In the very early years of the church when the first missionaries came to Cameroon, the place of women, even that of the missionaries' wives, was one of subordination. The few missionaries' wives that came with their husbands could only share whatever talents they had within the walls of their household. But today, the wind of self-awareness is blowing all over the face of the earth. Surely, the ordination of women cannot be treated in isolation from the awareness of women around the globe about their responsibilities and contributions, as a response to God's demand, to the up-building of their societies and churches.

I believe I was ordained by God, from the day I was baptised, to work among God's people. For any faithful Christian, that work is to sensitise people to the message that Jesus' came into the world that "they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10). Through the ages, women have contributed to the spreading of this good news of our Lord Jesus Christ: women have sacrificed their lives for the promotion of the gospel; women have started churches which are flourishing today; women have written books for and been leaders of the church in different levels; there have been women missionaries; and convents and religious communities, such as the Emmanuel sisterhood of the Presbyterian church in Cameroon have been formed by women.

Yet these endeavours are little known. They do not inform the current debates about the ordination of women. Therefore these heated discussions are only embarrassing to me, especially in the churches in which the ordination of women is opposed. It is surprising that the church, which could mediate against male chauvinism, has become a catalyst of it. Where can women find favour if not in the sacred realm?

Many questions which are asked today about the ordination of women have been asked before. Some churches have already explored these questions and searched for the answers together. They discerned a need for God's people to share, to give, to take, and to enjoy some variety. The decision was discussed, agreed upon and implemented - these churches now ordain women as ministers.

My church, the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC), opened the doors of theological studies to women beginning in the early 1970s. This wonderful idea, which had been sleeping in the hearts of the Christians of the PCC, was awakened when the people first encountered a woman teaching in the theological college. The Rev. Miss Epting, a full-time tutor at Nyasoso Theological College from 1971 to 1974. Even though Rev. Epting was white, people still asked: how can a woman be a pastor and tutor, teaching our future pastors? If she could be admitted as a tutor to teach them, why can't our women be admitted to do theology? The discussion was circumscribed, however, in as much as she was white and Christianity was brought to our country by white people. It was difficult for members of my church to accept Cameroonian women as pastors because culturally that was sacrilege.

Over twenty years have passed since the presence of Rev. Epting stimulated debate about the ordination of women. The Rev. Mother Marie Madeleine Handy was ordained in 1979 by the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon as its first the first women minister. In 1986, the Rev. Mrs. E. Lyonga became the second women to be ordained by the PCC to the ministry. Neither of these women were trained in PCC institutions. Five other female ministers have worked as fraternal workers in the PCC, but their ordinations were conferred by their own churches. Pastor Perpetua Numfor is the eighth female pastor to work in the PCC and is the first who was educated at Nyasoso Theological College. She finished her course-work in June 1991 and is not yet ordained. Recently, six women have been studying at the college; three graduate in June, 1992 (including Martha Essem). Why has the response from the women of the PCC to the opportunity to study theology and become pastors been so slow?

The issue is not simply whether or not women should be ordained or whether men are preventing women from being ordained as ministers. Each church approaches the discussion about the ordination of women differently. But John 10:10 should be our measuring rod. We must remember that the abundant life will not be realised until men and women understand God's purpose in creating them male and female in his image.

The inclusion of women in ordained ministry is not simply for the sake of change or assuming our place alongside men. It is to respond to a call, a sacrificial duty. Therefore, the whole concept of ordination must be re-examined by the churches, for both men and women. Are men much more capable, upright, devoted, righteous, holy and dedicated for ordination than women? Or are both men and women God's instruments who can be sanctified and purified by God, set apart and used for his glory? Cameroonian men have often considered women to be second class citizens. As such, oriented by tradition, the cultural environment was not a fertile ground for female leadership. Women in the Cameroon did not play leading roles among men at the worship grounds; any woman present had to have reached her menopausal age. Women were recognized as leaders among themselves but not among men.

This attitude was carried into the church, reinforced by the missionaries who brought us the gospel, since leadership in the church then consisted mostly of men. How could women become leaders with no educational background? Today however, with more educational facilities, self-awareness, international understanding, ecumenical awakening and even inter-cultural interaction, the women are now more prone to leadership in every field. Yet, are people in the PCC disturbed by the slow response from women, who form about 80% of the membership of the church, to the ministry of Word and Sacraments? Was the new opportunity for education and ordination just an emotional reaction because a white woman was a tutor and pastor teaching men? Or did the church feel a need? Did it see that its mission to the world was incomplete when carried out only by men instead of women and men working together in "wholeness"? What does it mean to open the doors of the theological college to women? What does it mean when the church trains them academically as equals, but in practice regards some as men while others are women?

