By Molly T. Marshall
A recent CBS news clip posed the question, “Is 2012 the year of women in politics?” We know that women do not predominate in House or Senate; approximately 17 percent of elected officials are women.
Interestingly, this is only slightly more than the number of women leaders in theological education, counting both deans and presidents. We no longer meet in a phone booth.
The Women’s Caucus of Congress, organized in 1977, is one of the most enduring coalitions. (The same year Southern Baptists held their one and only consultation on women in the church.) The caucus is known more for being issue-oriented than partisan.
Prior to its founding, the few congresswomen standing were reticent to form a body that might increase tensions with male colleagues. Finally, elected women decided that efforts to work their way into the institutional power structures were not enough — particularly where women’s issues were concerned.
The Equal Rights Amendment was the first gambit of this caucus. After a protracted challenge of getting the necessary 38 states to ratify it, the amendment failed. By 1982, extensions for ERA had expired, and it did not become a part of the Constitution — a sad commentary on the will of Americans to address the place of women in society.
More than ever, it is time for women to claim their rightful place in all the corridors of power in my judgment. Recent analysis suggests that the room “gets smarter” when women are included. I will not summon the new data on IQ scores lest I be accused of fostering a gender war. Rather, I simply want to call attention to the balance of judgment that comes about when women are present.
On Sunday I participated in the ordination of one of our alums at the Metro Baptist Church in New York City. Prophetic and vibrant, this gathered community confirmed the candidate by their blessing and kindling of gifts.
It may have been the first ordination of a woman in Baptist life that I have attended where the church was not self-congratulatory for breaking the “stain-glass ceiling.” The focus was on the ordinand’s calling and gifts, not her gender.
Yet, there remains a fear among many women, especially those ensconced in ecclesial settings, that if they follow their calling, they will be marginalized or pilloried, or the church that calls them will suffer accordingly. Regular readers of ABP can name such women and their congregations, and while we rejoice at the growth of women finding pastoral work, it is still uphill.
There is the residual thought that women have either usurped a man’s position or that the church can do no better than call a woman. Baptists have lost many gifted women to other more open denominations. However, it is still rare for women to lead the “tall steeple” churches even in these other communions.
Could 2012 be the year of women in the ministry? If so, churches will need to normalize the idea that women embody spiritual authority as pastoral leaders.
Their preaching, their administration of the sacraments, their pastoral care, their administrative leadership, their teaching is not a lesser authority because they do not physically resemble Jesus. Rather, as equal in creation and baptism, they image God fully, and their gifts for ministry are abundant.
Churches will also need to ensure search and call processes provide opportunity for women to receive serious consideration. When pastoral search committees engage competent women as candidates, their kaleidoscope shifts and they see new patterns for ministry in their congregations.
And when congregations enjoy long, successful pastoral leadership of women, they know that embracing this possibility has enhanced their theology and practice. The DNA of Baptists, emphasizing liberty of conscience and church freedom, argues for the full inclusion of women as pastors and teachers — as well as all the other places to which the Spirit beckons.
Not only will corporate boardrooms, Congress and seminaries get “smarter” and more holistic in their initiatives as women populate them, but the church will flourish when all whom God is calling are accepted as providential gifts. Further, the church will appear less anachronistic to young adults who care deeply about gender disparity.