CRC Synod votes to allow ordination of women
Ecumenical News International
June 15, 2007
The 12 June decision was made at the denomination's annual synod meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A day later, the synod voted to allow women as delegates to the denomination's synod. A compromise was struck, however, for those in the church who oppose women's ordination.
The synod said local church bodies - called "classes" - that still oppose a wider role for women can continue to set restrictions for women as delegates at local church meetings. The compromise was touted as a way to avoid the 300 000-member denomination splintering.
The Rev. George Vink, who headed the panel that addressed the issue of the role of women within the denomination, compared church unity to a choir. A CRC news report quoted Wink as saying, "We can sing the same song but we sing in parts."
The CRC has 1000 congregations in the United States and Canada, and is based in Grand Rapids and in Burlington, Ontario.
United Methodists approve transgender pastor
Erin Roach
June 7, 2007
Leaders in the United Methodist Church apparently have no problem with a transgender pastor leading one of their congregations, and in fact, they applauded the pastor's bravery in charting new territory within the denomination.
About a year ago, the female pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore changed her name from Ann Gordon to Drew Phoenix, had a sex change operation and proceeded with hormone treatments. On May 25, Phoenix was reappointed to another term as pastor of the congregation.
"The gender I was assigned at birth has never matched my own true authentic God-given gender identity, how I know myself," Phoenix, 48, said, according to The Baltimore Sun. "Fortunately today God's gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body in alignment with my true gender."
At the annual gathering of the Baltimore-Washington Conference where Phoenix's reappointment was announced, the pastor reportedly received a standing ovation from fellow Methodists, and he/she said he hoped his situation would spark conversation about sexual identity so that younger clergy who come after him would have an easier time voicing their identity issues.
Phoenix's congregation is part of the Reconciling Ministries Network, which seeks the inclusion of all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, according to The Sun, and the 50-member church has seen an increase in attendance and financial donations since Phoenix/Gordon became pastor five years ago.
United Methodists as a denomination do not permit non-celibate homosexual clergy, but their Book of Discipline does not mention transgender people. Mark Tooley, director of United Methodist Action, a conservative group affiliated with the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said the decision to approve a transgender pastor "sets a troubling precedent."
"Once again, liberal church elites, presiding over dwindling churches, are making decisions without regard for historic Christian teaching or a wider consensus among the church's membership," Tooley said in a news release May 25. "Rev. Phoenix merits compassion for a lifelong struggle over gender identity issues, as related at the conference. But the church helps no one when it fails to faithfully transmit the Gospel of hope and transformation."
Tooley also said gender is intrinsically linked to God's order of creation as described in Genesis.
"The God whom we worship knew us as male or female before He created us. Gender is not a choice but a reality," he said.
During the annual conference in Washington, some ministers asked for a "ruling of law," which automatically refers the issue to the Judicial Court, the denomination's highest legal authority, which meets in October and will decide whether transgender people are eligible for appointment as pastors.
United Methodist Action plans to introduce legislation on the topic at the Methodist General Conference in Texas next year, according to The Washington Times.
"We hope The United Methodist Church will act, where the leadership of the Baltimore-Washington Conference has failed, by establishing clear ethical and theological guidelines about the role of gender in God's creation," Tooley said.
(Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press, the denominational press agency for the Southern Baptist Convention)
Baptist church in Georgia set to call female pastor
Jeff Robinson
June 5, 2007
A Baptist church in Decatur, Ga., with ties to both the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) will call a woman as its pastor later this month, according to the church website.
The website reports that FBC will call Julie Pennington-Russell as its new pastor. Pennington-Russell presently serves as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, a position she has held since 1998.
FBC of Decatur is affiliated with both the SBC and CBF, but this latest move demonstrates that the congregation holds theological views that are decidedly in step with the moderate CBF. The CBF is a quasi-denominational splinter group of moderates that have left the SBC in recent years in light of the denomination’s conservative resurgence.
In 2000, the SBC revised its confession of faith, The Baptist Faith and Message, to affirm the traditional, biblical teaching on gender roles in the home and church. R. Albert Mohler Jr., who serves as a board member for The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW), points out in a commentary on Pennington-Russell’s call to Decatur, that the Southern Baptist Convention is a decidedly complementarian denomination.
Mohler, who serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was one of the architects of the revised confession of faith.
“The Southern Baptist Convention has made its convictions on the issue clear. The adoption of the revised edition of The Baptist Faith & Message in 2000 elevates the issue to confessional status,” Mohler writes.
“This is a natural consequence of the denomination's commitment to biblical inerrancy. The Bible clearly calls for male leadership in the church -- and particularly in the pulpit. Southern Baptists have chosen to affirm a complementarian understanding of gender roles and leadership, seeing these principles as clearly set forth in the Bible.
“The culture is on the side of those who support women pastors. We live in an egalitarian age. At the same time, that support seems to be more about talk than action. Until this development in Decatur, no historic moderate church affiliated with the SBC had called a woman as pastor.”
In a brief listing of its core beliefs, FBC Decatur makes clear its position on women in the ministry: “We accept women and men as equally called of God for ministry as laity and clergy.”
The 141-year old Atlanta area congregation touts itself “different from many Baptist churches” in that it is non-confessional and accepts diverse theological viewpoints: “We acknowledge the Bible as our guide for faith and practice but reject any creedal statement of belief as necessary for our basis of authority, fellowship, and common spiritual life.” The church allows members to designate financial support for either SBC or CBF causes.
Mohler points out that Pennington-Russell’s call to the Decatur pulpit is both an historical moment and a clear statement by the church despite claims to the contrary.
“…the church claimed that the move was not a way of ‘making a statement,’ Mohler writes.