This does not mean that there are no differences between women and men. But a woman is not second to a man; so in whatever field you are, woman, you do not necessarily have to do it the man's way. Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, did not go into the battlefield. Yet it was this Kenite housewife, whose husband did not underestimate her God-given gifts, who with her gentle attitude of a woman, defeated the enemy of Israel, the great Sisera, just with a tent peg and hammer. She gave her nation forty years of rest from this powerful conqueror (Judges 4:17-22).

Congratulations to those churches, and the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon in particular, for daring to show the world in different and concrete terms the cooperation of men and women working as a God-given community to spread the good news of the Kingdom. But there is still more to be done in and by the PCC in the area of motivation, attitude training and mental change among its men about women and the ministry. It is not the fault of our men; they are coming from an age-old cultural background which should be fought, not by our might but by the Spirit of God.

The women of the PCC, and African women in general, should not take on a fight to push men into this difficult cultural change. It may help if women could discard words like fight, struggle, inferior, subordinate, slave, etc. from their vocabulary. On their part, men should encourage words like cooperation, partners, social awareness, love, wholeness, etc. When words like "fight" are used, we should also bear in mind that when two persons are fighting, one is certainly bound to lose. Who is then going to be the loser, the men or the women?

With regard to the ordination of women in my church, I do not see any serious problems on the side of our men. The cultural and attitudinal change has been positive for women. My mother was never treated as a slave or an inferior by my father. I never saw her struggling or fighting to do what was supposed to be done by my father. The roles were distinct.

The wrong notions will only be wiped out by the women themselves, more through actions than words. Thus, I suggest that instead of fighting to be accepted by men, let the women themselves accept their sisters first. The membership of my church consists mainly of women. Who is it, then, electing men rather than women to key church positions? If the explanation is that there are no capable women to fill the posts, why then should men be blamed? That which makes the men qualified should be our target, rather than blaming them for being capable. Doesn't half the world consist of women? The more we women waste time fighting against men, blaming them and becoming bitter, the more we too are blind to our own faults and the more we narrow the gap of cooperation.

Women are not yet organised, if not generally, at least in my church. It is not so much that we are not organized in groups but that we are not organised in our thoughts and do not know how to set our own goals; we are not organised to foster our aims, and support our arguments and protests. Women often allow ourselves to be used easily and cheaply by men as weapons or agents against their sisters. For example, in my culture and church, the cry is that widows are being ill-treated. I have never seen any man standing before a widow and telling her to do this or that. The men will indirectly dish just one word to the women which the women, in turn, implement against their sisters; they sit behind and complain. Why are men not ill-treated when their wives die? Who will ill-treat them? Not their brothers, never! The only encouraging word from a sister to a female theologian would be: if you want to be a pastor, you must be good, submissive and obedient. Why does my sister want me to become more of an angel than my male colleagues? Women, look forward to working as a team and hold high the saying, "United we stand and divided we fall."

A vivid example of lack of cooperation among women in the PCC occurred when the first trained female PCC pastor was posted to a congregation in our church. The first reaction was from a woman who has abandoned the congregation because, according to her, women should not be ministers or even ordained. Whatever her reasons, she has the right to her opinion. She may not be the only one, for others are silent, waiting to see. Therefore, there should be no fighting and struggling. With love we should prove that women can also be ministers of Words and Sacraments.

Churches that want to work in solidarity with women should see the ordination of women as a gift and blessing of the era, rather than a fight or struggle. Whatever church you belong to, it is a church of men and women and not a church of men and no women.

Perpetua Numfor's comments:

As to the ordination of women in the PCC, the problem is more cultural, which protects male chauvinism. There is also a problem of exegesis. Christians use biblical passages out of context to defend male chauvinism. In the congregation where there is a female pastor, there is an opposing group. This can also be true of the congregations that have no female pastors, when the time comes for them to have one.

The slow response of the PCC women has been more of a social problem. Most women think that the way of life of a female pastor must be totally different from that of every other person, even her male colleagues. She must dress differently, always talk soberly, stay indoors and live a secluded life. They also think that she must remain single. Another problem is that of the social status of pastors. They are very lowly placed, so many qualified women, go for better-paying jobs.

Ignorance is another problem. Many women of the PCC did not know that a woman could train as a pastor. This was demonstrated in that, since the first woman from the PCC began to study theology, the influx of women entering the theological college has been great. But before they may study theology, women must first overcome the hurdles of the educational environment in college, an atmosphere dominated by masculine attitudes among both the students and lecturers. This makes the studying conditions difficult, three women have recently dropped out.