Decisions on Women in Ministry Issues

After much contemplation, I have decided (with my wife's input) to remain at Santa Ana. The gentleman who has a problem with Women in Ministry also remains there, however, he is very humbled.

On Easter Sunday I confronted both he and his wife concerning his actions concerning the woman who preached on the Sunday I was gone. He was mortified. He had no idea I knew why or even that he was gone on that Sunday. When I told him his wife had communicated his reasons, he looked at her and searched for an answer why she would tell. Her reply? "They asked. I wasn't going to lie for you!" He was stunned. At that point his apologies began. When I told how insulted both my wife and the guest speaker was, the color left his face. Following our conversation, wherein he apologized to me and could not even find the verses he believed gave him Biblical evidence for his position, he made a bee-line to Joanie and apologized to her. That week he contacted the woman who spoke and wrote her a letter of apology.

I am still working to get him to understand things from a different direction than his Calvary Chapel theological leanings, but it is a process. He has assured me that the attitude is his and does not reflect the attitude of either the church or his family members.

I have a book about Women in Ministry and a tape put out by the Church of God to give him. We will see if he remains open to understanding the Word or whether he remains stuck in an old paradigm. Time will tell.

For those curious about this issue, here are a few Internet resources you might find interesting or helpful. The first link is from the Church of God. The other two are just ones I ran across on the web:

http://www.chog.org/MinistriesandPrograms/WomeninMinistry/BiblicalRationale/tabid/446/Default.aspx

http://watkins.gospelcom.net/women.htm

http://www.gracecentered.com/women_in_ministry.htm

It's Nice to Be Wanted, Barnabas

Everybody needs to be needed - it's a basic human, well, need. All of us know about rejection. Some of us have lived lives full of rejection:

• A parent who rejected you by abandoning you and your family early in life
• A mate who walked out and said they didn't love you any more and rejected you and your love
• A boss who rejected your work and fired you from a job
• A teacher who rejected your creativity or unique way of doing things and said you would never amount to much or who rejected you by not giving you an opportunity you deserved
• A Christian who disagreed with your theology and rejected not only your position but you as well
• The dog who ran away rather than be your pet!

Most of us have degrees in rejection. Some people seem to specialize in rejecting others (I know someone named Carla who does this all the time - did it to Joanie and me) and get a perverse joy out creating havoc in other's lives and spirits. Others are so sick themselves that they can only feel well by making others sick - kind of like "Munchausen by proxy" for the sick soul. So, when you have those moments where you are accepted rather than rejected; when you are appreciated rather than denounced; when you are built up rather than torn down - these are the times you should celebrate and these are the days you should remember.
Today I went to a luncheon for some of the Adjunct Faculty at Fuller. Since I am teaching two classes this quarter, I am considered an visiting member of the Fuller faculty. It was a nice luncheon and a good time. After it was over, the director who works with the Adjunct Faculty in the hiring of them for these positions approached me to ask if I would be able to teach again this summer. I told her I would. She then asked if she could put me on the schedule for the Fall and keep me going in this direction. Man, its nice to be wanted!
When the Apostle Paul was rejected by the early church because of their fear of his persecution tactics, Paul left Jerusalem and nearly was lost to the church. But someone remembered him. His name was Barnabas. Barnabas found Paul, put him back on the ministry track, and took him with his group on their first Missionary Journey. Ah, if it hadn't been for Barnabas there would have been no Paul.
Someone once told me everyone should have a "Timothy" - someone in whom you are investing your life and pouring out yourself. They also said everyone should be a Barnabas - someone who believes in someone else and helps them in their mission and ministry. Linda Peacore, the director who works with Adjuncts, is being my Barnabas. Everyone needs a Barnabas. Who's yours? And, if you have that person or not, in whom are you investing yourself? Even a pat on the back can make a difference. Who are you encouraging?

We Are Virginia Tech

I watched Virginia Tech English Professor Nikki Giovanni give a powerful and emotional conclusion to the memorial gathering on the Virginia Tech campus last week. It was a well crafted and well delivered conclusion to a sad day, a day of mourning. In it she made mention of the fact that "we did nothing to deserve this tragedy". It is a powerful statement and one that each of us should ponder.

As I have counseled people over the years who have been hit with tragedies and as I have faced tragedies (albeit considerably less powerful than the Virginia Tech shootings) I have noticed that one of the reactions common to all is that of blame. We often wonder what we could have done to prevent the problem. One of my brothers felt great guilt at the sudden death of my father from a heart attack because he felt we should have "forced" my Dad to have more drastic procedures that might have saved his life. He expressed that basic human fantasy we all share - a fantasy that says we should divine the future because we have hindsight. We can no more predict and understand the implications of natural disasters or man made tragedies than we can predict which case holds the million dollars on "Deal or No Deal" before the numbers are revealed.

