Why Do Conservative Pentecostals Ordain Women?
Part 2 of 2
Before looking at a Pentecostal perspective, let’s look at
the views of progressive Christians.
Progressive
Christian Arguments for Equality
Although there are many ways to describe the features of the
progressive movement within Christianity, a few are relevant to this
discussion.
P 1. Jesus’ teaching that the Sabbath was made for man
illustrates a way for his followers to examine the application of old biblical laws—even
one of the 10 Commandments. Laws that oppress people, including women, should be
reinterpreted according to Jesus’ teachings about love, compassion, and
respect. As an aside, Most Christians do not honor the Jewish Sabbath in a
literal sense. Instead, some set aside Sunday or another day as the Lord’s Day.
P2. The Galatians 3:28 verse mentioned above fits well for
progressive Christians too. Going a step further, progressive Christians focus
more on people’s God-given gifts rather than distinctions based on sex or
gender.
P3. Just
as most Christians no longer follow ancient biblical practices (e.g.,
sacrifices, avoiding certain foods) based on what people did in cultures
thousands of years ago, so cultural practices based on male dominance do not
reflect the culture of love and respect promoted by Jesus. For example, the
fact that the Israelites owned slaves in the Bible does not mean Christians
ought to own slaves.
P4. The terror
texts that limit women in ministry (1 Corinthians 14: 34-35, 1 Timothy
2:11-15) were not written by the apostle Paul; however, as Archer notes, these
verses should not necessarily be applied to situations outside of the recipients
of the letters.
The Pentecostal Experience
Pentecostals
have a history of being ultraconservative and quite literal in applying
biblical teachings to life. In the early years of the previous century, it was
common for western men and women to wear distinctive clothing. They wore their
best clothes to honor God when attending church on Sundays. Godly women did not
wear makeup or jewelry. Many Pentecostal groups did not allow males and females
to swim together. Men went to work and women remained home to care for the
family. Divorce was forbidden except for adultery.
In short, Pentecostal
teachings fit with the general Christian teachings of the Victorian era in
western cultures where Christianity had been the dominant faith for centuries. In
the early 1900s, a series of spiritual experiences disrupted Christianity in
several waves extending into the second half of the century. The Pentecostal
and charismatic movement continues to grow. Following are a few points about
women in ministry.
PE 1. Women
and men spoke in tongues, prophesied, preached with considerable effect, and
people were healed in response to women’s’ prayers during the Pentecostal
revivals of the early 1900s. These stories are a part of Pentecostal history
and in recent decades have been the subject of several books and papers (e.g.,
see the references below).
PE2. The
Pentecostal experiences of the early 1900s were quickly contextualized as that
prophesied by Joel (2: 28) and mentioned by the apostle Peter (Acts 2). God’s
spirit was upon “sons and daughters.” God appeared to treat women and men as if
they were equals.
Using fairly simple logic the premises and conclusion may appear as follows:
- In the revival meetings of the early 1900s, the spiritual experiences were considered the same as those in Acts 2. The people speaking language-like utterances were said to be filled with the Holy Spirit or baptized with the Holy Spirit. In addition, people reported healing in response to prayer.
- In Joel, God said he would pour out his spirit on daughters and sons.
- Peter said the Pentecostal experience in Acts 2 was a fulfillment of the Joel prophecy.
- Paul wrote about speaking in tongues and various spiritual gifts.
- God’s Spirit came on people in the Bible to accomplish God’s purposes.
- Women and men had the same spiritual experiences. God’s Spirit did not discriminate between women and men.
Conclusion:
God must approve of women to be ministers according to their God-given spiritual gifts.
Does Culture
Wag the Church’s Tale?
It is understandable that conservative Pentecostal women and
the men who agree with them regarding biblical equality, would rely on the Bible to argue their case. However, I see an additional role for the influence of events
in western cultures. I trust that these observations do not diminish the views
of Christians focused exclusively on the Bible to consider how movements
outside the church influence Christians’ attitudes.
C1. Women were actively seeking the right to vote in the
1800s. In the US, Black men gained the right to vote and hold leadership
positions before women did.
C2. Women increasingly entered paid employment outside the
home during the industrial revolution that took them from family farms to
factories.
C3. World War I required a massive effort in the US and
Western Europe. Women filled a number of war-related positions while men went
to fight. Women were doing men’s work.
C4. Women won the right to vote in several economically
strong nations in the early 1900s. Their voices became votes.
C5. World War II was a massive conflict resulting in the
death of numerous fighting men. It is well known that women supplied the human
resources for the nations at war to keep fighting. Women did men’s work. And women
held roles in the military.
C6. Many women became the de facto heads of many households because
their husbands died at war, their husbands divorced them, or for various other
reasons. Recently, women were the breadwinners in 41% of households(AmericanProgress).
