She is Senior Pastor at Church, but...

The Little Woman at Home

Senior Pastor at Church: The Little Woman at Home

I was raised in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), so I understand the restrictions against women within that denomination. In my mid-twenties, I began attending a denomination that had no problem with women as church leaders and pastors. So, I enjoyed the freedom of growing in my gifts and callings within a local church setting.

But it wasn't without its frustrations. Over the years, I noticed that women who were pastors experienced more difficulty than men in attaining those positions, and, once there, often walked a strict line between obeying their calling and keeping their boards of directors happy. Most pastors deal with this, but women face the additional threat of being labeled as feminists for something as simple as being assertive, a necessary leadership trait.  

FEMINIST! I have known women pastors who were often not secure enough in their positions to speak out on behalf of other women in their denomination, as their almost always all-male board of deacons or directors could oust them at any moment, if they perceived their pastor as being one of those dreadful creatures, the "feminists." This is a word in Christian vernacular that means "hater and destroyer of all things good" but that is actually defined as equality for women with men in social, economic, religious, and political settings.  It simply means adult autonomy for women, something which has always been enjoyed by men.

And then there's the paradox of a married woman being senior pastor at church but expected to transform herself into the submissive "little woman" at home. Virtually all denominations that lay claim to egalitarianism, only allow a limited version of equality of the sexes at church (most don't allow for women overseers). At home, it is complementarian male governance all the way. They expect their women, even their senior pastors who are women, to submit to male superintendency at home. 

TWO SIDES OF SAME COIN: Which brings us to the subject of spousal abuse and wife beating. Male governance and wife abuse are two sides of the same coin. Are all husband's wife abusers? No. But show me a controlling wife abuser and I will show you a man who has deeply held convictions about gender-based-hierarchy and a woman's "place." Add to that a deeply held spiritual belief that he is ordained by God to govern his woman, and the risk increases exponentially. Complementarianism and wife abuse are two sides of the same coin.

STAINED GLASS CEILING: Virtually all denominations that claim to be egalitarian only partially practice it. So can a church or denomination call themselves egalitarian if they aren't? Even when churches permit women to hold pastoral positions, most of them refuse to allow women to hold positions of overseer. The ones that do, often give only lip-service to the idea. In so-called egalitarian denominations, women as overseers are few and far between, or not at all. The stained-glass ceiling is very real.  

I am thankful for the men and women within all denominations who stand against unscriptural gender-based hierarchy, and I urge others who see the wrongness in this practice to take courage in the Lord and stand with them. 

NO MIDDLE GROUND: Any church that lays claim to gender-based equality in church but holds to gender-based inequality in its highest offices and also expects wives to submit to husbands at home, is a patriarchal, complementarian, organization, regardless of how many women they allow to preach. There is no middle ground here. You either hold to the Genesis One mandate for equal adult autonomy in God's human creation [without regard to sex], or you don't.

Eclectic, edgy, and enlivening, Jocelyn Andersen is the author of several non-fiction books and is currently working on her first novel. She writes and speaks about a variety of topics with an emphasis on the subject of God and Women. Her work in that respect has been featured in magazines, newspapers, radio, and television.

When Jocelyn speaks at your church or event, toss political correctness and stuffy tradition out the window, and prepare be challenged and motivated. Whether she is speaking to writers, teaching a Bible study, talking about the gender-based Christian caste system, or Christian response to domestic violence, her talks and interviews are always compelling, informative, empowering, and inspiring.