When I told an older pastor at Saddleback, the Southern Baptist church where we were members, that I was starting seminary, he hesitated. Then he said, “Well, I guess you could work in a church office.”
That comment perplexed me because I did not intend to ever work in a church office. That was not why I was going to seminary.
I had recently rededicated my life to the Lord, and like many, I thought if I just learned more about God and the Bible, I would find it easier to stay on track with my faith. Little did I know back then, the plans God had for me in the future.
If you’ve heard my story, you know I became a Christian at the age of eleven and was baptized at 18 before heading to college. I was a devout Christian until after my divorce when I ventured out into the world and backslid for seventeen years before rededicating my life at a Greg Laurie Harvest Crusade in Anaheim, California. Shortly after, I married my godly husband Dave. A story for another time, which you can read about on my website.
Back to my seminary story.
When I registered for seminary, no one had a problem with me being a woman. I wasn’t directed into any particular major, but I did have to pick one. I knew I didn’t want to be a pastor, so I ruled out a Master of Divinity.
As I browsed through the other options, I saw a new major the seminary was offering, a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership. Since I already had an MBA, this seemed perfect for me.
But the MACL major had three tracts and I had to choose one. The choices were:
Youth Ministry—No—Aged out and not my gifting.
Church Office Management—No, but I had a flashback to the pastor that told me this was where I would fit into the church.
Equipping the Laity—that left this one and I’ll admit I had to look up the meaning of “laity”:
- Lay people, as distinct from the clergy.
- Ordinary people, as distinct from professionals or experts.
I was definitely and ordinary person!
So after three years of taking classes at night while working and a new bride and stepmother, I graduated with a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership, Equipping the Laity emphasis.
Now what?
I had no idea, but God did.
Again, you can read my “Feed My Sheep” story if you haven’t heard it before of how God led me into starting the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry as a layperson leading other lay people in fulfilling the Scriptures that instruct one generation to teach and train the next generation.
Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good. 4 These older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, 5 to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God. Titus 2:3-5 NLT
One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. Ps. 145:4
As the founder and leader of the Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministry, I never had the title of pastor or minister, but instead I was a ministry leader.
I was not on staff or on the payroll.
I developed and led a ministry that God had plans for far beyond Saddleback Church. As I began to write and speak about how we were having a successful women’s mentoring ministry, churches around the world began starting Woman to Woman Mentoring Ministries from resources that I wrote which are still in churches today 31 years later!
I didn’t need a title or a paycheck to fulfill God’s plan for a ministry that would change the lives and destinies of thousands of everyday women around the world. It was my honor and privilege to fulfill God’s destiny for me by serving Him, my church, and the women He brought into the ministry. The Lord opened doors for me to use gifts I didn’t even know I had to write and speak for Him!
About His Work Ministries was birthed and God provided for our family, even when we were both unemployed! It’s a God miracle story.
Why am I telling you my story here?
Women’s Role in the Church is a Hotly Debated Topic Right Now
The Rev. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, plans for the fourth year in a row to propose a constitutional amendment at the Southern Baptist convention this week. The amendment would clarify that no participating Southern Baptist church can allow women to serve as senior pastors or even have the word “pastor” in their staff title, or the church will be disfellowshipped, as Saddleback was in 2023 for ordaining women and calling women pastors on their website.
Mohler’s proposed resolution re-states the stance against women as pastors, “to reaffirm that the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
The resolution goes on to give thanks “for the indispensable service, discipleship, evangelism, missions work and ministry contributions of women throughout Southern Baptist life and encourage churches to continue affirming and deploying women in biblically faithful ways.”
It also calls for “pastors to teach and uphold the biblical pattern of church leadership, which includes exemplifying the qualifications of godly character and conduct prescribed in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9.”
Because of the proposed Mohler amendment at the Southern Baptist Convention this week, my Facebook feed has been inundated with opinions for and against it. Maybe you’ve read some of the various arguments. My purpose in this blog is not to argue or debate the issue but to present some information for you to pray about and decide on your own.
Honestly, I can’t find anything in the Bible that says we should even have denominations! Not to mention denominations with their own rules and guidelines. They all claim the Bible supports their differing viewpoints, which often result in disunity instead of unity.
Since the Bible never changes, how can it be that denominations vary in how they interpret God’s Word?
But the word of the Lord endures forever. 1 Peter 1:25
Since moving to Idaho 15 years ago, we’ve attended a nondenominational Bible Church, but even they have by-laws that members and church leaders dispute. It makes you wonder if God wants us going back to house churches?!
Should Women Be Pastors?
If you enjoy listening to podcasts, I highly recommend this one with Stephanie Shott and Rebecca Fussell, “Should Women Be Pastors,” where they discuss what the Bible actually says in context. In context, is important. Often writers or speakers, even pastors, use a Scripture to support their point, but in context, it takes on a completely different meaning and intent.
Here’s also an in-depth article by Jill Monaco, “Can Women Hold the Title of and Function as a Pastor?”
I’ve always ascribed to the simple explanation that Jesus is the head of the church. Senior pastors are thus male heads of Jesus‘ church, as the husband is the head of the home. I have no problem with that, even though as a single mom for 17 years, I know moms often step into the head of the home role, but that isn’t God’s plan for the family.
