From the beginning of my theological and pastoral training, I have realized that the ordination of women has been a prohibited subject in some churches. I have listened to the arguments of those who defend exclusive rights for male pastors, but their explanations have not satisfied my uneasiness. I have seen that many women do the work of the ministry without ordination. They do it very well, in some cases even better than men.

What, then, are the differences and similarities when men or women are ordained? This has led my wife, Lic. Ana Ligia Sanchez, and myself to carry out an investigation of the role of women in the Protestant church. Moreover, we are working on the problems of women as a vulnerable part of our society in another investigation. Many observations in the paper are the result of that work.

We believe that this theme has implications which could convert the church into a true community of faith, for both men and women, with more justice and solidarity.

As we reflect on this theme, several questions emerge:

Why do certain churches not ordain women?
Why have certain churches ordained women?
Why should churches ordain women?

Why do certain churches not ordain women?

Our understanding is that the ordination of women pastors confers the religious authority of an institution on women to act freely and extensively in services, both of sacramental and ministerial nature, including the making of decisions. All of this is for the benefit of the community of faith. This understanding differs sharply from those who oppose the ordination of women by claiming that women are fully free to serve the church, but should not have institutional authority nor participate in the decision making.

Three aspects must be considered in responding to this argument:

the fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible;
the concept of the church as a community of faith; and
cultural influence on the church.

The fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible

In Latin America the majority of churches assume a fundamentalist approach to the Bible. This is characterized by an elaborate theology which emerges from a mythological speculation of the relation between God and humans, leaving out the historical and social context. (Several of the Bible studies presented at the consultation discussed this issue.) This has allowed, in particular, the male leaders of our churches to perceive the exercise of ministry as something that does not permit social conflicts, either of class or gender. Thus, promoting the ordination of women would initiate a discussion on gender conflict within this theology which would break down the passive scheme of fundamentalism.

This is why fundamentalists emphasize the existence of a "plan of God for women" as dogma. The dogma sanctions women caring for and serving men so that, in turn, men may worship and serve God. The happiness of a woman, it is claimed, should consist in following man because she was formed after him. This gives her a secondary status and makes her submission unconditional. The fundamentalist dogma, however, allows women to follow her interests when they do not threaten man.

With regard to leadership, it is argued that men provide the stability and security for the community. There should only be one leader who, of course, should be a man. Thus, the man has authority over the woman.

Clearly, fundamentalist theology defines women as inferior to the men by divine mandate. Therefore, women should not able to be ordained as a pastors with the institutional authority to act freely and extensively in the ministry.

The concept of the church - a community of faith

Undoubtedly, one's attitude toward the ordination of women also depends on one's concept of the church. In most communities of faith that do not ordain women, the church is a vertical or pyramid-like entity. In other words, the ordination to ministry is understood as a symbol of power and privilege. In this sense, within the church, a patriarchal scheme or structural "machista" is produced in the secular world. It is the male who rules and is in charge of maintaining power and order.

At the same time, traditional patterns of domination are reproduced according to status. Generally in our context, a white, male missionary, who was educated abroad and represents a church of the North, is seated at the top of the ecclesiastical pyramid. Under this person are the pastors, some of whom are educated, others not; but surely all are men. Subordinate to these, we find lay leaders; some women appear here. Finally, at the base of the structure is the rest of the congregation.

It seems for this reason, that the woman, when she does occupy a place in the ecclesiastical structure, it is nearly always subordinated, often as secretaries or in commissions of charity. Such is the case of the category of deacon, which emphasizes the role of women as servants in relation to men. They are the helpers and not the people who exercise the important jobs such as ministry.

In other cases, we use the image of the church as a family. This image is also patriarchal; the male is the head of the family and the woman is subordinate. It stereotypes the sexist idea of the couple in its home. For example, women are assigned the motherly jobs in the church such as the care and education of children. Therefore, man continues in power in the church structure in spite of the fact that, in some congregations, they have already realized that there are more women than men.

After all that has been said, even the churches that do send women to seminaries are at fault. They often delay and create difficulties for the women's eventual ordination. Even if they have women in their church structure, they often do not make room for them to exercise a real ministry and refuse to give them positions of higher authority.

In spite of this, it is important to note that in some communities of faith there is a glimmer of change. On one occasion we found an Association of Neighbours, created thanks to the encouragement of a Presbyterian Church. In this board, they named only women, explaining that:

women were the majority in the church, and
they were especially suited to take on the duties of directing the project.

Also, in one presbytery in Latin America, a group of women with theological training has united. They have demanded that the directors facilitate the process of ordaining women and that they recognize the real labour that is being done by women in chaplaincy, and pastoral work with children, teenagers and women. These are the fields of action of an ordained woman.

