“Slaves obey your masters” – the words are right there in Scripture, in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. “Obey your masters”, Paul wrote, “to please them”. Today the very word “slavery” horrifies and repulses us, but two thousand years ago slavery was so common that Paul saw no problem with it.
“Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate.” Once again, we find these words in Scripture, again in Paul’s writings, this time in his first letter to the Corinthians. In the 21st century there are still many churches adhering to these words, with women in decidedly subordinate roles, but this is not true for us within the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our Brief Statement of Faith, one of our Confessional statements, reminds us that God “makes everyone equally in God’s image, male and female, of every race and people.” Fifty years ago the PCUSA did not allow women to be ordained to the office of deacon, elder or minister, but this year 19 of the 33 ordained officers serving on our boards here at MPC are women.
The Holy Spirit leads us to change and transformation over time, opening our eyes, our ears, our hearts, and our minds to perspectives that we had not been able to see before. For more than 30 years we have debated, often bitterly, Scriptural passages which some have argued should exclude a class of men and women from serving as ordained officers of the church. Others have argued that the passages in question are being read in a way that lacks God’s grace, love, and acceptance revealed to us in Jesus, and, as a result, creates barriers in a place where our Lord teaches us to remove barriers.
The recent vote to change the language of an amendment in our Book of Order removes barriers and eliminates language that excluded otherwise faithful, qualified men and women from serving as deacons, elders, or ministers. This is a welcome change, as is any change which removes hindrances to service in the name of Jesus Christ. Conversely anything that creates boundaries, barriers or hindrances goes against our Lord’s teachings.
I look back at how the Holy Spirit has worked within me over the past 30 years as my thinking has changed. I was once very supportive of exclusion but am now very supportive of inclusion. I read, I studied, I prayed; I thought I knew. But God helped me to see in a new way, a different way, a way that is grounded in the grace that was lacking in how I once thought.
You can find more information about the change on the PCUSA website (www.pcusa.org). As the new language puts it so well, we submit “joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives”, lives that begin with grace and acceptance, and end with love given all, without exclusion.
You can find more information about the change on the PCUSA website (www.pcusa.org). As the new language puts it so well, we submit “joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives”, lives that begin with grace and acceptance, and end with love given all, without exclusion.
Grace & peace
Pastor Skip
