Women in the Vineyard
I attended a workshop run by Kathy Downes and Kath Henry called Women – God’s Power tools (or something akin to that). Before the session I wondered what kind of power tool I’d be – a drill, a jackhammer or chainsaw… something capable of destruction I think! Much of the session was spent encouraging women to explore the giftings God had given them, even if they were areas considered more typically to be in the ‘male sphere’ such as preaching and teaching. It was good to hear this, as preaching and teaching are two things that I particularly enjoy. The experience of women in ministry within the Vineyard is diverse, and I would love to hear how women are finding it. It seems to be particularly challenging for women involved in pastoral ministry – either themselves, or in their spouses’ context. I had a few conversations with women at the conference, and it seemed that how women are viewed and described is an area needing further work within the Vineyard… christina
HI Christina
Did Kathy and Kath wrestle with 1 Tim 2:11-12 and 1 Cor 14:34? i have come to a place where I am comfortable biblically with women teaching, mainly through Gordon Fee (there is a talk from Fee on this at our audio page http://65.254.46.136/jcweb/section5/subsection1.html) and the excellent papers at http://www.vineyardusa.org/publications/positionpapers.aspx.
But if the Kaths wrestled with it effectively I’ll buy the tape cos always interested in how people are discussing it.
We have some fantastic women in our church who attend our preaching/teaching development group but are still working out whether they are comfortable teaching to men due to these texts. JC
Hi John! No, the Kaths did not look at the two scriptures in question – while it was not explicitly stated, their position suggested that they had reconciled this one. My personal viewpoint is that convincing exegesis abounds for both concluding that women can teach and that they can’t. Jim Reiher has written an excellent book on the subject paying particular attention to those passages called "We’ve been fed a lie". It has been reprinted but I am not sure of the new title. It is available through Tabor Bible College. Tabor itself is an interesting instution to look at from this perspective. It is one of the major training grounds for men who will become pastors and ministers. However, it is headed up by a woman. Cheryl Catford is an impressive speaker and teacher, and I have heard men say that she expounds the scriptures with great authority and clarity. I have never personally had her as a teacher. I don’t think that all women should teach/preach in an upfront manner, but for that matter nor should all men. The ability to understand scripture and subsquently engage others in a life transforming love for the bible is not a skill that everyone has. I actually think there are lots of pastors out there (male) who take on this role because it goes with the position rather than because of their own giftedness. I hope that the women in your church who feel led to serve in this way take up the challenge!
At the Vineyard Conference Alan Hirsch spoke about how Jesus is often interpreted through a Pauline lense rather than reading Paul through the lense of Jesus. I think that if we did this, we would probably spend a lot less time worrying about this sort of thing and more time on bringing people to Jesus using whatever means God has given us, male and female alike.