I am writing in response to the article entitled, “Baptist women no doormats for their husbands,” from Aug. 2.

It’s fine to defend Baptist women and not to support a Hooters in our county. However, after reading your article, I feel the need to defend female pastors.
As you said, your KJV Bible tells specifically how a church should be run, but I don’t think there’s any quote where God says, “Women shall not be pastors!” It says things about men running the church, but look at the historical context of the New Testament, and to whom it was written. Women weren’t educated, and it would have been wrong for such a person to lead the church. Also, the Bible was written during a mostly patriarchal era over a thousand years ago. Everything in it wasn’t meant to be taken literally for us today.

You say you haven’t seen any procedural changes from God so far — well, that’s what the Holy Spirit is for. The Holy Spirit is with us, not as a good luck charm, but to help guide us, to help us discern right from wrong, and to help us interpret the Bible the way we’re meant to.

Also, it wasn’t men who “allowed” women to become pastors; it’s been God’s will. The ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) and its predecessors didn’t have any shortages or special needs motivating them to ordain women; they did so because it was wrong to limit God by denying anyone whom God called.
Many people have been led by the Holy Spirit to welcome women as pastors. Many have seen a call to women in this capacity within the very “rule book” you cite as opposing this, even from Jesus’ own words! I am not going to cite all the passages here, but a good broad study of the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit should reveal them.

Now the ELCA is celebrating the 30th anniversary of women’s ordination with over 18 percent of the active clergy made up of women. Of the students studying to become pastors, almost half are women! Clearly this is God’s will.

Tavia Sullens
Tyrone

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