Should women be pastors? It’s a test Southern Baptists face, and Al Mohler is failing – Courier Journal

David Cassady and Laura R. Levens, Opinion contributors Published 7:58 a.m. ET May 13, 2021

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Al Mohler recently panned the ordination of three women at Saddleback Church in California, the second largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention. To Mohler, the Southern Baptist Convention is approaching a test. Should women be ordained and hired as pastors, preachers and leaders in the SBC?

Hes right, it is a test, but his approach is failing.

We each left the SBC fold years agoand now work at the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. Supporting women in ministry is one of our central commitments. We are happy to help our Southern Baptist friends pass this test.

Making decisions about pastoring and ordination of anyone as a church leader, regardless of gender, requires time and effort to understand Gods calling. The process involves a mix of elements Christians have described in various ways: interpreting Scripture, listening to the Spirit, praying, talking with trusted advisers, sensing a direction, recognizing giftsand enjoying the work. It is described with such variety because it involves sensing the work of God, whom Christians believe is greater than human understanding. After all, Gods activities have often mystified and confounded humanity since creation. It is arrogant for anyone to think, like Mohler, that Gods work in this world or a womans testimony of Gods call must fit one limited interpretation of Scripture.

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God has and does call women to preach, to pastor, to teach, and to lead churches and seminaries. It is arrogant and insulting to the women God has called to ministry to say they cannot be called. It is insulting to Phoebe, for example, who was likely entrusted to write down and deliver Pauls letter to the Romans. According to Paul, Phoebe was a deacon and a patron, highlighting her leadership position of financial support and oversight of her house church. Paul also included Priscilla, a teacher, and Junia, an apostle. The evidence of women acting as pastors, preachersand teachers in the New Testament is overwhelming, if one looks for it.

The Rev. Laura R. Levens is assistant professor of Christian Mission at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky.(Photo: provided)

Mohler claims ordination and employment of women in ministry only became an issue for the Southern Baptists in the 1970s, but this is historically false. The truth is, women have been doing this work for centuries, and that includes the SBC too. Catholic leaders like St. Hildegard of Bingen founded religious orders and traveled Europe, preaching and counseling spiritual reform and renewal of the church. Sojourner Truth began preaching in 1843 and traveled the abolition circuit with Frederick Douglass. Julia Foote preached and traveled for 50 years before she was ordained a deacon (1894) and then an elder (1900) in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Even Lottie Moon, the most cherished Southern Baptist missionary, taught Scripture and evangelized to both men and women in Pingtu, Chinain the late 1800s.

The Rev. David Cassady is president of Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, which has campuses in Louisville and Georgetown.(Photo: provided)

How do we know God calls women to ministry? They say so, and we believe them. The graduates of our school, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky (BSK), are called by God. They are chaplains, counselors, ministers, and yes, pastors. They are ministering today in Louisville, across Kentucky, and elsewhere. These leaders are doing Gods work.

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If the SBC wants to pass this test, and it is a test, they will open up to the reality that God is well ahead of us, calling us to humbly love, healand bring peace. God has been and is calling women to lead. Were eager to follow.

The Rev. David Cassady is president and the Rev. Laura R. Levens is assistant professor of Christian Mission at BSK: Baptist Seminary of Kentucky (bsk.edu), which has campuses in Louisville and Georgetown, Kentucky.

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Should women be pastors? It's a test Southern Baptists face, and Al Mohler is failing - Courier Journal