An Editorial
by
Sylvia Dooling
_”So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created
them; male and female he created them.” _Genesis 1:27 (NRSV)
_”As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
_Galatians 3:27-28 (NRSV)
_”He is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has
broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”_
Ephesians 2:14 (NRSV)
Why is it that we always seem to live at extremes? In order to correct one
problem, we tend to over correct and soon we have to correct the over
correction. It reminds me of Luther’s metaphor of the drunken horseman, who,
having fallen off one side of the horse, leans so far to the other side that
he falls off again.
What I have specifically in mind as I muse about this phenomenon is the
whole area of women’s ministries.
What concerns me is that almost every American mainline denomination has
allowed its women’s program area functionally to be isolated and cut off
from the rest of its design for ministry. For example, in the Presbyterian
Church, the Women’s Ministries Program Area falls under National Ministries,
while every other age and group specific program is located under
Congregational Ministries. This was done, of course, to give the Women’s
Ministry Program Area more freedom to pursue legitimate concerns about
equality for women in the church and in society.
But, unencumbered by the normal theological and programmatic
accountabilities, and determined to make “women’s rights” the tail that wags
the dog, the Women’s Ministry Program area has gone too far.
There was good reason, of course, for the church to take a stand for the
full inclusion of women in ministry. Jesus’ defeat of sin and death on the
cross along with his resurrection put an end to the old social and cultural
distinctions (and inequalities) between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male
and female. In the Church of Jesus Christ, each of these is equal with the
others. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is among us, and we are to
display the values of that kingdom in every part of life. In turn, that
means going back to learn from that time at creation when God created
humankind as male and female. Men and women were created to work together in
perfect harmony. They were created to be partners, to help one another, and
in their mutuality to be a reflection of the _Imago Dei_ the image of God.
My contention, of course, is that in order to actualize this ideal in what
was once a patriarchal church, we Presbyterians have leaned so far to the
other side of the horse that we are in danger again of falling off.
Therefore, the time has come for us as the people of God to reflect God’s
image (humankind as male and female) in our common work and mission.
What this means, of course, is that the time has come to take a hard look at
the present “structures” of our church in order to make sure that we are not
inadvertently erecting walls between men and women, and between men’s
ministries and women’s ministries.
For instance, at the present time, Presbyterian Men is lodged under
Congregational Ministries, and that makes sense! Presbyterian Men is an
organization that is rooted and grounded in congregations. But what about
the lodging of Presbyterian Women? this is an organization that is also
rooted and grounded within congregations. But, in the structure of the
church, it is lodged under the National Ministries Division with Women’s
Ministries having its own separate configuration. And that sends a message!
What it says is that the correction that was necessary to ensure women an
equal opportunity to minister opened the door to an over correction that
currently gives the more radical women among us a platform from which to
advocate the most extreme theological and political agendas with little or
no accountability (until someone blows the whistle as was done with the
NNPCW, or until they shoot themselves in the foot as they did with the Women
of Faith Award). And why so little accountability? Because of the pervading
fear that should the women of the church be challenged in any way, it will
be labeled harassment or patriarchy.
This isn’t the way that the Body of Christ should operate. Each member of
the body is important and should be subject to the others. Peter teaches
that we are to come to Christ, and “like living stones” let ourselves be
built into a spiritual house, “to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
The focus of the church, its programs and its organizations must be on
Christ and not on ourselves. For the more that we know about God and his
reconciling work in our lives, the more we are set free to minister
*together* as light and salt to the world.
We are “one in Christ.” That’s a given. God did it. So, let’s be done with
political agendas that separate men and women, and let’s begin to work
together as obedient servants of the one Lord.
Is there a place for separate organizations for men and women in the church?
Of course! But, the overall goal of the church should be to promote harmony
and unity, not to build gender specific political and theological walls.