Manhattan is the home of Redeemer Presbyterian Church where Tim Keller preaches stirring sermons to thousands each week. The New York Times positively featured Keller and Redeemer in 2006, and – most excellently – Redeemer has helped plant at least 17 other churches. One of those churches was featured last week in The NYT here. Sounds very cool.
But here’s the rub: these congregations are all members of the Presbyterian Church in America – a group of Reformed Christians who broke off of the mainline Presbyterian Church (what is now the PCUSA) over the issue of the ordination of women and other theological matters.
This is a church that not only does not ordain women, but when a woman was “accidently” ordained to the office of deacon at Redeemer in May 2009, assorted apologies and explanations were quickly made. Read in this blog post about The Accidental Ordination. Keller explains here that he believes that the deacons mentioned in scripture were actually the wives of male deacons.
So here’s my basic question: Who are these women streaming into these PCA congregations? From all accounts, the women of Redeemer PCA and those skinny jeans-wearers over at Resurrection in Brooklyn are smart, sophisticated, strong women. Why would they join a church that does not give them the authority to use the gifts God gave them? They can sing in the choir, serve as ushers, and volunteer in the mailroom or kitchen. But they cannot preach, teach men, or be ordained to the offices of elder or deacon. Why would 21st Century women in The Big City tolerate this? Why would any women?
I understand that many women and men do not believe that the Bible supports the leadership of women. But, from what I understand, many of those who participate in Redeemer are not theologically conservative. They simply like the preaching, the music, the community.
I have a friend who served as an elder in her Presbyterian (PCUSA) church, but when she moved to a new city, she joined a Presbyterian (PCA) church. She was so gifted in ministry, so wise, and when I asked her why she’d joined a church that wouldn’t allow her to serve as she’d served before, she said she just “loved the worship.”
A friend who became Greek Orthodox after serving in several offices in the Presbyterian (PCUSA) church of her youth said “it was a relief” not to be able to serve anymore. She wouldn’t be called on to be a leader and that was fine with her. She was tired. No longer did she have to attend meetings and make decisions. All she had to do was bake an occasional batch of cookies or volunteer at the Greek Festival.
I wonder about the women of those growing congregations in NYC. Maybe they are just tired and it’s a relief not to have to serve as a leader with any spiritual authority. Or maybe they just like the worship and don’t want to think about what it means to belong to a community that doesn’t recognize her gifts.
A Church for Starving Artists 
I think you are basically right. Most women, even if they believe in the right of women in theory to be in ministry, don’t really care enough about the issue to make it a criterion of their choosing a church. Look at Catholic, Orthodox, or conservative evangelical churches — most of those attending worship are women. This has been the bane of feminism, the fact that unless their own personal interests are at stake, relatively few women will build their lives around acting in accordance with feminist ideals (or even call themselves by the label “feminist”) even if they claim to believe in many of the principals of feminism.
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You’d be surprised who they are. An old friend of mine, who is now a very prominent senior federal appellate judge, left a PCUSA church years ago with her family for an “independent Presbyterian” church that doesn’t ordain women. She told me that because of her heavy workload and family responsibilities she was relieved not to be eligible to be an elder.
Got to admit–as I finish out my second term as an elder and this time as Clerk–there are times when I see her point!
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What you’ve missed so far – ten minutes of me shaking my head in wonder, attempting to come up with words.
Nope, don’t have any. Only that it matters a lot to me that I may use my gifts in God’s service and that I may rejoice in the service of the women ordained to ministry – to teach and preach, to lead and to train. Thank God for them.
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These women are Christians–start there, because that’s the critical detail. And being Christians, they honor God’s Word in obedience of their Maker. And obeying their Maker and His Word, their lives avoid the inversion of God’s Created Order which is the basis of this prohibition God decrees: “A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint” (1 Timothy 2:11-15).
Because of this and many other texts of Scripture based on God’s Order of Creation, the entire Church across all ages has refused to do the very thing you shamelessly promote: woman teaching and exercising authority over man. So be clear, here: you stand alone across all Christian history. True, in our perverse day many surround you whining about God’s patriarchal order. But our Lord promised your gates of Hell will not prevail against His Bride. He is faithful though we are faithless.
BTW, it’s an interesting side note to your blog that these women you demean for what you see as their bondage create works of art of the greatest complexity and beauty and order and glory man has ever created–far, far above the Sistine Chapel, for instance. These works of art are called children and they take discipline and sweat and even blood to create; God is their co-laborer; and next to them is a husband who will give his life to providing for them and their masterpieces.
And speaking of these women’s masterpieces, it’s through them that these meek women will inherit the earth.
And the rebellious women who despise patriarchal authority? Like Michal who despised her husband, King David, their wombs will be closed and they will die with shriveled wombs and fruitless.
Truthfully yours,
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I’m fairly certain that the reasons are multiple and varied. I suspect that one of the issues is that the ordination of women is perceived to be a woman’s rights issue or a human rights issue and not a theological issue. While the denial of ordination to women may be couched in theological terms, my guess is that when you dig deep enough it’s actually not understood from a Reformed theological perspective. I wonder how the conversation would change if it were placed in the context of Christian stewardship, or evangelism.
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Please send me an e-mail telling me if you’re going to approve or deny my comment. Thank you.
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I know one of these women. A good friend of mine who moved to chicago just over a year ago. She (and her family) sought a church with a good preacher and a welcoming community and a strong music/children’s program. They found it at a PCA church. She’s wrestling mightily with whether this is the right place for them to worship. I know that she wonders about raising a daughter in a church where there are no female models in church leadership. She also wonders about raising her children in communities that didn’t notice a newcomer among them. Or that lacked a grounded voice in worship on sunday. I don’t know yet what her decision is, but I know that the choice has been really difficult for her.
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I guess I would classify as one of those women right now. After leaving my position in the church (voluntarily), I’ve been seeking a place to worship where I get to hear a sermon grounded in scripture, participate in the music of my choice and where the people are welcoming and friendly. Ironically the other PC(USA) churches in my community offer one but not all three–sermons grounded in scripture. So I’ve wound up at a Baptist church, which I truly feel God has lead me to for the moment. I don’t agree with all of the theology but I don’t feel like I need to, I’m there to worship God and that’s what matters. It is nice to have a break from leadership.
That said, I don’t believe that my time in leadership is done by any sense of the word. God has called me to ministry, whether others believe that I’m qualified because of my gender or not, and God will continue to work through me in the years to come.
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I know I’m coming to this discussion a couple of days late, but am moved to post for the first time after reading all the comments above. Nancy, Grace and Brittany, after seeing the rather sanctimonious comments of Scott, I am struck by the your thoughtful posts which make clear why we need women like you leading. I hope Scott read your comments and gave them consideration (althought I’m pretty sure he did not). Although we all treasure our Holy Bible, many of us find it more nuanced than he apparently does. Thank you all for your service to the church, and I hope you find your way back to using your leadership gifts again soon.
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