One of the old hymns we have sung in the Church of God says, "The future lies unseen ahead, it holds I know not what. But still I know I need not dread, for Jesus faileth not." The Apostle Paul in talking about eternity says, "We see through a glass darkly". Both of these sentiments agree that we are no good at soothsaying. We are terrible at predicting the future, especially future tragedies that we could prevent.

Rather than live in a sea of guilt maybe we should learn to live each day with greater joy. I got up and my back hurt today. So what? Should that ruin my day? Life if too precious to waste it on either foolish guilt or bad moods. Live today as though you have no promise of tomorrow. Come to think of it, you don't have a promise of tomorrow. Makes how you live today seem more important, huh? Good. Live life. Remember, we are Virginia Tech.

One Down, One to Go

They posted grades last week. My final grade for Hebrew was...(drum roll, please) - well, I'll get to that in a minute. After spending 20 weeks studying this ancient language, I know two things.
First, I know that it takes a lot more than 20 weeks to become familiar with another language that you only read and study with your eyes. Unless you are immersed in a language and forced to speak it on a daily basis, it all seems academic to you. So, after 20 weeks, I can't speak the language nor can I sit and read it with understanding.
Second, I know that Hebrew is a more complicated language than we were led to believe when we started. Letters are dropped from words on a regular basis; words are joined together at both the front and back of root words - words that easily get lost in the mix. Our instructor didn't ask us to really memorize the vowel pointings but just have an idea which sounded like a, e, i, o, or u. Then we had so many words that were changed in meaning and context by having one point (or dot) that changed or didn't change. In order to handle Hebrew, it would require a much deeper introduction to the whole language than what we received.
Having said that, I am now prepared to take the same class over again. At least, that's what most of the members of my class did. Almost everyone in the class had as much knowledge of Hebrew that I have now when they started the class back in September. Considering the disadvantage that I faced going into the class, I am quite proud of my grade - and really glad to be done with the language requirement. Since I passed the class, I am no longer a "probationary admit" to the Seminary. I have fulfilled all the requirements for my entrance to the Ph.D. program. I am a full, regular student!
By the way, first quarter I received an A- for the class. Second quarter, though, I received... and A-! Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One language down, and one more to go. This summer - Latin for 10 weeks. Hmmm. I can hardly wait.

Choices

A friend sent me an email (thanks Patty) about chioces. So, for all you folks out there who have yet to begin a family or who are considering changing your circumstances of the empty nest syndrome, here are your choices:

Should you get a dog?

Or should you invite the grandchildren over for a few days?

Speaking of Women

Here we go again! Speaking of women, I had a most disturbing event take place last Sunday. I was out of the state at a meeting in Indiana, so I asked a friend and fellow Church of God minister to fill the pulpit for me in Santa Ana. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that this would create a problem either for her of for anyone in this small, 15-20 member congregation. Oh, how wrong I was. One guy, a prominent and key leader in this small band of folks, didn't show up for service and his wife, who did, promptly told my wife and the guest pastor that he didn't show up because he didn't believe in sitting under a woman in the pulpit!

You should also know that my wife is an ordained minister in the Church of God. In two congregations of the Church of God, my wife has been devalued because she is a woman who is called to ministry. In the church we pastored in Indiana, the decided to pick on her as a way to get to me. They tried to tell her that she was not a "real" minister and that she was not doing a good job (neither of which were true then or now). In our last pastorate in Fresno, the congregation actually voted on hiring her part-time and voted not to - not because she was not qualified or talented, but because she was a woman and married to the pastor. All this in a church that has a 127 year tradition of having women in ministry.

As I teach and assist in classes here at Fuller, I am astounded by the number of women who have horror stories from just about every denominational group you can imagine. Here they are preparing to follow the call of God on their lives for ministry only to be devalued and repressed by their own narrow minded denominational authorities. I hope to be able to find a job following my PhD studies teaching preaching in a seminary. Wherever I teach, there will be women in the classroom preparing for pastoral ministry. How do I justify continuing to preach in a place where such an attitude exists? I am tempted to resign and not go back. And, that may be my course of action. I will talk to this man face to face and share with him both my frustration at his "biblical interpretation" and my disappointment in how he has treated my wife and someone who is called of God. If he responds with some sense of understanding and contrition, I may stay. If he is adamant, I will leave rather than compromise the principles I teach and live with.

Oh, did I mention that after the service was over, the church was having a fellowship time (coffee and cookies) and, lo and behold, this guy showed up! He wouldn't sit under her ministry, but he came to break bread with her and join her in fellowship. How pathetic is that? Ah, well, the church has a long way to go. But there are times, like tonight, that I grow impatient and weary of the little progress that seems to be made. Maranatha, Lord Jesus, Maranatha.