Faith Forum: Should gender matter when selecting a pastor for your church? / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, May 3, 2008

By Ji Seok Ju & Vicki Penner

May 3, 2008

Ji Seok Ju, pastor, Centenary United Methodist Church, 245 N. Fourth St.:

This is a question that is not easy to answer. While some denominations welcome both men and women into the ordained ministry, there are other denominations that do not allow women to be pastors.

In order to approach an answer, we need to understand the role of a pastor. In general, a pastor does things such as leading worship, preaching, teaching, performing sacraments, providing pastoral care and conducting staff meetings. I don't see any reason why a pastor's gender matters when performing these duties. I have witnessed many men and women pastors who do a great job fulfilling these responsibilities. In my opinion, a congregation enjoys their pastors in their church, not because they are men or woman, but because they are good pastors.

My understanding is that all Christians are called by God into ministry. God has a place of service for everyone, and we serve according to the gifts we possess. Having said that, whether male or female, if people are convinced that God has called them into ministry, they have to obey that call. I believe it is the job of each local congregation to help and allow both men and women pastors to exercise their God-given talents in their churches.

Being a woman in the ministry of a local congregation can be a lot more difficult than being a man in the ministry. There are some people who look at women pastors with prejudice. However, when selecting a pastor, the church should consider more about a leader's passion for ministry, quality of personhood and skills in ministry, rather than gender, race or any other distinction.

- Send e-mail to Ji Seok Ju at jiseokju@hotmail.com.

The Rev. Vicki Penner, chaplain, Lawrence Presbyterian Manor, 1429 Kasold Drive:

A pastor should be selected based on skills and knowledge. However, each person brings different ways of approaching his/her task. An intelligent congregation will know and value the differences in how each gender approaches the task of pastor.

What may not be as widely known is that congregation members will respond to women or men in different ways. When the person in the pulpit is of the same gender, there is a sense of identification with the pastor.

When the person in the pulpit is of the other gender, there is a sense of separation and difference. Both identification and separation can be meaningful in our spiritual growth. We need times when we can "see ourselves" in our spiritual mentors. We also need times when we are challenged by the fact that our spiritual mentors are different than us. Difference embraced opens up to new aspects of reality and God's truth.

Many religious traditions have embraced men in the role of spiritual leader. Therefore, the masculine has sometimes been defined as equal to the divine. In these cases, men have more of a sense that they "should" be able to identify with their spiritual leader and with God. Similarly, women have more of a sense that their spiritual leader or God is "other."

When women are spiritual leaders, women often feel a sense of relief to have an example of someone who is like them representing the divine. Men, however, often feel uncomfortable or as if something "just isn't right." Since men are so used to seeing spiritual leader (and God) as like themselves, it can be disconcerting to have another model put forward as an example.

Of course, many women are so used to men in the role of clergy that they can also feel disconcerted at a woman in the role of pastor. Likewise, men can feel relief in being pastored by a woman realizing that they no longer have to live up to "god-like" standards.

While actually selecting a pastor needs to be based on skills and knowledge alone, an intelligent congregation will be aware of the possible ramifications of choosing either gender. Whatever gender, it can be guaranteed that pastors will challenge and encourage their congregations to grow spiritually both through identification with and separation from their spiritual leadership.

- Send e-mail to Vicki Penner at vickipenner@sunflower.com.

Discussion

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3 May 2008
at 8:21 a.m.

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davidsmom (Anonymous) says…

Our opinion doesn't matter because the denominations have set policies and those have to be followed, whether or not you agree with them.
3 May 2008
at 8:28 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

I fail to see that the gender of the local shaman of a primitive, stone-age superstition matters in the least.
3 May 2008
at 9:16 a.m.

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micah6_8 (Anonymous) says…

Isn't it amazing?!? Two pastors give well-reasoned, responsible replies to an important question, and we get the above irresponsible, poorly thought-out, bitter comments in return that have little to do with the actual subject. Have any of you who have written comments bothered to do research to find out actual percentages of clergy who engage in sexual or child abuse? Or do you just make an a$$ out of yourselves in asuming all clergy are abusers?Have you same arm-chair, self-styled experts engaged in research to find out if female clergy are all perfect in their own behaviors?I suspect the answer in both cases is no. In fact, a good number of denominations require their clergy to undergo extensive background and psychological checks, as well as continuing checks and balances and continuing education to insure against such abusive behavior. But the underlying issue seems to be less about the easily picked up on “stereo-typed” assumption that clergy are abusers, but rather the fear among many that to admit belief in God means that they must accept that there is a higher authority than themselves. Today's society seems to heavily permeated with individualistic self-centeredness, that so many people these days seem to have at least mentally elevated themselves to an unassailable godhood that exists indepentent and autonomously in their own little world that revolves around themselves. The thought that they as their own gods might be accountable to anyone or anything else seems abhorrent.I believe God is real. And that God does have ultimate say in our lives. And rather than that being restrictive and objectonable, it is actually liberating and gives us a clue into how, with God, we can actually find genuine meaning in our lives, rather than pursuing shallow and meaningless self-centered lives.
3 May 2008
at 9:24 a.m.

