Londie

I thought this would be an interesting topic to get some conversation going in this section.

What do you ladies believe are appropriate or inappropriate positions/roles in the church? And why do you think/believe that way.

Like for example, I'm Baptist and our church is very..."conservative" when it comes to women taking active roles in the church aside from doing the cooking for the dinners and visiting the shut-ins and sick members of the church.

In our Articles of Faith its outlined that women cannot be preachers, cannot teach Sunday school classes to those over 13 years of age, and cannot be on the board. Just recently though they did open up and allow a woman song leader which is a big step for them.

What are your thoughts/feelings?

__________________
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Lewz

Personally i have a huge problem with woman being prohibited and find it odd. Especially when in the bible woman were the ones who stayed true to Jesus, i wonder where does this practice come from, is it just western sexism in culture?

Mr. Harris

The wonderful lady who was my father's fiancee when he was killed is now an ordained minister. She holds 3 Bachelor's Degrees, a Master's Degree in Social Working, Nursing, and is working on her Seminary Master's Degree now.

Women, or anyone for that matter, should only be limited by their abilities and their commitments, nothing else.

Mr. Harris

rowahn

hey londie
our church is somewhat conservative, men deacons, etc etc, however, we have committees where women are very much involved, the director of the children's dept, is female, and there is also in the youth dept, one who teaches the middle school girls and boys who is female.
our ladies are very active in the church and our pastor very publicly acknowledges that we could not do some of the things we do without them.

So I guess it's kind of where you go and how forward thinking your church leaders are.

Londie

Sorry - I should have given the scripture my church's Articles of Faith base their stance on. (and my stance for that matter, just wanted to make that clear so people don't think I'm just blindly following whatever my church teaches.)

we, as a church, gather our interpretation from 1st Timothy Chapter 2. in verses 9-15 it lays it out that women should be modest (how modest is up to one's interpretation I believe), to learn in silence, not to ursurp authority over the man. In the verses before this section, it lays out how the man should conduct and carry himself if he desires a deacon or pastor position in the church.

Also stated in the section about the woman's place, it gives the example that, Adam was first, then woman was created. Interpreted as the men should hold the more prominent positions inside the church and the women should take up the lesser roles. Not to say men are better, smarter, or more worthy than the women - just that its the seemingly order that God has originally ordained.


We have a ladies group too, and they are a wonderful, hard working group of ladies. The men of the church recognize their hard work and realize that the church would surely fall if not for the things they do. We also have women Sunday school teachers for all ages below 13 and the teen youth group leader is a woman.

In Titus 2:3-4 It talks about women being teachers of good things and teaching young women and how to be a good wife and mother.

The biggest difference in interpretations I hear though with regards to 1st Timothy and women ministers is that by saying "man" and "woman", some interpret that to be not a generalized term, but meaning husband and wife. And like I said in another thread, its just a personal interpretation. What's right for any of you may not be right for me personally. If one is close enough in their personal relationship with God, and they don't feel He condemns them for that interpretation, then who is anyone else to judge? I just like the discussion and to hear the different view points

__________________
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

the_zeeba

1Ti 3:2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,


I take a pretty literal view of translating the Bible. So that verse tells me that a woman cant be a pastor. Not that I dont respect women or think that they are capable of it, just for some reason, they arent supposed to.

Mr. Harris

Just remember, that my wife tells me jokingly (sometimes not so jokingly) all the time:

"Behind every successful man, is a surprised woman."

Mr. Harris

Jamie

A woman's role is whatever God leads her to. If a woman is called to become ordained, then that is what she should do. If she feels compelled to wipe noses in the Sunday daycare, then THAT is what she should do.

Men do not make these rules, God does and we are to listen.

TommyStrand

God will never call a woman to do something that He has said she can't be in the Bible.

Man and women HAVE different roles in the marriage, and in life, and in the Church. If God said something, He meant it.

Kelsy

I will respectfully ask that if you are not of the female gender to please refrain from posting on here. I know that there's ONLY 20 odd other forums to post on, but please respect the intentions of this specific forum.

In case the title of the forum "Christian WOMEN'S issues" baffled you, I would highly recommend the brief synopsis generously provided by Eric underneath the forum name on the main page. It is quite clear and informative. Its a shame some cannot respect the intentions of a forum and feel that their opinions are SO important they cannot find an alternative place to voice them.