I have always believed that women can be ministers. My dad would say, "women were the first ones who brought the gospel message." I was rather disturbed by comments made at church a while back. When discussing the qualifications for being an elder, someone said, "it wouldn't be right to have a woman be an elder because our elders patrol the parking lot. What is she going to do if someone is breaking into a car? Scream?"
My initial response was shock. A woman can't patrol the parking lot? What about women police officers? If that is the basis of an argument for women to not be in ministry, then it is rather weak.
What about the Bible? Aside from one verse that says "women should be silent," there are a host of verses that indicate women are equal to men, but even women were called bishop, elder, deacon, and even apostle and prophet. (I will not rehash this, you can use google just as well as I can. Perhaps a book list will come later) It is true that many of the Church Fathers seemed to be misogynist at times, but women were treated better in the church than they were in broader culture. Perhaps the modern church should do the same for women today, especially when the broader culture today is moving toward gender equality. The church can take care of women better than the culture by supporting working women at home, in the work place, and in ministry. The church can take a stand against unfair hiring practices, unequal pay, the mistreatment of women in general (domestic abuse, pornography, and prostituted women). Feminism does not equal abortion rights; it valuing women just as much as men.
As a father of a girl who may one day grow up to be minister... No, as a father who is raising his daughter to become a minister (her dedication verse was the calling of Samuel), I hope the church will abandon misogynistic practices and remember that in Christ "there is neither male nor female."
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