The partnership of women and men in the church

Affirmations and challenges

Jana and Milan Opocensky

I

When we start to meditate and speak about partnership in a church framework, we are reminded of an experience which took place in a synod of one WARC member church not so long ago. An objection was raised immediately: "Partnership is not a biblical term - we should not continue a discussion about it here."

Yet, the reality of partnership has its roots in the very core of the Gospel. In the New Testament it means sharing, fellowship, communion (in Greek koinonia). Its basis among Christians is the common link which binds us in Jesus Christ. Partnership (koinonia) equals participation, communion, community. The root koinos (common) echoes in the verb koinoneo (to take part) and in the noun koinónos (partner).

Partnership can emerge in various relationships: between a woman and man in marriage, in the family between children and parents, between friends, in church groups, in secular groups, between students and teachers, in interracial groupings. The presupposition of partnership is a common effort, a common engagement and a common goal. In partnership there is a new reality which emerges and grows. It is something that did not exist before.

Today, as in the early church, Christians are convinced that every genuine partnership is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It is an expression of Christ's grace and God's love (2 Corinthians 13:13).

We must nevertheless be mindful of a danger. No obstacles should be put in the way of the Spirit which creates new things and which transforms the old order. Its flame should not be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19).

How often has it happened in the history of the church? The partnership between women and men or between laity and clergy has faded away and been changed from the old relationship of domination and submission. Believers have forsaken the lifestyle of Jesus. Again the old opinion prevailed that human relations can properly function only when one group dominates another group. The old structures of domination rejected by Jesus were again supported by the ideology of supremacy which rationalizes oppression.

At present, awareness is growing that domination over others is a structural sin which has to be overcome. Domination robs the oppressed of their humanity and it encourages a false self-image. It dehumanizes those who assume that domination is profitable and advantageous for them.

In a global perspective the awareness grows that the only viable approach, for both human society and churches, is to dismantle the structures of domination and to promote mutuality, sharing, cooperation and partnership. Since the WCC Assembly in Uppsala in 1968, a concept has existed in the ecumenical movement which sees partnership as a dynamic process. There is nothing static in it. Either it grows among us or it dies. It is difficult to describe this process. It should be lived. We should remember that structures of sin and oppression are always effective. They are so sophisticated that they pretend equality and yet they mask an obscure inequality. There is also a rhetoric of cheap partnership which avoids the difficult process of transforming the old roles of supremacy and submissiveness.

God's gift of partnership comes when, in the struggle for liberation, the old model of domination is left behind and in the relationship a new space is opened for an alternative.

II

Letty M. Russell¹ has analyzed the concept of partnership in an exhaustive way. It is useful to summarize her ideas for the sake of highlighting the problem. The church as a community of faith prompts us to partnership. A church fellowship makes the sharing and cooperation on equal levels possible. Many biblical passages point out this approach (Cf. Genesis 1-2; Galatians 3:28.) The ultimate source of partnership is the creative presence of the living Christ. In a Christian community Christ makes the true relationship also between women and men possible and transforms it into partnership.

The real partnership stems from God's intention to unite all humankind in the new creation. It is a mystery that God wants to live in partnership with humans. If this is possible and true, we can be partners with other people too. The partnership-like relationship does not happen automatically. It is a sign of God at work - it is a gift of God. Partnership is an unfinished task. It grows out of mutual trust. It is a commitment towards a common goal.

For a Christian community the basic metaphor is the body of Christ in which all members have equal place and irreplaceable function. Against that background, vocation and ministry are not options for some Christians. We all are called to become "priests." Therefore, we must refuse to accept the divisions between laity and clergy. Each person is expected to serve with his or her spiritual gifts.

We are called to be partners of God in his continuing work of transformation. We live in an interdependent world of many cultures and social groupings. Among people there is a great longing for freedom amidst oppression and humiliation. In our struggles we are strengthened by a vision of a new creation. We are encouraged to learn how to be partners with God, with the creation and among ourselves. Christ liberates us from every obstacle which hinders us from becoming partners. The partnership is subversive. A new focus of this relationship is in Jesus Christ who sets us free for others.

