The Difficult Questions: The Role of Women in the Church

This week’s topic from the book, “Can I ask that,” is a particularly difficult one. It is for this reason that I’m skipping town (Florida) for the week and leaving it to Matt.

So, Sunday night, Matt will dive head first into the topic of the role of women in the church. Get your popcorn ready.

If you’ve spent much time reading the Bible, either testament, you’ll know that there are some uncomfortable passages of scripture that, when read through the lens of modernity, seem incredibly troubling. As we have discussed, some of these passages are troubling on their face, but many others can be easily misunderstood if one doesn’t know how to read the Bible in its proper context.

It is important to understand that when the scriptures were written and later compiled, women were not considered equal to men in many parts of the world, including in the ancient Middle East.

At certain times and places throughout history, women were not allowed to speak to men, to worship with men or to testify against a man in a court of law. Even in modern times, there are places where women have been excluded from higher education, from driving a car or having certain jobs, especially in leadership over men.

Further, the idea of women as ordained ministers is still taboo in many parts of the world, including in our own country.

Many of these prohibitions are rooted in cultural traditions that were ultimately reflected in religious texts and, consequently, sustained over the course of time.

This begs a larger question: What are some ways that culture impacts our faith? What about our faith impacting our culture? What role do we play?

First Presbyterian Church is part of the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), a leader in the equity and inclusion movement among Christian denominations. PCUSA has been ordaining women as pastors for nearly 70 years — and placing women in various other leadership positions in the church long before that.

As you may recall from lessons in the recent past, Christ’s ministry was considered radical by many precisely because it challenged dominant cultural ideologies active at the time, including those specific to the role of women in society.

So, again, we ask: What role do we play? How can we empower others, including those who have been marginalized, in our faith journey?

See you Sunday night (well, Matt will).