Reuters has just published a story about the pastor of First Baptist Church of Watertown, NY defending the belief that women can't teach men.
Tim LaBouf, an American Baptist Church pastor, fired Mary Lambert, a female Sunday School teacher who had been teaching in the church for fifty years.
While this may be news in New York, such practices have been common in the Texas breakaway splinter group Southern Baptists of Texas for a long time. It has been a recurring phenomenon for more than a quarter century among fundamentalist minded Southern Baptists across the country.
Mainstream Baptists would not interpret scriptures so literally and legalistically on this matter although we do affirm the congregational autonomy that preserves the right of each local church to appoint its own officers and teachers.
5 comments:
In simple terms, you have proven "Too much religion and too few religious people"
See, this is what doesn't compute from the perspective of one who has never been part of the mega-church scene. Whether as pastor or member, none of the churches with which I have associated, be they ever so conservative, would ever have felt the LUXURY of turning away Sunday School teachers!
I remember that my first thought when I heard this story was not feminist outrage or gruding tolerance for local church autonomy( combined with relief that this was not my pastor), but simply, "Fired? You mean this church could afford to hire S.S. teachers? How do you fire volunteers? Did they have an abundance of male volunteers to teach Sunday School just waiting in the wings and feeling frustrated that their gifts were being blocked because of this woman--when most churches have to work to get adult males to ATTEND S.S., never mind LEAD it!???"
I must simply travel in different circles.
Dr. Prescott,
I do not mean to sound antagonistic. Please do not take this comment that way. However, can you respond to the Baptist Women in Ministry research paper of Women Pastors within CBF churches? One quote was "Never before have so many Baptist women officially served as pastors and co-pastors, and yet statistically the great majority of Baptist churches affiliated with the Alliance, BGAV, BGCT, and CBF have not called women to serve as pastor."
If the call for CBF and Mainstream is equality of women, does it not appear strange the churches are not following the lead of those they place in leadership? While I know everyone is autonomous, but the autonomous churches are not following the lead of the autonomous associations to which they belong.
Blessings,
Tim
Tim,
Prejudices die hard.
Anglo Baptist churches don't call African-American or Hispanic pastors either -- even when their neighborhoods become predominantly African-American or Hispanic.
Bruce.. I haven't had a chance to visit.. but on August 6th I was blessed to preach at Northwest. I know... Gasp a woman preach? In southern Oklahoma no less. But, Northwest is one of those blessed congregations that empowers each of its members to head God's call and design regardless of gender... I think its important to remember in all the conversation of women pastors... That the issue is not women in the pastorate.. Its churches limiting God.. I am not called because I am a woman.. I am called because I am a child of God... In fact it seems I am called in spite of being a woman.. lol. Regardless of the organization CBF-SBC-American Baptist-regarding leadership the question should not be should we hire this woman to make a point or this man to make a point, but the question is how do we fit in the ongoing work of Christ, and who's call is to lead that, regardless of gender.. I don't think I would want to be called to pastor a church because I am a woman. I want to be called to a church because God has matched our gifts and visions to one another.. Sorry if it seemed as if I was ranting. Miss yall.. Hope NorthHaven is well.. -April
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