Beth Moore has been doing battle with the Southern Baptist Church recently over the issue of women preaching and leading in the church.

I want to come alongside and say, “Preach it, Beth!” On May 13, 2019, Moore used her social media platform to voice to say, "I have loved the SBC & served it with everything I have had since I was 12 years old... and this is how I am serving it right now." She’s serving her denomination by pushing back against hierarchical structures within the Southern Baptist Church that prevent women from preaching from the pulpit on Sunday mornings and from having the title of pastor.

I’ve been a part of churches that held that position and I’ve personally held that position in the past. There was a time when I believed Beth Moore should have been prevented from preaching - even though she is clearly gifted, called, and equipped to do so. Having been in that camp, I can assure you that those who hold that view do so with the intent and desire to be “true to the scriptures.” These are men (and women) who love God’s Word and want to hold it with the utmost respect and authority. They love Jesus and often don’t see the damage their view is doing - or believe that’s irrelevant, focusing on solely being true to the Bible.

It was a journey for me to change my opinion about this issue, but over the past few years God has definitely reshaped my thinking. I’ve wrestled with this over the past few years and led South Fellowship to what I believe is a more irenic, honoring, and biblically consistent view on the matter. Below I’ve pasted in the executive summary of where our elders landed after a few years of wrestling with Jesus and the scriptures. I hope it’s helpful for you as you process this important issue.

History of Women in Leadership at South Fellowship

In 1979, South Fellowship left the United Presbyterian Church over doctrinal differences with the Presbytery. There were a number of doctrinal differences that were beginning to arise (questions about the deity of Christ, authority of Scripture, etc.), but the watershed issue was that of women serving on the elder board. Previous to 1979, the Presbytery was open to churches having women elders, but they allowed individual churches to decide whether that was something they wanted to implement in their given assembly. South Fellowship was in agreement with that position. However, in 1979, the General Assembly voted to require all United Presbyterian Churches to have both men and women on the elder board. South Fellowship Church had an issue with that mandate (in addition to the other doctrinal issues), and subsequently left the denomination over the changes.

Women in leadership has historically been a point of contention at South Fellowship Church. After leaving the denomination over the requirement of women elders and losing all of their assets, the issue was solidified as a central conviction of the church. The church went through seasons where women were prevented from serving in many leadership roles, not just that of elder. While the pendulum has started to swing back to the center, there is still a conviction among many at South Fellowship that women should not be leaders in the church, but should instead use their gifts in other ways.

In 2014, the elders undertook to examine the scriptures and the issue of women in leadership. The elders had numerous goals: to be true to the scriptures, to be consistent in our application of the pertinent texts, to honor the intention of the scriptures and to seek to apply them in a relevant way, and to honor our history while seeking to give the Bible authority. This did not prove to be an easy task, but the fruit of the study was evident. As a group, we began to see the issue of women teaching and serving in pastoral roles in a different light. The study below reflects some of the work we did and our statement of faith reflects the convictions we arrived at after a few months of study, prayer, and discussion.

The Scriptures on male leadership in the church

The Scriptures have a clear precedence of male leadership. This is reflected not only throughout the early church, but also in the nation of Israel. While male leadership seems to have been the norm, there are a number of instances in the scriptures of strong, God-ordained female leadership as well (Deborah, Miriam, Huldah, etc.). In light of this, the question one must wrestle with is whether the prominence of male leadership is simply descriptive of Israel and the church’s history and reflective of the norms in a patriarchal culture, or whether it is prescriptive and commanded by God and intended to transcend time and culture. (1 Tim 2:12-15, 1 Cor. 14:33-35)

The Scriptures on gender equality in the church

The New Testament is crystal clear in affirming the equality of all people. One of the main accomplishments of the early church was bridging the gaps between people who lived with hostility toward one another. The church did this by upholding the universal value and worth of all people. While no biblically informed Christian would deny that truth, people disagree as to the assigned role and function of the different genders. Some argue that biblical equality extends to the functioning and roles of the church, others argue that the equality is intended to be theological in nature but not practical. (Gen. 1:27, Gal. 3:28-29, Eph. 5:21)

Leadership in the NT Church

The New Testament identifies three leadership roles in the church: elders, bishops (overseers), deacons. Elders and bishops/overseers are equated with one another and the title seems to have been used interchangeably within the New Testament (Acts 20:28). While there are numerous other gifts listed (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers), these do not seem to have been viewed as roles within the early church. This is exhibited in the fact that Paul gives the command to appoint elders in every city (Acts 14:23), but there is no command given to install apostles, prophets, evangelists or pastors. In addition, Paul gives the church the explicit qualifications of elders and deacons. He doesn’t give the qualifications or requirements of any other office. This goes to support the assertion that elders and deacons were the two leadership offices in the early church.

We have included ‘pastor’ as a part of this study, not because we believe it to be an office of the early church, but rather to point of the lack of evidence of it being so. The word “pastor/shepherd” is used as a noun 18 times in the NT. The majority of the time it refers to a literal shepherd – one who tends sheep. However, when the term is used describing a person who is called to care for and protect the people of God, it refers to Jesus (Jn 10:10; 1 Pt 2:25, 5:4 etc.). It is unlikely that a believer in the early church would have known a ‘pastor’ other than Jesus. Surely, the elders pastored and others were called to use their gift of pastoring in the church (Eph 4:11), but there is no evidence of such a title being used. While the position of elder is clearly equated with bishop/overseer, the role of elder is never equated with the position of pastor.

South Fellowship has always made the distinction between pastors and elders. In fact, South Fellowship had a female pastor at one point; she ran women’s ministry. We currently have some pastors who serve on the elder board (Lead Pastor, Associate Pastor, Executive Pastor), and some pastors who do not serve on the elder board (Worship Pastor and Student Ministry Pastor). The elder board has not made a new distinction between elders and pastors, we have made new application of this distinction that has existed since our inception. Mainly, if we do not equate pastors and elders, we should not hold pastors to the same qualifications as that of elder – primarily, being a male.

SUMMARY

It is the view of South Fellowship Church that men and women, being equal image bearers of God, are fully equal in dignity and worth before God and one another. Through the Holy Spirit, men and women are called to exercise the full range of their gifts in the Church. There are no gifts of the Spirit that are to be exclusively exercised by men, meaning men and women are to be real partners in ministry. At the same time, Scripture teaches an authority structure for the guidance and care of his church. Our conviction is that God has chosen to place the authority of elders over his church. Biblically, there are only two tiers in the church – elders and non-elders.

Therefore, at South Fellowship Church women may join and participate in any ministry responsibilities except that of elder. Women may serve as pastors – because it is an extra-biblical role and women may serve as deacons because there is a clear scriptural precedence of female deacons (Romans 16:1-2).