I don't personally know the people who read this column every week. Many of you are men. Or maybe you are a woman, but you're against women in ministry. Either way, perhaps you wish your denomination would quit ordaining women. If so, then this article is for you, because it tells you how to accomplish your goal. This is a foolproof method that has worked in at least three denominations in the last five years—both large and small—denominations who used to ordain women and then revoked their right to minister. Here is how to get your denomination to stop ordaining women.
1. Make Women-in-ministry an
issue of constant discussion.
At gatherings of ministers, in denominational publications, at coffee breaks, and on the floor of all legislative sessions keep bringing it up. It doesn't even matter which way the discussion goes. Just bringing it up helps your cause. In any discussion or debate there is always someone who will take the 'other side.' This other side will agree with you, or at least be closer to you. Inflexible positions erode gradually. No position changes without discussion. The more you discuss it, the sooner the change. In fact, even this article may help you in that.
2. Recruit a prominent ally.
Try to get a prominent holiness movement leader to speak out for your side—a denominational official, college leader or District Superintendent would be perfect. There are already many to choose from—though they are right now “in the closet.” Persuade them to come out and speak up. This will be even more effective if this spokesperson is a woman. This creates two clear positions in the holiness church, enabling people to move a bit toward your side and look like they are on “middle ground.” They will say, 'Well, I wouldn't go as far as her, but still...'
3. Confuse terms.
Use 'ministry' interchangeably to mean both ‘ordained’ and ‘non-ordained’ ministry. Don't let people know which you mean. Use slight of hand between ‘director,’ ‘pastor,’ and ‘minister,’ so nobody knows which ones have clergy authority and which ones don’t. With such confusion, church people will eventually accept phrases like, ‘She ministers, but she’s not a pastor.’ Initially in publishing and speaking these phrases will help to distinguish between the many kinds of ministry. However, eventually it can be used to bar women from all kinds of ministry. Even the most supportive groups will talk about how “everyone is a minister” – use this against them to deaden the pain of revoking women’s right to [the ordained] ministry. It is not that big of a leap from there to “well, just the men lead the church—and only men serve on our boards. It will be no big deal because everyone has their “ministry role.” This confusion of terms is your doorway to change.
4. Make “feminism” the archenemy
of the church.
While this term originally meant support of women’s rights in society, it can be used for much more. All terms are elastic. Stretch it to connote the most liberal and radical forms of feminism. Associate the word with the enemies of the “family.” Make feminism equal abortion rights, gay rights, and every other “closed issue” in the Evangelical mainstream. Reject feminism in all conversations and publications so much so that people – even women in ministry – fear being called a feminist like people used to fear being called a communist. You will know you have succeeded when your opponents begin statements on women-in-ministry with, 'Now, I’m no feminist, but...'
5. Make women-in-ministry a
scripture issue.
This will clear away pragmatic arguments. Make it clear that you just want to follow the will of God as revealed in Scripture. At first, don’t even say what your position is. Don’t quote tons of verses. Just create a forum where both sides are arguing over the many New Testament injunctions to women speaking and leading. The women-supportive side will have the hardest time here, and will look like they are on the defensive and they will look like they don’t take the Bible seriously. Among Evangelicals the side that looks like it takes the Bible most seriously always wins..
6. Relate women-in-ministry to
homosexuality.
Make people perceive this issue as a stopgap to bigger issues, especially homosexuality. Convince everyone that the two issues go together. This way, those who support women in ministry will look like they also support homosexuals, or they are trying to play the middle and therefore they will look inconsistent. This is a great way to get people on your side. The slippery slope arguments, although always logically invalid, are always rhetorically effective.
7. Steer clear of all
“hermeneutics” discussions.
This is where the pro-women people shine. Don’t let them go there. When they talk about hermeneutics, just say “I just simply follow what the Scriptures clearly say.” Don’t even try to come up with an alternative hermeneutical theory or you will lose. Concede that you care about ‘context’ and the ‘whole Bible,’ but don’t systematize your use of the Bible into a consistent hermeneutic or you will lose. Simplify the argument by quoting verses without any kind of selection process. This will get the lay people on your side, and even many ministers who already want to take this position. Both the laity and some ministers do not have the conceptual vocabulary to talk hermeneutics—but every person surely can remember a verse here and there.
