WOMEN IN MINISTRY SHOULD NOT BE A DIVISIVE ISSUE
by Charlie McLaughlin

The trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary flexed their muscles again by rejecting Steve Harmon as a prospective professor. He received an unanimous recommendation by the school’s theology department. According to a March 17 The Baptist Standard article Steve Harmon may have been refused a professorship because of “his conviction that women in ministry is a local-church matter and opinions expressed in a letter to The Baptist Standard more than two years ago…”

Although Harmon might disagree, a trustee cited that Harmon’s letter was not a factor. If the letter is not the issue then the reason we are given is that Harmon’s answer about women in ministry is not sufficient to meet their standards. During the interview process Harmon was asked about his position on women in ministry. Harmon’s conviction is that it is a local church matter, historically a Baptist answer. Even though Harmon considers himself an inerrantist, his stance on women in ministry does not make him enough of an inerrantist to be a professor at Southwestern.

Simply put, what you believe about women in ministry determines whether or not you believe in the Bible. This is an issue that divides according to the fundamentalists. This should not be.

The issue of women ministers and deacons has been around since 1845 when the Southern Baptist Convention was formed. The founder and first president of the SBC, W.B. Johnson, advocated women deacons in the book The Gospel Developed Through the Government and Order of the Churches of Jesus Christ, written in 1846. Johnson believed that deaconship should be determined by talents, not gender. After describing areas of service, he states “In these two last departments (hospitality and care for the poor), deaconesses would be particularly useful…And therefore it is, that the deaconship admits of females into its number. Phebe was a diaconos, deaconess, or female servant of the church at Cenchrea.” (pp: 96-97)

This subject is absent in the Baptist Faith and Message. It is an issue meant to be a matter of interpretation based on the principles of the priesthood of the believer and autonomy of the local church. I await the day when the Baptist Faith and Message will not be “ inerrantist enough” and will be rewritten to propagate fundamentalist interpretations as “Baptist/Bible beliefs.”

Women in ministry will continue to be a growing issue as we move into the 21st century. Read the article on page 7 written by Mark Coppenger to better understand what the fundamentalists will teach students into the next century.

Bill Leonard speaking about religion in the future, said: “Likewise, it is spirituality which will help churches deal with gender issues in Christian ministry. Spirituality brought Christian women into Christian ministry… this generation of ministerial students is decidedly less male than ever before.”

Speaking to the Efficiency and Effectiveness committee of the BGCT, Leon McBeth stated, “What we are now seeing in women’s ministries in the church is not so much new as a recovery of earlier roles…In the 21st century, a Southern Baptist church with men-only deacons will be the exception. A church or denomination that rejects women from leadership roles will forfeit the future.” The way we as Texas Baptists respond to this issue affects the atmosphere for dialogical witnessing to a pluralistic culture.

Women in ministry is not a divisive issue if we respect the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church. If a woman feels called to the ministry, that is between her and God. If a church wants to ordain a woman to the ministry or as a deacon, that is a matter between the woman, the local church, and God.

In January, Good Housekeeping did a profile article on Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham. It reported about the difficulty she has endured as a Presbyterian minister.

“Like all female ministers, Lotz occasionally faces hostility from those who believe she shouldn’t be preaching. In 1993, one Southern Baptist leader banned her from speaking at a state conference… One minister, however is unswerving in his support. ‘Daddy has always believed in me, bragged on me, and encouraged me to follow my call to preach,’ says Lotz. ‘It’s the family blessing.’”

I wonder if Southwestern trustees would keep Billy Graham from teaching in the seminary for the same reason they are reported to have rejected Steve Harmon?

April 1997