“That claim will not hold up. The church points to the proposed pastor's qualifications and gifts, but if the church's pastor search committee had chosen a man as their proposed candidate, the development would not have received nationwide news coverage. The church is making a statement.”
View FBC Decatur’s full announcement.
See additional analysis by Mohler on this development.
Gospel Coalition’s confession includes clear complementarian language
Jeff Robinson
May 30, 2007
The Gospel Coalition was founded by a group of evangelical leaders including Tim Keller and D.A. Carson, to promote a robust, Gospel-centered ministry in local churches.
Noted evangelicals such as Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, founder of 9Marks Ministries and Ligon Duncan, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Miss., and president of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, are among coalition leaders.
The coalition drafted a number of founding documents, including a preamble concerning the Gospel, a confession of faith and a theological vision for ministry. Article 3 speaks clearly of God’s creation of human beings and the distinctive, complementary roles to which they have been called as God’s earthly vice regents. It reads:
"We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in his own image. Adam and Eve belonged to the created order that God himself declared to be very good, serving as God's agents to care for, manage, and govern creation, living in holy and devoted fellowship with their Maker. Men and women, equally made in the image of God, enjoy equal access to God by faith in Christ Jesus and are both called to move beyond passive self-indulgence to significant private and public engagement in family, church, and civic life. Adam and Eve were made to complement each other in a one-flesh union that establishes the only normative pattern of sexual relations for men and women, such that marriage ultimately serves as a type of the union between Christ and his church. In God's wise purposes, men and women are not simply interchangeable, but rather they complement each other in mutually enriching ways. God ordains that they assume distinctive roles which reflect the loving relationship between Christ and the church, the husband exercising headship in a way that displays the caring, sacrificial love of Christ, and the wife submitting to her husband in a way that models the love of the church for her Lord. In the ministry of the church, both men and women are encouraged to serve Christ and to be developed to their full potential in the manifold ministries of the people of God. The distinctive leadership role within the church given to qualified men is grounded in creation, fall, and redemption and must not be sidelined by appeals to cultural developments."
The Gospel Coalition will soon host website with audio from the inaugural conference, which was held May 23-24. Speakers included Carson, Keller, Duncan, Crawford Loritts and John Piper. The coalition will hold conferences every bi-annually.
In its mission, the group overlaps with, and yet is distinct from, others such as the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals and Together For the Gospel. The coalition seeks to reassert the Gospel "center" within evangelicalism that was once held in place by such leaders as Carl F.H. Henry, a "center" that leaders discern as largely missing from local church ministries today.
The Gospel Coalition’s founding documents are available on a number of weblogs, including a link on Justin Taylor’s Between Two Worlds.
Evangelical churches leaving PCUSA for more conservative denomination remain committed to women’s ordination
Jeff Robinson
May 24, 2007
At least 40 evangelical Presbyterian churches are expected to join the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) next month out of the leftward-leaning Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), but the more conservative group of PCUSA churches continues to affirm the ordination of women.
The latest exodus from the PCUSA comes from a renewal group composed of 153 evangelical Presbyterian churches known as the New Wineskins Association of Churches.
At its February meeting on Orlando, New Wineskins voted unanimously to ask the EPC to create a transitional, non-geographic presbytery for congregations leaving the PCUSA. The EPC will vote on the proposal during its general assembly in June.
The PCUSA has bled conservative evangelicals profusely from its ranks in recent years—including New Wineskins which began in July of 2006—with many vowing to leave in the wake of the mainline denomination’s general assembly last June. During that meeting, the PCUSA approved a task force leaving open the possibility of ordaining gays and lesbians. The assembly also approved a paper that offered "culturally correct" language such as "Mother, Child and Womb" for describing the Trinity.
But, while New Wineskins churches are seeking shelter from the PCUSA’s liberal avalanche, the association remains committed to women’s ordination, arguing that the position is "in full accord with Scripture and the Reformed tradition."
In a Q&A on the New Wineskins website, the association is unambiguous about its position on gender roles in the local church. In response to the question, "Are you compromising the affirmation of the gifts of leadership of women in ordained ministry in any way," the association replies:
"One of the most unfortunate misconceptions about our work is on the issue of women’s ordination and leadership. There is much that is being said of our effort that is simply not true. The New Wineskins’ essentials and constitution make clear that God calls women and men into all forms of ministry. The same standards of leadership development and opportunities for service apply to all ministers within the New Wineskins Association regardless of gender. We have been clear on this from our beginning and will not change our position on this issue. We believe this to be fully in accord with Scripture and the Reformed tradition. Our work with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church does not change either our theology or practice of fully affirming the gifts of women to all forms of service in all of our member congregations."
The EPC, a small denomination composed of 185 churches and around 70,000 members, leaves the ordination of women up to the individual congregation.
According to a recent Christianity Today (CT) article, the EPC includes two women who serve as pastors, with one set to retire soon. The EPC’s position is decidedly open to the ordination of women, stating:
"While some churches may ordain women and some may decline to do so, neither position is essential to the existence of the church. Since people of good faith who equally love the Lord and hold to the infallibility of Scripture differ on this issue, and since uniformity of view and practice is not essential to the existence of the visible church, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church has chosen to leave this decision to the Spirit-guided consciences of particular congregations concerning the ordination of women as elders and deacons, and to the presbyteries concerning the ordination of women as ministers."
According to the CT article, the EPC’s lack of a full and clear embrace of female ordination could be a contentious point in the proposed transition of New Wineskins congregations. At the New Wineskins meeting in February, female pastors from the PCUSA pleaded with the organization’s leadership to make sure they will have a place to serve, CT reported. At least one EPC presbytery has said it will not ordain women.