8. Blame God.
Try to get a woman to give a testimony about how they felt called to ministry but saw that the Scriptures teach against it and submitted to God’s revealed will. “If God said it, then we need to follow it.” Don’t make it a personal issue, a chauvinist issue, or a pragmatic issue. You don’t need to prove that women can’t lead men or would make bad ministers or destroy the church. Just simply say, “I’d love to have women in ministry, but God forbids it and I follow God’s lead on this one, sorry you’ll have to blame God, not me.”
9. Work first for
non-ministerial gains.
Focus on the family. Don’t talk about ordination issues first and foremost. Talk about the right kind of gender roles. Once they cave in to a picture of women as subordinate to men in the home, it will be an easy baby step to convince people that women should not have authority over a man anywhere—and least of all in the church. Talk about how the family is the primary institution in God’s kingdom and God has established “”order” there. Don’t talk about the church at first, but about the family. Even some of those who argue for ordaining woman will agree with you here—but they will lose their other cause eventually—if women are deficient to men mentally and spiritually at home why would they not be deficient in the church? Eventually you’ll be able to simply apply the family gender roles to the church when the time is ripe.
10. Begin blocking women only
from the Senior
Women do not need to be kept out of
ordained ministry as a whole, at first.
All you need to do is make it nearly impossible for a woman to become a
Senior
11. Advertise the wonderful
ministry of women as wives, mothers, and volunteers.
You don’t have to show that women can’t do ministry well, you simply need to display how wonderful it is to have women at home and that this is the “higher calling.” IN this you will have many (most?) women as allies. Face it, many women do not want the responsibility for the world and would actually prefer to be “kept women” supported by a male “provider.” . This will instill in everyone’s mind the ideal picture of womanhood as wife and mother and make any women in ministry as one making a giant compromise. Continue to show how great women are as volunteer ministers in the church—especially with children and other women. Say things like “What would we do without them?” This will get it in everyone’s mind that women better serve the church in non-ordained roles, and people will be happy
12. Don't fight the word ‘call.’
Let women say they are ‘called.’ Don’t fight that battle. Never block a woman from saying she is called. It is far too hard to fight personal call stories. They’ll win every time. Instead, talk about how the mystical call from God is valid but we must ‘test the spirits’ against God’s word. Affirm their call, and then point out that certain restrictions on that call are implied by the Word of God. We wouldn’t let a man say he was called by God to any other form of disobedience to Scripture, would we? We might not question his general call to ministry, but the specifics could be challenged on Scriptural grounds. Avoid the “call” issue and focus on the specific “leadings” and “roles” that are appropriate for women to follow or fill.
13. Broadcast the story when the first women chooses to hand in her credentials.
Sooner or later a woman will become convinced of your position and hand in her credentials. It may be a young woman who just got married and choosing to stay at home because that is her “calling” now. She will not necessarily be opposed to all women in ministry. She will just make it clear that this is God’s calling on her life. When this happens spread the story everywhere. It will enable your allies to cite them as a positive example of submission.
14. Get one holiness denomination to break rank from the rest.
Eventually, one holiness
denomination will 'break rank' on this issue.
All of the holiness denominations now have a group wanting to follow the
Southern Baptists or Evangelical Free Church.
A denomination fully associated with the holiness movement will revoke
women’s right to minister. They will
remove their credentials wholesale. You
can point to this as a sign of faithful obedience to God’s Word. Lift up other laudable aspects of this denomination’s
ministry, so that positive associations will be in everyone’s mind. Treat them as a model of submission. Just wait, one will break rank. It will happen.
15. Wear them down.
Today's holiness church has neither
the patience nor the time to hold firmly to its convictions. They are too busy
trying to fit in with the conservative evangelical mainstream to hold their
traditional position on this issue. They’d
rather fit in with the Baptist Big Boys than their own history. So, if you stick with it, constantly arguing
and gently pushing, they'll cave in. Sooner or later they will push women out. So just keep at it.
________________
Is there any denying that the above strategy will work? Indeed, it already is
working. And, if you really want to get your denomination to stop ordaining
women, just follow this strategy. If you stick with it, you will probably win.
HOWEVER, KEEP THIS IN MIND... There are
many Christians who will meet you at every point in your unfolding plan and try
to head you off from stopping ordination. They will defeat you. And, I
am among that group. You may have a great strategy to win this war... but we've
got your battle plans! In fact, I just published them! So we are going to defeat you because you are
wrong, your are NOT biblical, and you are not rational. Now we have your battle plans and we will win
and eventually YOU will look like cavemen thinkers.
The above was written by a reader of this column based on a similar
article How To Get Your Denomination To Ordain Homosexuals