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Role of Women in the Church Ministry

Thesis statement: Many strides have been made to allow women to occupy significant positions in the church and serve different roles traditionally reserved for men, such as leadership and social justice advocacy, yet several challenges persist and need to be addressed.

Introduction

Diversity inclusion remains a widely debated topic in the social niche. The problem of inclusivity is manifested in many areas. Low female representation in different institutions lends itself to the subject as one of the critical issues. Because of this reason, diversity is regarded as a source of different perspectives, important ideas, insights, and contributions that, if utilized, can offer longstanding measures in solving issues. The church comes in handy as one of the important social institutions that can help society achieve its social goals. This perception creates the allowance to ask whether the church is progressive in addressing gender discrimination. In particular, what is the role of women in the church ministry? This topic is interesting because it provides an opportunity to assess from the lenses of gender equality whether the church, as one of the popular moral institutions, is faring any better than secular institutions in encouraging women to take active front-line roles. This paper argues that many strides have been made to allow women to occupy significant positions in the church and serve different roles that were traditionally reserved for men, such as leadership and social justice advocacy. However, several challenges persist and need to be addressed.

Women are lauded for continuing to endure a long struggle against discrimination based on gender. Indeed, while equality is widely notable in many institutions attributable to the church being on the frontline, there are still areas that should be addressed. Many contemporary institutions continue to be dominated by men employees. Moreover, while it is acceptable that there are various gains from the historical contexts, women are still largely concentrated in the subordinate positions.  In 2014, women representation stood at 16 per cent, it is due to this reason that women pushed for reforms to have equal representation (GAO, n.p). Since then, some tremendous developments have been recorded. According to the research conducted by the catalyst, in 2019, women representation in the board room was established to be nearly 36 percent (n.p). These statistics shows that several issues have to be addressed. Also, women’s tenure is still much far low as compared to those of their male counterparts. In the meanwhile, the struggle is still for women from a minority group.

Olson admits that the representation of women from a minority group is low (n.p). Many of them are in regard to holding corporate positions are whites. Here, minority women representation is believed to be nearly 34 percent (Olson n.p). Therefore, a policy change should address underrepresentation at two levels: at the gender level and disproportionate racial level. Title VI of the Commerce Act stands out as the main legal basis at which low female representation should be addressed in the boardrooms. Therefore, it should be reviewed first for any assessment to determine why discrimination issues continue to persist in the employment context. Title VII is defined based on violations and remedies. In particular, Sec.2000e, Sec Sec.2000e-2[Section 703] of the legislation stipulates that it is illegal for employers to discriminate against employees based on social disposition such as gender and race.  Like the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, while Title VII prescribes what amounts to discrimination and even lays out remedies for inequalities related to employment, it leaves an allowance for competing interpretations concerning conduct or conditions that constitute violations.

On the bones of contention is the distinction between equal protection and Title VII, which the court has endeavoured to delineate concerning disparate effects. In Griggs v. Duke Power Company, it was held that Title VII prohibits employment practices that have disparate effects unless those procedures are otherwise relevant for the job-selected (426). Later, in Washington v. Davis, black complainants sued the police department over the use of Test 21, employment criteria that were thought to favour white candidates at other races’ expense. They argued that the criterion amounted to disproportionate exclusion and violation of the non-discrimination law — in line with the standards of Title VII and the rulings in Griggs v. Duke Power Company (424). The court held that the assumption was inconsistent, declining to adjudicate discrimination claims, even when the lo had done so. Claims Here, in its defense, the court reasoned the Griggs’ rudefenced imposed too much burden of proof on the state in justifying the actions of the government that often produced disparate racial employment. It further predicted that the test would warrant extensive judicial intervention touching on absent intention conduct issues.

Doing so would either diminish the legitimacy of the court or authority (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964). It also seems that the anxiety surrounding the limits of institutions was not the only primary concern. It had been felt that racial disparities in employment were largely evidence of discrimination that warranted judicial intervention. Consequently, the court held that standards of equal protection and Title VII tended to diverge.  Now the question that arose was whether the disparate impacts standard was constitutionally necessary, or had changed to whether disparate impact claims were inconsistent with what is guaranteed by equal protection. This question also recurred in Ricci v DeStefano, albeit the court failed to particularly outline if the actions that caused disparate impact were constitutional violations (557). In this particular case, the process of promoting supervisors in the New Haven Fire Department was suspended when the city determined that its criteria had often excluded all the people of colour and so it risked legal sanctions. The white firefighters challenged the decision, asserting that they, in any case, they would still have qualified using other conventional procedures (Washington v. Davis, 426). However, the solution comes from a religious institution’s self-determination such as the church in steering the change. Is this happening? Are churches allowing women to realize this equality?

