I grew up in a Baptist church, and I have hardly any complaints, but when I think about my church’s policy on female preachers, I do not agree. It is a fact that my pastor will not let a woman minister sit in his pulpit. Since I have been out on my own, I have been attending another church. I love my church at home, but in the church I have been going to, which is under the Church of God in Christ denomination, I have learned different points of view.
I am not perfect when it comes to the Bible-no one is-but one thing I do know, if I know nothing else, is that having a female preacher is not a sin.
Delegates from the nation’s largest Protestant denomination-Southern Baptists-voted to change their statement of “Faith and Message” to say that women should no longer be allowed to serve as pastors. “We, as Baptists, are people of the Book,” explained the Rev. Richard Land, a leader of the Southern Baptists’ national organization, “Most Christian traditions have understood that the office of pastor is to be filled by man.” Wrong!
I have been told that many “Baptist people” think they know everything-in this case, it is true. There is not a part in the Bible that says women cannot preach; that is just the way Baptists have interpreted it.
They say that the Bible says in 1 Corinthians women are not allowed to preach. I disagree. The scripture in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 used to condemn women preachers does not refer to preaching, but to disturbance in church services-asking or talking out to their husbands. In 1 Timothy 2:11-15, Paul is not condemning female preachers as long as they keep their place and do not “usurp authority over the man.”
I do not mean to be rude to men, but today women have taken on a stronger role. Many men do not even attend church. The Bible says that the man is the head of the household, but yet how many single-mother homes do we have? So, before all you men can say that women can’t preach, why don’t you pull your part.
Everyone should be free to express their faith. Yes, Eve was made to help Adam. God has a plan for each of his children; women are a part of his plan. In the Gospels, we read of several women messengers who proclaimed “good news.”
Yes, people have their own opinions when it comes to this type of thing, but if you believe in the Bible, there are many examples of women that “spoke up and out” in church. In Romans 15, we have record of a number of women servants of the Lord in various churches: Phebe, Priscilla, Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Peris and Julia are all mentioned as laborers in the Lord.
In Acts 2:14-21 and Joel 2:28-31, God predicted and promised that he, himself would pour out his spirit upon women and they would prophesy. To prophesy means to “speak to men to edification, exhortation and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). Acts 2:17-18 is what God says will be fulfilled in the last days.
So this is not saying that women can’t preach-it is saying that these are our last days. So, while everyone is going on about female preachers, it never stated that females were not allowed to preach; it was just interpreted that way.