This week's question is from Wondering in Simpsonville.
Why aren’t women part of the weekend teaching rotation at Grace?
At Grace Church, we currently have six weekend services with a seventh coming soon. In order for us to adequately host these gatherings, it takes a broad range of people with various gifts, talents and abilities. In fact, the actual one hour and fifteen minute service is just a small piece of what takes place each week. For every sermon preached there are multiple meetings and tons of study. For every child taught there are strategies, leader training and materials created. In all that is done, we have and need men and women of all ages, abilities, gifts and passions.
With that said, you will notice that our teaching rotation at each service is always filled by a male. We have two elder/pastors that fulfill the majority of the teaching responsibility. From time to time, other pastors and leaders fill in as well, but they are also all men. Due to the diversity that is obvious in almost every other role at Grace, the question raised is a good one.
...from Genesis to Revelation, we find that part of man’s core calling is to lead... Part of being created as male in God’s image means that men are accountable to God to lead.
We believe that there are a few church responsibilities outlined in the New Testament that are limited to males, one of which is preaching and teaching in a gathered worship setting (see 1 Timothy 2:12). Throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, there are no examples of women teaching the Scriptures to men in a public forum. Additionally, and more importantly, from Genesis to Revelation, we find that part of man’s core calling is to lead (other men, women, children, the church, etc). Part of being created as male in God’s image means that men are accountable to God to lead. As Paul is giving specific direction to Timothy about the roles and responsibilities of elders/pastors, he is very clear that preaching in the gathered church setting should be reserved for males. Paul is giving Timothy a distinct application for the New Testament church of the overarching biblical theology of gender.
We believe that women, because they are created in God’s image, have infinite worth and value, equal to that of men.
One note of importance is that Paul, and the leadership of Grace, are not making value statements by implementing these applications and guidelines. Like any family, organization, sports team, etc. there are always capacities, roles, and responsibilities that are required to fulfill their purpose. The perfect example given in the Scriptures is the Trinity. All three persons (Father, Son, Spirit) are fully God and have equal value. However, throughout the Scriptures we find mutual submission and self-imposed limitations in order to fulfill divine purpose. We believe that women, because they are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), have infinite worth and value, equal to that of men. We believe that women have unique capacities and abilities that reflect God’s image that men do not. As a church, we believe it is our responsibility to not only find opportunities to allow women to lead and serve that maximize their uniqueness but value their role in the same way that we value the roles of men.
Your question is one that fits into a much larger conversation(s) about the leadership of the local church, gender, spiritual gifts, etc. Unfortunately, a blog entry cannot adequately answer or respond to all of the issues that are raised when dealing with this topic. For further study on the issue I would encourage you to take advantage of the following resources:
If you are a part of the Grace Church family, or in the upstate of SC, we regularly have studies on gender as part of our women’s and men’s ministry. More information on those is available at:
www.mensroundtable.org
www.gracewomensministry.org
If you are not in the area, or you would like to read more on this issue, I would recommend the following books:
Eden Derailed by Matt Williams
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem
On Church Leadership by Mark Driscoll