C7. Women have gradually moved from a minority status in
higher education to a majority status. In 2021, 60% of higher education
professionals in the US were women (Insidehighered).
In many ways, it became increasingly obvious to intelligent
men in leadership positions that those old notions of women as inferior to men
were ludicrous. Women have demonstrated the capacity to lead, organize, influence, educate, solve problems, make wise decisions, and so forth.
Competence was not due to sex or gender but what a person
could do.
As the glass ceiling began to crack, it was a matter of time
until the stained-glass ceiling would fall as well. In many ways, women were
rewriting history by changing laws, policies, and customs. It was inevitable
that they would look carefully at the limitations they faced when entering a church
building or Christian organization.
How Does
Human Nature Influence What Happens to Women In Church?
There are many things that could be said based on research
into human behavior; however, I will note only a few findings that I consider
relevant to understanding the differences in what’s happening to women.
H1. Confirmation bias. The Bible contains considerable
content written by different men over hundreds of years and translated by many
different teams in a variety of ways from varied manuscripts. It is not
surprising that scholars will search the text qua data, to confirm their
opinions. As we can see in the few examples I have listed, people of good faith
have argued from the Bible for and against women as full equals in Christian
ministries. (Read more about confirmation bias.)
H2. Sunk Costs Effect. The sunk cost effect is the tendency
of human beings to continue a course of action despite evidence that it is a
losing position because they have invested so much time and effort in a
position. The entrenched position of male leadership and the recent efforts to
affirm that position (e.g., Danvers Statement) illustrate the time, cost, and
effort to hold on to a position that is slowly losing ground as women assume
leadership positions in some Christian groups and organizations. (Read more about sunk costs.)
H3. Plan Continuation Bias. This bias is similar to the sunk
costs effect. The plan continuation bias is a human tendency to continue a
course of action in the face of changing conditions. In western cultures, the
role of women in the culture has clearly changed toward gender equality.
H4. Loss aversion. Although loss aversion is a psychological
factor inhibiting the sale of bad investments, the concept may apply to our
current discussion because men and traditional faiths have something to lose.
Men will obviously lose positions of power when women fill decision-making
roles. And Christians committed to a view that the words of the Bible are God’s
words for all people for all time may feel that the loss of respect for the
Bible is ultimately under attack if they were to give up on a portion of the
text so critical to their position like the Timothy texts.
H5. Terror Management Theory (TMT). TMT is a well-established
theory in science that describes the tendency of people to become more
conservative under threat. The rise of women to leadership positions is a
multidimensional threat that attacks men’s views of Christian culture, the
Bible, and their role in the church, society, and the family. Losing status can
lead to loss of self-esteem as supported by TMT research predicting that under
threat, people will employ efforts to bolster their self-esteem. (Read more about TMT)
There are likely many other scientific findings that would help explain the contribution of human nature to understanding the inequity between women and men in Christian cultures. I
mention the foregoing as examples of the way principles of human nature explain the difficulty women must overcome to approach equality with men in Christianity, which has been dominated by men for nearly some 2,000 years.
Avoiding
Simplicity
This is a blog—not a book. I have not intended to cover all
of the arguments for and against women holding leadership positions within the
church. My intention is to suggest that the path to leadership for women in the
church is different for different groups of Christians. Evangelicals,
Pentecostals, and Progressives offer different challenges to the common
heritage of male dominated Christianity.
In my view, the primary driver for Pentecostal women is
experience bolstered by select biblical arguments in the context of a sea change
in western cultures.
A Final Note
It would be a mistake to think that the rise of women to
leadership positions in Pentecostal groups was straightforward. Despite the
early spiritual experiences, men continued to view women based on the prevalent
attitudes in society. As in the few mentions of women as leaders in the Bible,
only a few outstanding women have been recognized and held up as examples to
young women.
See Also
Sexism and Black Women in Church
References (APA style)
Archer, M.L. (2016). Women in ministry: A pentecostal
reading of new testament texts. In E. M. de Alminana & L. Olena (Eds.), Women
in Pentecostal and charismatic ministry: Informing a dialogue on gender, church,
and ministry. (pp. 35-56). Boston: Brill.
Alexander, K.E. & Bowers, J. (2019). What women
want: Pentecostal women ministers speak for themselves. Eugene, OR: WIPFandSTOCK.
Qualls, J. E. A. (2018). God forgive us for being women: The rhetorical negotiation and regeneration of the role of women in the Assemblies of God. Eugene, OR: Pickwick.
Sutton, G. W. (2016). A House Divided: Sexuality, morality, and Christian cultures. Eugene, OR: Pickwick. ISBN: 9781498224888 AMAZON
| See Chapter 10 Sex and Gender Roles |
 |
Sutton, G. W. (2021). Counseling and psychotherapy with Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians: Culture & Research | Assessment & Practice. Springfield, MO: Sunflower. ISBN-13 : 979-8681036524 AMAZON
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