There has always been an existing question concerning the place of women in the church. Many conservative or dare I say traditional Christians believe women should not preach in church with the strongest support for this belief being 1Corithians 14:34-36.
In times past, beliefs as the one stated above were widely accepted with women in church circles knowing their “place” and sticking to their assigned roles both in the church and the larger society.
But times are fast changing.
The increase in the demand for a more inclusive society and the push for equality and equity in every area has given room for women to advocate for equal opportunities as men not only in the workplace or at home but also in places of worship and religious gatherings.
Since it is agreed that men and women were both created in the image and likeness of God and we agree that they are equal but different, then it begs the question; If women can preach, if they can teach, if women can heal the sick and do everything that an ordained male minister would do, Why then is the issue of female ordination still frowned upon in some circles in the body of Christ?
Ever since these questions were raised, Christians have struggled to agree on precisely why women should continue to be barred from ordination.
Opponents to the idea of female ordination argue that Jesus appointed only male disciples as his apostles, while St Paul instructed women to be silent in church, and told wives to submit to their husbands. Women are therefore prohibited from exercising authority over men in the church.
While there have been several interpretations of these Bible verses with many churches beginning to take a more relaxed stance and appointing women into priestly/pastoral and leadership roles in the church, the conversation around the role of women in the church is becoming more heated and threatens to create an ideological divide in some congregations. One such is the Southern Baptist Congregation in the United States.
The SBC Disagreement
The disagreement at the SBC is a question of whether churches with women pastors should be expelled from the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.
Since 2000, official Southern Baptist doctrine limits the role of the pastor to men. But that doctrine had never been enforced at the national level until recently. This past February, the SBC’s Executive Committee expelled five churches—including Saddleback in California, one of the largest churches in the SBC—for having women pastors.
The Rev. Linda Barnes Popham, longtime pastor of Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., one of the churches kicked out alongside Saddleback, told The Tennessean newspaper she was surprised her role at the church became controversial recently. She said several SBC leaders have preached at the church during her three decades as a pastor, including the chair of the committee that recommended disfellowshipping Fern Creek.
“If our convention continues to make ‘minor things’ the ‘main thing,’ there will soon not be many churches left in the convention,” she told that committee in a letter last October, according to The Tennessean.
The current SBC debate over women pastors is largely believed to have been fueled, at least in part, by a 2019 tweet from bestselling author and Bible teacher Beth Moore about speaking at a church on Mother’s Day. Her social media post sparked a wave of controversy that eventually contributed to her leaving the denomination.
This debate already divided the southern Baptist Convention with some in support of women pastors being ordained and others vehemently opposed to the idea because as one of them pointed out, “ it is against the word of God”.
Should The Catholic Church Ordain Women Priests?
There has been increasing pressure on the Catholic Church to ordain women priests a move which the universal church is strongly opposed to and shows no sign of budging.
The German Bishops’ Conference its springtime meeting on, 27 February-2 March in Dresden where 67 Bishops took part in the assembly whose main topic is the Universal Church’s synodal process launched by Pope Francis in 2021 with one of the keys topics discussed is women’s role in the Church.
At The fifth assembly of the German Synodal Way, meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 11, 2023, Delegates passed the implementation text “Women in sacramental ministry: Perspectives for the universal Church dialogue” by a similarly large margin. Only 10 of 58 bishops voted against the measure, which calls for the German bishops to advance the issue of the sacramental ordination of women at the continental and universal level of the Church.
A motion adopted by the assembly replaced a call for the establishment of a “sacramental diaconate of women” with “opening the sacramental diaconate for women.” The distinction made clear that the Synodal Way is pushing for women to be integrated into already existing holy orders.
Delegates adopted another motion that modified priorities related to the all-male priesthood, calling for the practice to be simply reexamined, rather than ended, at the universal level of the Church. Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising said that the motion was needed to “build consensus” for changes to the Church’s dogmatic teaching related to the priesthood.
Others were less interested in the slow approach. Several women delegates were seen in tears after the vote, saddened that the text did not more explicitly call for female priests, an idea the Church has repeatedly affirmed is impossible.
Pope St. John Paul II’s definitive declaration of May 1994, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, states that :
Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.
A History Of Confusion
Anglicans have been debating the ordination of women for over a century. The issue arose as part of debates about gender that dominated late nineteenth-century discourse in Britain and its colonies.
Anglicans however seem not to be able to reach a consensus unlike their counterparts in the Catholic Church which are vehemently opposed to the idea of Women priests, The Church of England allows women to be ordained priests or deacons but not a bishop in some countries, confusing right? I know!
Twenty years ago, Anglicans in Australia and England independently passed legislation to allow for the ordination of women as priests.
Now the Anglican Church of Australia has just appointed its fourth female bishop, while the Church of England has narrowly failed to adopt legislation that would allow for the country’s first female bishops.
Currently, women can become priests but not bishops throughout England. By contrast in Australia, it’s up to the individual diocese, so in some parts of the country women can be neither bishops nor priests and in others, they can be both. And while 74% of the members of the English General Synod – the Church of England’s parliament – voted in favour of female bishops, a similar vote in the Australian General Synod would struggle to pass.
