How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essays

How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essays How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essay How A Larger Role in Today’s Church Is Helping Young Women Essay Even in today’s 21st century, there is a debate on the role that women should play in the American Christian church.   Some believe that women should be relegated the traditional background roles that they’ve been subjected to in the past.   Others say that women should play more active roles, especially in regards to church leadership.   Despite the controversy over this issue, one must admit that the women’s liberation movement in America has had a profound impact on how women have advance in today’s contemporary American church. As American society began to make gradual steps like granting women the right to vote in Wyoming in 1890 and passing the 19th Amendment, which allowed all American citizens the right to vote, the church, which played an instrumental role in the development of our country, also began to make changes on the behalf of women.   In 1968 when affirmative action was passed, barring discrimination based on sexual orientation, many church leaders also began to ease the restrictions on women as it relates to accepting their ministerial credentials. After the late 1960s, women have made more strides towards gender equality in the church and in the American workplace.   In fact, thousands of women have accepted the call to minister in their churches and several women televangelists have taken their mega ministries to millions of people through television and the internet.   Nevertheless, female ministers continue face resistance from older denominations like the Baptists and some Pentecostal churches.   Other ministers preach small minded sermons that focuses on limiting women’s choices in the type of make up, hairstyles and clothing that they can wear.   This, in turn, discourages younger women from developing their spiritual lives.   As women have become liberated socially and economically, the church must minister to their needs.   Thus, as women continue to rise to leadership positions in the church, the Christian community will become more effective in ministering to the need of today’s young Americ an women. Some church leaders argue that allowing females to have a greater role in American churches would cause confusion and undermine the Christian concept of male leadership.   These leaders focus on verses from biblical scripture which include Ephesians 5:22-23, â€Å"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.   For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1665) These leaders justify promoting a passive image of how women should behave in the church.   This passive image certainly does not include permitting them to take a leadership role like teaching or preaching to a congregation.     Furthermore, those who argue against female leadership also use scriptures like 1Corinthians 14:34 which states, â€Å"Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law says.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1636) Accord ing to Christian freelance writer Nathaniel L. Williams, this scripture does not forbid female Christian leadership in the 20th or 21st Century. Some of the things that Paul wrote (such as a similarly misinterpreted verse in 1 Corinthians 14 about women keeping silent) were written in the interest of keeping peace in newly formed Christian churches, as Jewish traditions were being reinterpreted in light of the Gospel.   These verses were also based on cultural norms of propriety at the time that the letter was written. (Williams 25) Other church leaders oppose the idea of women taking a greater role in churches because they feel that women do not possess the mental fortitude to lead or minister to a congregation.   Those who subscribe to this philosophy cite that women are by nature emotional creatures and it takes a rational mind to properly lead a congregation.   However, women from Wesleyan churches in the late 19th Century began to defy these stereotypes by preaching powerful evangelistic sermons.   Methodist Bishop James M. Mobun attributed Amanda Smith’s powerful evangelistic preaching to â€Å"that invisible something that we are accustomed to call power and never possessed by any Christian believer except as one of the fruits of the indwelling Spirit of God.†Ã‚   (Stanley 73) Thus, preachers like Amanda Smith had mentally strong to defy church leadership and follow their personal convictions. Preachers like Amanda Smith had to be courageous to follow beliefs because they were confronted by principalities and powers that are pervasive Christian institutions and traditions as well as their cultural generation.   These types of women were truly courageous because they came against the authorities of their day. (Stanley 71) Phoebe, who was mentioned in the book of Romans by Apostle Paul, was also a pioneer for women who lead in church leadership.   The verse states: â€Å"I commend to you Phoebe our sister who is a servant of the church in Cencherea. That you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many an of myself also.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1619) Some Greek scholars have said that Phoebe was one of the first deacons.   However, the Greek terminology for the word â€Å"servant† in the previous verse means â€Å"minister.†Ã‚   This scripture proves that women are capable of serving in leadership positions within the Christian church. As women take a greater role in today’s church, they will be able to use their positions of authority to remedy some of the social ills that impact America.   A recent report from Norway states that women have played a tremendous role in rearing healthy Christian families.   If these Christian women could devote some of their energies toward developing programs to fight worldwide problems like illiteracy, poverty and AIDS in communities across this country, our nation could alleviate some of these problems.   Wesleyan women like Jennine Fowler were instrumental in the Temperance Crusades, which discouraged communities from overindulging in alcoholic beverages.   â€Å"These women were strengthened by The Holy Spirit, besieged tavern owners and boldly confronted the customers, demanding that they forsake alcohol and turn to God.† (Stanley 72) Reports show that Wesleyan women were also involved in mission work, which consisted of door to door poverty campaigns.   The women who participated in these outreach programs offered financial services as well as practical advice to families who were trapped in poverty.   