The cultural influence in the church

Undoubtedly secular myths about women have affected the ordination of women. In fact, these myths have helped to form the myths against church women.

In the first place, throughout the last 500 years in Latin America, the image of the religious leader has always been that of a man. Since the European conquest, the image has been that of a male priest. This image has been assimilated also by the Protestant church to the extent that in some churches only men are considered "called" to the pastorate.

In other churches, women are not ordained because they carry the image of being the "reproducer", the maternal being, and therefore do not have time to do the work of a pastor. However, it is not taken into account that many women are carrying out ministerial roles very actively and sometimes are even more productive than male pastors. Even women who are not married and without children are often not accepted for ordination because it is said that they probably are not married due to problems of frustration, aggressiveness or resentment. This, according to the culture, makes them suspicious since they are not considered "whole women".

The sexist myth that a woman, as a descendant of Eve, is by nature seductive, has resulted in the belief that women should not be in contact with men because they might lead them to sin as a result of their beauty and seductive nature. An extreme case of this is in a certain Central American community which does not allow women to greet men with a handshake because it could be considered as a sign of seduction.

Due to this attitude, a woman may not be ordained because, in her pastoral functions she would be in constant contact with men who are not members of her immediate family. We must realize, however, that in some cases male pastors have had to be severely reprimanded because of their immoral behaviour towards women who are not their wives.

Another myth in Latin America is that women are "gossips". There are religious people who emphasize the necessity to maintain severe discretion in pastoral secrets, and they argue that a woman pastor would not be able to maintain such a silence. We could ask here: are all men pastors strictly discreet about the information they receive?

It is also said that women are the fragile, weaker sex, and that the Church must be directed by someone with sufficient energy. Some people, whose baptism rites are by immersion, mention the problem that a woman might not be able to rescue from the water an overweight convert. Couldn't this also happen to a male pastor?

Finally, a woman who has a liberal outlook is not ordained because of the fear that she might break down the structure of male authority in the Church. Is it not true that some of our male pastors are already conscious of this and are breaking down the vertical structure in the Church?

Why have some churches ordained women?

We have observed that some churches have ordained women out of extreme necessity, in view of the scarcity of male pastors. In one Latin American church, two women were ordained who did not have sufficient theological preparation. But, since they were filling important secular positions, they were ordained. There was such a scarcity of pastors (only one ordained minister) that the ecclesiastical structure was about to collapse. Since this problem was solved, two decades have passed and no other women have been ordained.

In another church, a woman ordained as a pastor acted in such an authoritarian manner toward women and children that she reflected the same "machista" attitude as her male counter-parts. Thus, this woman minister was only reinforcing the attitude of subordination before the men. As such, she was not a threat to male supremacy in the church.

However, there is new hope that in some churches there now exists a new conscience about the equality of women in exercising ministerial duties. Probably after a process of re-reading the Bible and de-mythologizing theology, some have come to the conclusion that it is important to ordain women. Such is the case of some "main-line" churches such as the Lutheran Church in Central America, the Methodist Church, the Fraternity of Costa Rican Churches, the Baptist Church in Cuba and the Presbyterian Church in Colombia, which in the coming days will ordain another woman.

Why should the church ordain women?

God created woman and man in the same human condition (see Genesis 1:26-2:4a). Theologically, we cannot believe that man was created superior to woman. Therefore the pastorate is a vocation in the service of others, equal to men and women, without distinction of gender, race or social condition (see Galatians 3:28), which cannot put obstacles in front of anyone carrying out the ministry which God has given to all in need.

It will be this spirit of solidarity that will help us form a community of faith in which human relations are horizontal (see Ephesians 4:11-16). Acting in this spirit, we will not perpetuate a vertical pyramid system where a few are maintained at the top of an ecclesiastical structure which merely mirrors the structures of the larger society and its levels of privilege and domination. In other words, we are faced with the challenge of implementing a base for ecclesiology, in which every member of the church community can develop his or her gifts and offer a variety of services as part of the growing faith.

Women comprise the largest percentage of church members. For many of them, the church is a place of hope. At times, it provides their only escape from the depressing socio-economic conditions in which so many women and their families must live. It has often become a place of hope because women sought in it people who could help them solve their problems. The challenge to the church is to engage these women with other women in similar positions so that they may work together to find the solutions to their problems.

It is the women who suffer higher levels of malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment and exploitation. They work double shifts, doing heavy physical work for low wages and suffer from discrimination for being poor and female. These women need pastors who empathise with them. Women pastors would have more possibilities of being in solidarity with them since they understand better the problem of women as a social group which is more vulnerable to marginalization, domination and exploitation.

As we can see, the ordination of women is an important element as we strive to realize some of the signs of the reign of God among us here on earth and in our time.