Let’s Talk About The 'F' Word In The Female-Elder Debate
The tension in a room is almost palpable when a man is asked, “so, why don’t we appoint women as elders in this church?” Even when asked innocently, the volatility in this question is unavoidable, as more than a century’s worth of social commentary on women’s rights barges into the conversation. Every pastor/elder, deacon, or male congregant in 2023, knows that a certain response will unleash a barrage of labels: “misogynist," “sexist,” “complementarian.” If his answer includes “we don’t, because in first Timothy 2 it says…,” he could be accused of bigotry, even by fellow Christians, especially Christian women. This is because for some, Complementarianism is nothing more than a theological euphemism that men use to christianise sexist thinking and behaviour towards women in church. But is this an accurate depiction of church governance, the scripture, or the men who uphold its imperatives? Have men in the church, through theological invention, found a way to openly discriminate