As our nation embarks upon a new decade in two years, more people will begin to look to a church that has a balanced male and female perspective to pressing problems like gang violence, domestic abuse and joblessness. As more females take greater roles in today’s church, it would eliminate the stigma of sexism that currently exists in the Christian community.   Oftentimes, the messages that come from pulpits across America reflect the voices of male and how they view society.   Thus, the female perspective on issues like childrearing, dealing with sexual temptation and how to help manage healthy households are nonexistent.   Nevertheless, popular television evangelists like Juanita Bynum, Joyce Meyers and Paula White are ministering in a manner that addresses some of these issues and they are inspiring millions of women on a daily basis. Prophetess Juanita Bynum, an African-American female minister, is known as a bold minister who preaches candidly about her experiences with sexual sin and her recent failed marriage to a widely known minister who was accused of physically abusing her.   â€Å"She’s a great speaker and she’s not afraid to deal with hard relevant issues,† says Lesley Powers, who is currently enrolled in a local ministerial training program.   Bynum has preached to large crowds of 52,000 at â€Å"Woman Thou Art Loosed.† a popular conference hosted by successful televangelist T.D. Jakes.   â€Å"All churches especially traditional churches need to deal with issues that Juanita Bynum addresses during her meetings,† Powers adds.   â€Å"God has deposited something in her spirit and she is impacting the body of Christ with it.†Ã‚   Some attribute Bynum’s success with the release of her sermon, which became a book called â€Å"No More Sheets.†Ã‚   The book highlights Bynum’s struggles with sexual promiscuity and encourages women to become celibate until they are married.   â€Å"Many churchgoers say her straightforward message is bringing Christians and unbelievers to repentance,† Powers adds.   To reach more people, Bynum hosted a television program called â€Å"Morning Glory† which was seen on 15 television stations throughout the country. Joyce Meyer, a noted Bible teacher has also gained notoriety since launching her ministry over 20 years ago.   Meyer, who suffered sexual abuse as a child and endured an emotionally abusive first marriage, uses her ministerial platform to instruct people on how to use Biblical principles to be successful in life’s struggles.   She has authored over 70 books and conducts over 20 conferences around the world.   In February 2005, she was selected by time Time Magazine as one the top 25 evangelical leaders in America.   â€Å"Joyce Meyer speaks candidly with a sense of humor.   Its good that she tells the audience about her own shortcomings,† Powers says.   In her recent book, â€Å"The Power of Simple Prayer,† Meyer shows readers how to effectively communicate with God and shares the impact that prayer has on changing hopeless situations. Meyer works well with the public and has an instinct for what the public wants and will respond to them.   Having a financial â€Å"nest† is not especially important to Joyce and she appears to invest more emotional energy into her career or public life than her private life.   (Gaines 37) Paula White, who co-founded mega church, Without Walls, with her ex husband, began to receive national acclaim in the late 90s.   Like Meyer, she was reared in a dysfunctional home in which her father committed suicide and her mother was an alcoholic.   White also claims that caregivers physically and sexually abused her as a teenager.   Nevertheless, her ministry which includes a national television, Paula, and it is broadcast on Trinity Broadcast Network, The Miracle Channel, The Word Network and Daystar Television.   She has also been featured on numerous broadcast television shows like ABC’s 20/20, Benny Hinn’s â€Å"This Is Your Day† and The 700 Club.   â€Å"as   young women early in my Christian experience, I could relate to Paula White because we had some of the same experiences and struggles,† says Powers. Paula White’s story reverberates with men, women and children-from the business executives to the unemployed, from the rich and famous to the impoverished and poverty stricken.   She is a voice for the 21st Century:   a voice for the voiceless, boldly proclaiming a message of hope, truth and wholeness. (Gaines 42) Lastly, when women have a more active role in churches across the country, ancient Biblical prophecy will come to fruition.   In the second chapter of the book of   Acts, the   described the apostle’s experience of receiving the Holy Spirit, which Jesus Christ left to the disciples who believed that He died and was resurrected after three days. After Peter received the Holy Spirit he said, â€Å"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My spirit and your sons and daughters shall prophesy.†Ã‚   (The Holy Bible 1550) This period in which Peter gave this speech marked the birth of the Christian Church after the day of Pentecost when the first believers were filled with The Holy Spirit.   The word â€Å"prophesy† is defined in Webster’s Dictionary as uttering by divine inspiration.   In other words, Peter was saying that men and women would be able to speak messages from God under divine inspiration in the future.   In the Christian church, those who speak under divine inspiration are ministers or leaders.   Thus, Peter foretold a time in which both men and women would serve as leaders in the church.   In addition, Jesus told his disciples after returning to earth subsequent to his death, â€Å"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.   Go the refore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.†Ã‚   Christian leaders need to realize that they have the responsibility of teaching nations in the 20th and 21st century, which have liberated women socially, politically and economic from male oppression.   These nations like the U.S. will not be receptive to messages which continue to keep women in religious bondage. In essence, as women take their rightful leadership roles in today’s church, the Christian community will continue powerful impact on young females as well as other facets of American society.   In the past, Christian women have demonstrated the ability to solve complex social problems.   Furthermore, popular televangelists like Juanita Bynum and Joyce Meyer have proven that women are capable of leading productive ministries that impact millions of people on a daily basis.   And finally, ancient Biblical prophecy foretold a time in which women, who have historically served in the background, would rise to positions of authority in the Christian world.  Ã‚   Thus, as feminist and women’s rights activists carved out a powerful voice for women in our country throughout the 20th century, female ministers will continue to represent the concerns and issues that young and old women face in the future.