Roles of Women

Leadership

Women are increasingly involved in serving various leadership positions. The importance of women in the church has continued to improve. For example, as Robbins and Green note, women are increasingly joining church leadership positions. For instance, in 1994, the Church of England ordained the first clergywoman 1994. Recently, more and more women have been consecrated as bishops (Robbins and Greene, 896). One can infer that women are faring well in serving the church leadership positions. The village also discusses the course of women’s involvement in church leadership and their experiences. The author notes that, as of 2013, women acceptance in church leadership, including the positions such as bishops and pastors, had gained momentum. This acceptance has opened doors for women to serve as men (Village, 26). While the rise in the number of female pastors is slow, the increase is steady. Women account for at least 1 in 11 protestant pastors. This number can be seen to have tripled compared to the trend witnessed 25 years ago. Notwithstanding, women still lead a relatively small congregation compared to that of men. In essence, women play an important role as men, but they are yet to be provided with an opportunity to realize their full potential (Scott, n.p). The role of clergy wives is also notable. Overall, these gains are worth celebrating.

Advocating for Social Justice

Women in the church, particularly those who take up leadership positions, are recognized for playing a crucial role in advocating for social justice practices challenging issues rooted in gender and discrimination. For example, Nicole examined women’s position in church ministry with leadership as an aspect of concern. The information is retrieved from qualitative research and informed by conflict resolution steps while observing mental monitoring, power, and analysis that informs change. Here, 12 church leaders were selected.  The study established that although women actively participated in church leadership, their activities were hindered by patriarchal organization practices and norms. While this limitation is real, female clergy always seem to endeavour every aspect established in patriarchy. This goal is achieved by embracing the struggle for gender equality and pushing institutions to understand that a good leader is appointed on the index of competency based and not gender. It is mentioned that “Despite the ……. in various social milieus, women ……. within the church” (Davis, 167). In a real sense, women’s participation in church ministry activities has tremendously increased; however, their real achievement is yet to be acceptable. Moreover, far from serving the church’s interests, taking up leadership position is a vehicle through which women can take gender-based issues to another level through gender quality struggle. Women have also been noted to be on the frontline to promote other issues, particularly touching on healthcare. In this regard, women can be celebrated for these advocacies.

Challenges and Issues

Although women are active in the church, several challenges stand in their way. These challenges are varied, and they largely stem from the patriarchal structure that is so institutionalized that it has been accepted as the norm. This point is reflected in various discussions. For instance, Esqueda discusses the perceptions of engendered roles within the church and their implication on women’s position in the ministry (Paragraph, 6). The author notes that the church is marred with many cases of gender-based discrimination. As a result, there is a need for change to allow women involvement to reach their potential. In particular, egalitarians and complementarians need to ask themselves about the implications of their perspectives. They must be willing to accept Biblical principles as universal standpoints and not subjects of the cultural and institutional patriarchal system. She notes, “Recently, stories from prominent egalitarian and complementarian contexts show neither ……..against women. We all can do better” (Paragraph, 6). This position shows how problematic women’s position in ministry is and how the issue can be possibly resolved.

Nelms also explores the experiences of women in the ministry, narrowed to the black race. The information is based on the study that interviewed black women on their experiences and obstacles while serving the ministry. The authors observe that women’s discrimination in the church is common, particularly against black women. Black women are particularly underrepresented in the church leadership compared to their white counterparts (377). Women’s discrimination in the ministry is common and even negotiated along racial lines. Overall, there is still a lot that needs to be changed to allow women to realize their potential in contributing to church ministry. Conclusively, the aim of this paper has been to discuss the role of women in church ministry. The research is motivated by the concerns of gender equality. Consequently, the church comes in handy as one of the important social institutions that can help society achieve its social goals. Therefore, contrary to the popular approaches, it is not the law that shapes the social system. Rather, the religious system should shape the law.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work Cited

Catalyst. Women on Corporate Boards: Quick Take. 2020. Retrieved from https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-on-corporate-boards/

Davis. Nicole L. “Women in Ministry: How Conflicts Between God’s Purpose and Church Doctrine Impact the Efficacy of FemaleChurch Leaders.Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – Department of Conflict Resolution Studies. 131, 2019. 1-258. Retrieved from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/shss_dcar_etd/131

Esqueda, Octavio. Much ado about gender roles. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/august-web-only/complementarian-egalitarian-debate-gender-roles-explainer.html

GAO Highlights. Strategies to Address Representation of Women Include Federal Disclosure Requirements. 2015

Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971)

Nelms, Kimberly., Disbennett-Lee, Rachelle, and Hakim, Amy. Gender and Race in Ministry Leadership: Experiences of Black Clergywomen. Religion, 9 (2018):377

Olson, Elizabeth. Slow Gains for Women and Minorities on Boards of Big U.S. Firms, Study Says. The New York Times Jan. 15, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/business/women-minorities-corporate-boards.html

Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. 557 (2009)

Robbins, Mandy, and Greene, Ane-Marie. Clergywomen’s experience of ministry in the Church of England. Journal of Gender Studies. 27.8(2018): 890-900 Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09589236.2017.1340153

Scott, Grey. Study: Female Pastors Are on the Rise. 2017. Retrieved from https://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2017/february/study-female-pastors-are-on-rise.html

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Village, Andrew. Women in Leadership: Findings from the Church Times Surveys In book: The Church of England in the First Decade of the 21st Century. 2018. 1-45Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329576698_Women_in_Leadership_Findings_from_the_Church_Times_Surveys

Washington v. Davis, 426 U.S. 229 (1976)