Women in Ministry Seminar - Ministry Exchange (MX)

By Ashleigh Greene (UNC-CH ’08) UNC IV
Women’s Retreat
UNC IV Multi-Ethnicity Team Leader (‘06-07) Spring ’07
ashreb@email.unc.edu

Women in Ministry Seminar Take-Home Summary

Short and sweet definitions:
-complementarians value Scripture very highly and believe that the Bible
properly interpreted teaches that women and men are equal in value but are
intended to have different roles in the church and home
-egalitarians also value Scripture very highly and believe that the Bible
properly interpreted teaches that women and men are equal in value and are
not given gender-specific roles; instead God calls both men and women to
various tasks and positions in the church and home, which will vary with
situation and individual giftings

Important things to remember… – Egalitarians and complementarians are Christian brothers and sisters; it’s not useful to be bitter toward one another or tear each other down. – At the same time, it is not possible for both viewpoints to be 100% right at once. It’s good for us to be seeking the truth and hoping others will find it. – Both viewpoints are relatively new and are held by imperfect people influenced by prejudices, presuppositions, and culture as well as by the Holy Spirit. – The question of women in ministry is not the most important issue in the Bible, but that doesn’t make it only a “peripheral” issue. Gender is a huge part of who we are and there are many legitimate reasons to see this as a crucial area for us to understand our identity and the Gospel’s application for our lives. – This debate is very scholarly/nerdy and the experts obviously disagree! Keep asking questions and reading up on stuff, and don’t be discouraged if some things are hard to understand. – Pray and think and think and pray and discuss this with others and pray some more! God desires for you to know him more; ask him to help you engage critically with this issue and for him to reveal himself to you.

When reading Scripture, it’s helpful to remember to… *Observe (engage)- What does the author say in the text? Look for: cause/effect and purpose words (therefore, etc.), repetition, conflicts/tensions in the narrative, the Ws, etc. *Interpret (understand)- What did it mean to the original author and
audience? Think about: people’s feelings and motives, the meanings of their actions and words to the people they’re addressing; keep asking about the author’s intent-there is this one true interpretation *Apply (respond)- What does it mean for me, my life, us, our
community? Consider: how this changes how you see God or yourself, think about both belief-responses and action-responses, both individual responses and corporate responses; while there is only one correct interpretation of a passage remember that there may be many legitimate applications of the passage God has for you to discover
Some important passages and questions:

Genesis 1-3 (esp. 1:26-28, 2:15-25; 3:16)
-Is there a relevance to the creation order?
-What does “helper” mean? Do other clues point to equality or hierarchy
before the fall?
-Is the “rule” prescriptive or descriptive?

OT and NT leaders
-What roles did women actually play? (Ex: Was Phoebe actually a deacon?)
-Why were there fewer women mentioned? Do the exceptions to patriarchy
point toward a higher egalitarian ideal or only emphasize a male-leadership
norm?

Jesus
-How did Jesus relate to women? What roles did they play as his followers?
-What does the value Jesus ascribes to women mean for us today?

Acts 2:16-21
-How is prophesy similar to or different from teaching, since women and men
of all backgrounds and classes are expected to prophesy?

1 Corinthians 11:2-16
-What does it mean for the woman to have “authority” on her head?
-What does “head” mean here where it’s used figuratively?
-What does creation order or the angels have to do with head coverings?
-How might this confusing passage on head coverings for us today?

1 Corinthians 14:26-40
-Since women were clearly encouraged to “prophesy” in other contexts
(including 1 Cor. 11), Paul cannot be advocating the complete silence of
women-what then does he mean?
-Why does the verse order differ between manuscript groups? Is it possible
that this was added later or was an instance of Paul quoting someone else,
as some wonder?

Galatians 3:28
-Is Paul only speaking of salvation for all or does this new spiritual
reality also change social order?

Ephesians 5:21-33 (see also, Col. 3:18-19) – What does “submit” mean, generally (“one to another”) and for the wife
specifically? What does “love” mean for the man? How are the
similar/different?
-What “head” mean?
-How radical were these statements to Paul’s audience and what should that
mean today?

1 Timothy 2:8-15
-Was the “quietness” temporary due to false teaching or for all women at
all times?
-What does “authority” mean here?
-Why is the creation story referenced?
1 Tim 3:1-13
-Are the “women” Paul mentions female deacons or deacon’s wives?
-Does the use of male language throughout most of the passage automatically
exclude women from these positions, then or now?

1 Peter 3:1-8
-Obviously a woman shouldn’t obey a husband that is telling her to sin, and
many times a woman may disagree with what her husband thinks is best.
Where is Peter expecting her to draw the lines?
-Is Peter asking all women at all times to be under their husbands’
authority or is this just for the sake of witness in a patriarchal culture?
-What does it mean for husbands to honor their wives “as the weaker sex”
and in what sense is that true of women (physically, intellectually, in
terms of social standing, etc.?)?

Also:
-If God’s desire to spread the Gospel, would God restrict some potentially
gifted teachers and preachers? If so, why?
-Is it possible for there to be equality in personhood while maintaining
different roles based solely on gender?
-If there are gender roles for all time, how do we be consistent in our
applications? (Ex: the incongruity between women in missions abroad but
not in ministry at home)
-How should Christians respond to gender injustices in wider society
(violence against women, discrimination in the workplace, educational
inequalities, noninclusive language, etc.)? How do complementarians and
egalitarians see this similarly/differently?
-How should Christians work toward gender reconciliation given past and
present injustices toward women? What does that look like from an
egalitarian and complementarian perspectives?

May reprint for educational purposes.
Special thanks to Alex Kirk, IV staff at UNC, from whose Small Group Vision
talk on Inductive Bible Study I drew most of my Inductive explanation.