I could only find the word “pastor” used in one Scripture, Ephesians 4:11-13.
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Interesting that the proposed Southern Baptist constitutional amendment is labeled “Truth and Unity” but it’s fostered disunity. When asked about women podcasters, Mohler, the author of the amendment replied:
“If she is functioning as a pastor, then she is assuming the role of a pastor, and I think that’s what’s implied here. And yes, I do see that as a problem. I don’t think the church should ever lean into offering confusion on this issue, but should lean into clarity. … If this person is functioning with other pastors as a pastor, the title really doesn’t matter all that much. That’s because the biblical conception of pastor is both the title and the function, the title and the role. And so avoiding the title doesn’t mean you’ve avoided the problem.”
That seems extreme to me. Many people interpret the words “shepherd” and “teacher” in the Bible as pastor and yet women in ministry often shepherd and teach as authors, podcasters, speakers, and leaders in the church.
My Experience
When I was leading a Woman to Woman Mentoring conference in Alaska, a church in the area heard I was coming and asked if I would speak at their Sunday service. I agreed. It was a bit intimidating as the church pastor was sitting in the front row. I can’t even remember my topic, but I’m sure it had something to do with my spiritual calling to encourage everyone to “Share Life’s Experiences and God’s Faithfulness,” which is my tagline and the subtitle of my book Mentoring for All Seasons. That pastor had no problem with a woman guest speaker in his pulpit. I didn’t present myself as a pastor and neither did the church. I would do it again.
I would love to hear your thoughts. When it comes to women pastors are we relying on tradition, denominational constitutions and restrictions, or biblical intent?
PS. I hope you read my blog last week, An Open Letter to James Talarico.
Perhaps you’ll understand where Talarico’s bizarre perverted “Christian” views originate when you read this alarming article. Presbyterian Church Faces Internal Revolt after Proposing Clergy Must be in Monogamous Relationships! This is the Presbyterian Church (USA). The same denomination that Talarico attends, preaches in, and is going to their seminary.
Presbyterian USA not only allows women pastors, they’ve also ordained homosexuals since 2011, allow homosexual marriage since 2014, and allow pastors to be in polyamorous sexual relationships! The progressive Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is facing internal backlash over a proposed rule requiring ordained clergy to be in monogamous relationships, sparking fierce debate and outrage from progressive church committees and polyamorous groups.
Progressive activists within the denomination, including More Light Presbyterians, have aggressively lobbied against the monogamy rule, arguing that it reinforces exclusionary standards and harms the queer community, while pushing for theological studies on gender, sexuality, and relationships instead.
“The Advocacy Committee on LGBTQIA+ Equity also argued that the monogamy rule reinforced White privilege. The group claimed the mandate imposes “a narrow, culturally specific understanding of family” that “privileges a dominant cultural framework over the lived realities of communities of color and global Christians.”
So the Presbyterian Church (USA) is going to vote at their General Assembly this summer in Milwaukee on this “controversial” rule, submitted by the Sierra Blanca Presbytery, stating that PC(USA) pastors must “display moral character” and, “if engaged in any relationship of a sexual nature, living in a monogamous one.”
Promiscuous sex is fine for their pastors as long as it’s just one person at a time, but that’s even being protested in favor of staying with polyamorous sexual relationships!
Can you even believe this???
Crazy! Unbiblical! Satanic!
Why even call themselves a church? They’re certainly NOT Christians following God’s Word.
This “Progressive Christianity” professes that “The Bible can (and should) be reinterpreted by each individual and generation in accordance with their views of truth and their cultural and personal needs. The intended original meaning of the biblical text, so we’re told, is either unknown, unknowable, and/or irrelevant.”
The liberals love to make up new terms to accommodate their godless carnal secular views. In my opinion, there’s no such thing as progressive Christianity. It’s satanic heresy and blasphemy. That’s why one gay Presbyterian woman pastor was on television saying she would like to remove pages of the Bible. Of course, those would be the ones calling her lifestyle a sin.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Tim. 4:3
Now you can see how Talarico comes up with his crazy progressive satanic heretical blasphemy and false teaching. He’s trying to make the Bible justify a godless liberal perverse political agenda just like he was taught at his Presbyterian USA church. Sick and twisted.
So, the Southern Baptists are voting to extend their ban on women pastors to include speaking on faith-based podcasts and the Presbyterians (USA) are voting to require gay pastors to be in monogamous sexual relationships!
Please leave your comments here. I’d love to hear from you.
Our worship leader/administrator is a woman. She is doing all the work that our previous male “associate pastor” did, but without the title of “associate pastor.” Didn’t Shakespeare say, “What’s in a name?” Why are we even bringing up this extremely divisive issue? And just as an afterthought, I wonder if Lottie Moon preached to and taught men on the mission field.
I agree and as I said in the blog “pastor” is only found once in the Bible. I wonder if your woman worship leader is getting the same pay as the previous associate pastor? It’s interesting that SBC is calling this a “Truth & Unity” amendment when it’s causing so much disunity. Thank you for your comment, Ellen. In addition to Lottie Moon, someone else commented about Aimee Semple McPherson.