I am fairly new to the Lutheran Church, but the ordination of women is something that too, affects the wider Christian church.
Like the other comments here, we have tried to distinguish the roles between the men and women. In Titus 2, we see women can definitely be teachers and leaders and in various verses throughout the NT everyone is encouraged to believe and share the Word of God, it doesn’t exclude women. Also, Proverbs 31 clearly demonstrates that women are not “useless” to the family and consequently not to the church.
I like to think of a congregation similarly to a family. In a family, the husband is given authority over the wife. However they are both still equal, just given different roles. Likewise in the church, sure, women can teach and are encouraged to share the Word of God, but what of the head or ‘main’ leader of the church? Should the men have authority over the women, much like in a marriage?
Despite that we’re clearly living a different culture to those in the Corinthian church (where women were ordered to remain quiet unless given permission, we do not need such restrictions today), our roles are still separate. My sisters should not feel the need to take away the role which men have been appointed to. We have our own roles which are just as important. Less authority does not mean inequality. In our culture today among the lay people, men still have authority over the women. Why should it be different for the leaders?
Comments 4
Women are just as capable and intelligent as men – sometimes even more intelligent than men. They have often earned and deserve authority over men. This is true in all fields except Christianity where God, our Creator, who knows us far better than we know ourselves, has loving authority over us, and it behoves us not to question His commands. He offers us salvation from ourselves through our dear Saviour Jesus, plus eternal life with Him. Who are we to update, or modernize, His Spirit breathed Word which was good enough and agreed to by the LCA just a few years ago? To try and force through what to some is a vital theological truth will cause a split. When one joins a denomination, one knows the rules, and the ‘rules’ should not be changed without consensus.
I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make.
Among what lay people do men have authority over women? Is the correspondent referring to in the church? What about a female chairperson of a congregation? Wouldn’t she have ‘authority over men’? I know of at least one congregation which had a female chairperson. If the correspondent is referring to the wider world, ‘in our culture today’ there are endless examples of women having authority over men. Surely a female Prime Minister would have to be the ultimate example of a woman having authority over men. She would even be able to tell the leader of the armed forces what to do–and he would have to obey.
That’s a fair point. I was more so referring to the general congregation without looking at councils, events etc. which require a team where a women could have authority for that part in the church, but still she would not have head authority of the church. Within just basic congregation I definitely see it as men naturally having a higher role than women. Especially if they are older gentlemen. Men are generally given the more “wiser” roles and women are given the more “affectionate” roles, I guess this is where I come back to the similar structure as a family, both have important roles but say for in example of an emergency situation, unless the men there are clueless, a man is usually the ones who naturally take the roles as leader. It’s just honestly how I’ve perceived it. Also men are designed to be protective of women, after all we are the weaker vessels (1 Peter 3:7). Even though that verse is directed at marriage, the same consideration is taught outside of marriage. Perhaps it’s only a cultural thing, and this is where the Lutheran church’s culture is changing?
Peace to you.