III

In the Bible we find passages which have a liberating and encouraging effect in relation to women's full participation in the church. However, we have to admit that there are biblical texts which still serve as a weapon against women in general and against women's ministry in particular. We must live with this ambiguity.

The Old Testament wrestles with the religions of surrounding cultures. It takes a clearly negative stance on cultic prostitution and the fertility cult of Baalism. This is probably the reason why it was difficult for Israel to accept the idea of a woman as priest. Even the rabbinic tradition continues along this line. Women remain excluded from interpreting and preaching the Word.

After the enthusiastic period of the first decades in church history, the early Catholic period again excludes women from teaching. In the medieval and scholastic era there is clear opposition to the possibility of a woman becoming a public teacher or priest. The Reformation on the whole did not challenge this development. Only in its radical wing we find exceptions which should be noted. In the Waldensian and Hussite movement women were preaching. Later on, Pope Pius II praises Hussite women by saying that they have a better knowledge of the Bible than an average Italian priest. In the Unity of Brethren (Böhmische Brüder) the institution of male and female elders was taken for granted. The Quakers accepted women as preachers and teachers in their communities.

All this indicates that the patriarchal model did not prevail absolutely and that some Christian groups dared to practice a fuller partnership between women and men. R.R. Ruether² rightly underlines the contribution of liberal ideas and of modern biblical exegesis. Was it a spirit of new times or the spirit of the Gospel which has changed the atmosphere? Probably both. We hope that the pleas of the Gospel for freedom, openness, tolerance and understanding brought about the ideas of liberalism. It was made clear that the idea of hierarchy, submissiveness and oppression were not the original intention of the Creator. Patriarchy is not an order of creation (Schöpfungsordung), rather it is a product of the sinful nature of human beings.

Sometimes it is a cultural context which makes the full partnership of women and men in the church difficult, if not impossible. In most continents the societies of today are still dominated by a patriarchal system. However, in some societies the inferior position of women has become an unshakeable dogma which is supported by the prevailing ethos of society. Christian churches living in such an environment suppose that the violation of a cultural value would be detrimental to the proclamation of the Gospel. This is certainly a great challenge to a Christian community.

On the one hand, it must be said very clearly that Christian faith can and should affirm the basic values of any given culture. However, whenever a cultural value has a dehumanizing effect, Christians must stand for and defend what promotes and deepens humanity. Therefore, a Christian community has to put all taboos and barriers aside when the equal humanity of women and their full life are in jeopardy. The ultimate loyalty of a Christian goes to Jesus Christ, not to a culture, a national identity, or racial or religious prejudice of any sort.

IV

There is no way back. Women in church and society ask for full participation on different levels. In this respect Christian communities around the world are at a crossroad. It is possible to continue the status quo; it is possible to stick to the old hierarchical model which assigns a place to women in the precincts or in the gallery. It is disappointing to see that in many places women are still expected to be nice, to arrange flowers, to serve refreshments at church meetings or to knit socks and pullovers for Christmas bazaars. In accepting this role model, basically people accept being manipulated.

Another possibility is partnership which stems from faith in the creative work of the Holy Spirit and which is totally open. We do not need to be afraid of the future and of alternatives. We do not need to fear growth and change. Faith is courage which takes us into unknown lands. With hope against hope, we can expect new things, things which seem unrealistic and impossible. In such a community everyone is a subject of creative activity. People are no longer objects of manipulation and domination. A Christian existence orientated in this way is contagious for the outside world. The church which has given up a hierarchical model and in which partnership of all is affirmed and encouraged fills the world with hope. It invites society-at-large to be changed and transformed in the spirit of mutuality and relationships of a new quality.

Christians should not be content with changing their personal lives. We are not just concerned about individual salvation. A Christian community is formed and carried by the vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Therefore, it aims at the transformation of the entire world. In the global struggle for survival and liberation women play an important and crucial role. Their gifts and talents represent a great potential which has not yet been discovered and used fully.

Notes