What Christians In Africa Think
While the southern Baptists, the Catholics and Anglicans continue to have conversations on the issue of female priests or pastors which considering how “progressive” these countries present to be, should be a non-issue, the African Christian in me realizes we are not even having this conversation at all which I am not entirely certain is a good thing.
The issue of the ordination of female pastors or priests is hardly ever publicly discussed except for a few comments on social media by men who believe women should not preach.
Despite this not being a full-on conversation in the African and Nigerian Christian space, it is a concern to many, especially in the Pentecostal circles. In some congregations, women are given titles but are hardly ever allowed to preach or teach except on special occasions. In some other congregations, the general overseer or the church pastor’s wife is the only woman allowed to briefly teach in church occasionally.
Only very few churches established over 30 years ago currently give top pastoral and leadership roles to women in their church most prominent amongst them is Christ Embassy church.
While the Pentecostals in Africa are not yet as crude as the SBC in the United States who have resorted to expelling some member churches over the ordination of women pastors, I believe that it is important that more women are trained in ministry and given the same opportunity to use and grow their gifts in the body of Christ just as their male counterparts.
However, I spoke to Christians in different denominations who shared their thoughts on the issue of ordaining women and the feedback was interesting.
Daniel Ozoemena, a staunch Anglican tells me that “The last time the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) broached on this idea, I want to believe that they quickly closed the door to it howbeit temporarily because of how touchy it was, and promised to look into it in the future.
For almost 20 years since then, they have not reopened the matter. For me, I wouldn’t care if my priest were male or female BUT I’ll be more comfortable with a male priest, especially as a Parish Head. The reason why I will prefer a male priest is because of the huge influence men do have on a woman, directly or subtly.
It is and will be a big bother to the church when this happens.
For now, women are *lay-readers* in the church. They can conduct *church services* BUT not *from inside the altar.* They stay on the lectern to conduct these services and also cannot preside over *Holy Communion* services.
The Anglican Church in Ghana has fought off whatever prejudices they have against ordaining female priests and have ordained one recently.
If their Nigerian counterparts (male priests) work on the modalities to ordain female priests, maybe we can begin to look towards that direction. But, I want to believe that what is holding them back, for now, is our *culture* share. If we understand that we had *Eze Nwaanyịs* in the olden days in ala Igbo and that the Yorubas also had *female ifa priestesses* too, then we can begin to loosen our tight belts gradually.” he said.
Henry Okoro, who is also an Anglican and a minister of the gospel had this to say:
From a scripture perspective, it ought not to be so, for women to be ordained ministers is ok but they can function as evangelists or spearhead a movement in Christian communities like Kathrine khulman Or be a prophetess like Deborah but it should be done orderly. This thing is to be discussed well from the bible. that’s my take.
Cheauvanne, a woman and a leader in one of the top Pentecostal churches in Nigeria tells me;
“I’m not opposed to it nor do I believe the bible is opposed to it.
I consider the woman at the well. After Jesus ministered to her, he sent her to preach the gospel. What God is interested in is a changed and willing heart.. not the physical gender.”
CJ who is a catholic says,
Absolutely YES in my opinion
If they have satisfied all other requirements of being ordained a priest or pastor except for their gender then they should be ordained.
However, looking at it from d Christian view, I will ask for a few checks.
Christians have taken the holy Bible as the ultimate guide… the unquestionable truth…a dogma if you want to sound Catholic?
if yes, then we have to review what the Bible says about the issue. Did the bible expressly say we shouldn’t ordain women to serve as priests, prophets, or as we call them today pastors? If not, then there is no reason why women shouldn’t be ordained.
Dennis a journalist and social critic who has covered religious patterns on the internet brings a unique perspective to the conversation, he tells me that “There are fundamental problems in Christendom as it’s practised in Nigeria. At the end of the day, people are looking for answers to solve the problems of the spirit in tradition. Ordinarily, the spirit is not gendered because the spirit is not a sexual being. But women are being gendered out of roles in the church that clears the path for them to be pastors. Uninterested men sometimes are even encouraged to take some role. What we have are not female pastors. Not really. They are pastors’ wives who find themself in the position. That is why all their focus is marriage, keeping marriage, giving husbands what they want and almost nothing on spirituality. Christianity is all about spirituality. Everything else is secondary.
As the global conversation on the “place” of women in the church and ministry rages on, with diverse views from opposing sides, one can hope that in the next 10-15 years, the body of christ would have matured beyond seeing the place of women in ministry not from a sexist or patriarchal viewpoint but as co-heirs in Christ and co-labourers in the vineyard of the master. We need all hands on deck to carry out the great commission the reason is found in the words of Jesus recorded in Mathew 9:37; “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;”. If Labourers are few then do we have the luxury to decide to disqualify those who are willing based on gender alone? since God is counting on us all to contribute our quota in reaching our world, it then makes sense that everyone who is willing and meets all requirements should regardless of their gender, be trained, equipped, ordained and sent into the mission field to win souls for the Master.
