Christian groups have been dismayed at what has come out of the Southern Baptist Convention. Most Protestant groups allow for women to have a role in church affairs, refusing to take literally the biblical command that women should not have authority and should submit to their husbands. The Southern Baptist Convention is out of step with American society and American Protestants.
Leaders of the United Church of Christ, which has 1.5 million members in more than 6,000 congregations have expressed deep shock at the declarations. Rev. Paul Sherry, president of the Cleveland-based UCC, told reporters “With all due respect, the convention is on the wrong side of history and, I believe, far out of step with the central message of the Gospel.”
Rev. Lois Powell, executive director of the UCC’s Coordinating Center for Women, has stated that “This statement does not appear in a vacuum, but rather as a tactic of the religious right to redefine culture in accordance with their very narrow interpretation of scripture.” Presumably, though, the Southern Baptists give little weight the to opinion of a mere woman in this issue. I wonder if they would even recognize her as any sort of religious/spiritual authority?
Even the traditionally conservative Catholic Church was made to appear almost leftist. Frank Ruff, a Roman Catholic priest who serves as liaison to the Southern Baptists from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops has expressed disappointment over the changes and has suggested that it would end up hurting their efforts to evangelize. In 1993, the bishop’s conference issued their own pastoral letter which, although acknowledging some differences in marital roles, called for “mutual submission, not dominance by either partner” as the “key to genuine joy.”
Maxine Hanks, an excommunicated Mormon and feminist author, told reporters that “This notion of women being submissive to male authority is terribly out of balance and it prevents these churches from evolving into the enlightened Christian ideal they claim.” I don’t know where she’s been, but I have yet to see the Southern Baptist leadership lay claim to any sort of “enlightened ideal.” Their ideals appear to be more about ancient social codes and outdated forms of social relationships.
Many Baptist women, however, seem to take this lying down. I’m pretty sure that the millions of men who have attended the various Promise Keeper’s rallies didn’t bother to ask the opinions of their wives before going. Mary Mohler, a homemaker from Kentucky and member of the committee that wrote some of the changes, said that the term “submit” might not be popular, “but it is a biblically correct word and that’s what counts. I submit to the leadership of my husband in our home, not because it is commanded from Al Mohler, but because it is a command from almighty God to me as a Christian woman.”
Isn’t that comforting? People used to consider the authority of kings and justice of slavery to be “a command from almighty God” to Christians, too. Slavery, willingly accepted and authorized by a god, is still slavery.
This hostility towards women is not something which is being imposed upon the members by an unthinking leadership. Instead, it is something shared by large numbers of Southern Baptists and its effects are already being seen. In Waco, Texas there were reports of tussles and protests over the appointment of a woman as senior pastor at a Baptist church. A large crowed of mostly male protestors (big surprise) gathered outside the church and one man told reporters “We’ve already believed that women’s place is in the home, and certainly, in the house of the Lord, she has no place pastoring.”
Signs reflecting similar sentiments were visible among the protesters. Among the messages were “Women have no authority” and “Working women equal moral corruption; working mothers equal child abuse.” Julie Pennington-Russell, who was to become that first female senior pastor in any Baptist church in Texas, had moved from San Francisco where people were a bit more tolerant. Some greeting, wasn’t it?
