shocked

 

 

 

i am shocked. in the full definition of the word. funny, written down it looks sarcastic. and it's not even in sarcastic font. but it's true--i really am. i just found out something about a colleague, something about which i had no idea, and i am thoroughly shocked. and rather astonished at the intensity of my response. so you get to come along with me as i process.

it started simply enough. as i may have mentioned somewhere along the way, after my job officially ended, i decided to take a couple months away from my church. i've wanted to make a clean break between my life on staff and my life as a congregant. and i'm wanting to spend several sundays at other churches, to experience different types of worship gatherings and different worship environments. after all, when you're on staff at a church, and especially when the worship services are your purvey, it's hard to ever get a chance to see what other churches are doing! also, our church has long been one that is a good friend with many of our local sister churches. we've worshipped together in joint gatherings, done community service together, and our pastors meet together regularly to encourage and support each other. so i was definitely interested in seeing how some of these other churches worship. so i looked to those first, checking out worship schedules and sermon series info. and that's when it happened.

one of the first churches i hoped to check was one that had intrigued me for a long time. they've got a young, hip pastor, that i've worked with on some of our joint ventures, and i enjoyed those experiences very much. they've got a cool name, a fabulous website. my expectations were that worshipping there would be a creative, contemporary, post-modern experience that i would very much appreciate. but while on their website, i noticed a particular consistency of language usage that made me a bit... curious. and then, as i read further, suspicious. and then i found the confirmation. 

all the language i'd seen, regarding church leaders and pastors, was male-only terminology; complementarian, to be more specific. and that's because they've decided to become affiliated with the Acts 29 movement, started by Mars Hill Church Executive Pastor Scott Thomas in Seattle, WA.

now, don't get me wrong--i know that there are many, many churches who hold the complentarian point of view. i'm not naive enough to expect that just because a church seems hip and cool it will support exactly the same vales that i do. but somehow, finding out that this particular pastor as well as a second pastor from this church that i've often worked with believes that women don't belong in pastoral leadership, don't belong in the pulpit--that God doesn't approve of women in these positions--is a serious bombshell to me, as someone who believes she's been gifted and called to pastoral ministry. i worked with these pastors on planning worship gatherings, on setting them up and working them through. and all that time, were they thinking she doesn't belong here. her service in this role is against God's will. perhaps they even thought it was a sin, for me to be an actual pastor on staff? 

and then i have to examine our church's relationship with this church. when we support their ministry, are we actually supporting their complementarian values, or are we agreeing to disagree? what about the other churches in this group? and at what point do i say--and do we as a church say--no, we can't support you because of that. if they didn't allow men of color in the pulpit, would we still work together with them? would we stay in relationship in order to possibly change their beliefs? or would we just close our eyes to the truth, and ignore it in the name of peace and unity between Christian churches in one of the darkest, most unchurched areas of the country? 

i don't know the answer to any of these questions. i'm not sure i'm even asking the right questions yet. all i know is that i now have a different perspective on two men i thought of as colleagues, two men with whom i thought i shared mutual respect, and certainly a different view of their church. i'm even questioning my own openly egalitarian  congregation's relationship with that other church. and i know i'm stunned to find this out, shocked to discover it, and surprised at my own intense response to this information. 

oh--i do know one other thing. i know i won't be attending that other church any time soon.

Comments

[Tracy Peterson]

Thanks Zanne - I have to admit - now that I'm planning on going to seminary and becoming a chaplain - I have a hard time dealing with the idea that there are people out there who believe that I am going against God's will to become a chaplain ... something that I believe in faith to be following God's will. I know I'll be dealing with people like that throughout my life ... I just don't have to like it!

[zanne]

you know, i had no idea that i was posting this on the eve of International Women's Day, but it is, in my mind, certainly a rather happy coincidence. and should you want more discussion about women in all positions of ministry, here's another blog post, one with a TON of thought-provoking information.

http://eugenecho.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/supporting-women-in-ministry/