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yourworstnightmare (Anonymous) says…

Women have as much right to be ignorant and deluded as do men.
3 May 2008
at 9:28 a.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

micah6-8: Did some posts get disapparated ealier today? Because you look, right now, like you're yelling at no one.
3 May 2008
at 9:38 a.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

Ah yes, 5 missing posts at least. Was it Le? Just ignore him, he's our resident spoiled 6 year old, even if he is probably in his 20's or 30's.
3 May 2008
at 10:07 a.m.

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Uhlrick_Hetfield_III (Anonymous) says…

If the posts are missing, then they're gone as posters altogether, otherwise, it would say that the post was taken down.Perhaps the best point among these comments is that men can hardly complain about women in the pulpit when they have declined to fill them. One of the main tasks of a pastor is to nourish the members of the congregation during times of trouble and heartache and certainly women are as capable of doing this, and perhaps more so, as men.That said, the churches that appear to be thriving are those of a more fundamental bent and those are also the ones which decline to have women as pastors. Perhaps the congregations are voting with their feet on the issue.

3 May 2008
at 10:15 a.m.

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1wetwilly (Anonymous) says…

The pastors at the Church Of The Transgendered offer a new reality for spiritual growth by providing simultaneous identification with and separation from gender bias.
3 May 2008
at 10:44 a.m.

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bearded_gnome (Anonymous) says…

interesting bias reflected by the choice of commenters in the collumn chosen by ljworld. did not include one voice in favor of *what the Bible actually says*. the commenters substitute human wisdom for the plain teaching from Scripture. God created the masculine and feminine genderxs. God chose to reveal himself as male in the old and new testament. and don't give me the argument about how the society was then, etc. if you think it was subject to social morres, then you imply that God is less powerful than Allen Press. God created and protected his word. in the new testament, ephesians 5, it says that a wife should look to her husband in the way that the church looks to Jesus. 1 corinthians says wives should be taught at home by their husbands. 1 tim 3 says that the pastor of a church should be “the husband of one wife.” and, I'm forgetting where, paul says that he is opposed to a woman having scriptural authority over a man. so, it is plain, if you wish to trust what the Bible actually says, this is clear. it doesn't mean that masculine is somehow more divine (more feminism creeping in, as above). that is because we know, paul says, men and women are equal before God, both equally in need of salvation. ***andy, you are correct. unfortunately, many churches that even preach the entire Scripture, often fail to encourage women to be chaste modest and to find their service in God's word. looking to God's word as the startpoint. that is because the holy spirit will never cross the Bible. You are correct that we have a shortage of men. masculinity is under attack in our society, and many of the faithful churches I'm reffing here fail to encourage young men to separate themselves from the degrading elements of our modern society. and, fail to encourage them towards church leadership. it is harder today to be a pasteor than ever before in our country.
3 May 2008
at 10:53 a.m.

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jonas (Anonymous) says…

“Then you imply that God is less powerful than Allen Press.”Yep.
3 May 2008
at 11:22 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

i_tching (Anonymous) says: If you're consulting a hullucinatory set of misogynist Bronze Age stories to find guidance regarding modern gender issues (or anything else, for that matter!) then you're looking in the wrong place.It is impossible to find meaning for your life if you are deluded by religion”Marion writes:Well said!
3 May 2008
at 11:44 a.m.

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livingstone (Anonymous) says…

Does it matter? Well, it doesn't. Religion is driven by societal needs. If you refer to Genesis, the old interpretation was that “women are supposed to be the “servant” of men”. Then as society changes, “women are equal to men”, if you read deeper into the bible, quoting just one line or probably a chapter. Then, as society changes again in the future, you will read it in another way, and probably reinterpretation is needed.The truth is: Everything changes, even the way we interpret the bible.