Superintendent, Secretary, and Treasurer) at the head of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri to be men. And, I want my District Superintendent (like a local Bishop in most denominations) to be a man. But outside of that, I’ve gotten used to working with a number of female pastors and I’m essentially fine with that. Thank God for ladies like the Rev. Monsita Rodriguez (now over 90 and retired) who pastored small Hispanic churches in Texas, winning many souls, discipling many converts, helping the needy, and doing great work!

Where will Jimmy Carter go to church now? I have friends who pastor in Georgia. Perhaps they should be looking for him to show up some Sunday morning!