Vocation and ministry

Esther Suter

Introduction

If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in and I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9

In very strong words the prophet Jeremiah describes his feeling of being called to pass on God's message to the people. This feeling is "like a burning fire" which he cannot hold in. I believe that women and men over the centuries have experienced such calling in many different ways. While men were allowed to follow their "vocation", women were officially denied those opportunities for hundred of years, in some contexts even until today. Women have had to struggle hard to find their own ways to live according to their vocations and they have rarely found support or acknowledgement.

The more I have reflected on the question of women in ministry the more I have become convinced that vocation is the starting point from which to consider women's ordination. "Vocation" is defined as the "feeling that one is called to (and qualified for) a certain kind of work (especially social or religious)"¹ (emphasis added). For me the question of ministry cannot be separated from the question of vocation. The individual feeling of vocation, however, needs to be recognized by the community in which a person lives and works. Ordination to the ministry of word and sacrament is a way to officially acknowledge vocation. More and more churches today realize that women and men are called to that ministry, but there are still many churches, even in the Reformed family, which resist women's ordination. This is due to an exclusive understanding of ministry, which has been historically formed and occupied by men, but also to a specific understanding of women's nature and role in society as well as in the church

I have a vision of the church as a community of women and men where individuals of both genders are regarded as equal partners, each bringing his or her own contribution to the church. In the following I would like to review the biblical roots of this understanding of ministry to see how they support this vision and to discover the stumbling blocks. In the same way I will look at different concepts to understand women's nature and role in church and society. But I will first describe briefly my own personal background, so that you have a better understanding of the basis for my interest in the subject.²

A personal starting point

The question of vocation has an existential dimension for me.³ Although I come from a church in which women have been admitted fully to the ministry of word and sacrament since the 1960s, my own personal journey towards the study of theology and becoming a pastor was not self-evident. I was raised in a family where the Bible was interpreted in a legalistic and literal sense: women must keep silent and the men are superior to women. It took me some time and struggle to free myself from internalised messages that as a woman I did not have the right to follow my calling. But how could I be certain of my vocation? Was it possible to be guided by the Holy Spirit? How could I justify that I, a woman, wanted to become a minister? What kind of ministry did I look for?

In 1981 I took part in the World Council of Churches consultation in Sheffield evaluating the worldwide study on "The Community of Women and Men in Church and Society". There I followed with great interest the discussions on ministry and the ordination of women. Opponents of women's ordination presented the argument that ordination is a call and a gift of God, but at the same time they proclaimed it as a service of the church. Therefore, according to their opinion, women can not claim ordination as a human right. This argument did not make any sense to me and reinforced my suspicion that these theological arguments follow a male, and therefore human, point of view.⁴

The biblical roots of ministry

God calls women and men through the Holy Spirit

...I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.... Joel 2:28

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given manifestations of the Spirit for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12: 4-7)

In the New Testament, vocation is first of all God's "call" for salvation addressed to all people (see Ephesians 4:4 (Eph.), Hebrew 3:7 ff, 1 Corinthians 1:24). In 1 Corinthians 12 (1 Cor.), however, we read that God bestows ministries (services) in the church, distributing corresponding gifts to individuals by the Holy Spirit. According to this teaching of Paul on the charisms, the pastor (minister) does not have a specific calling. Rather he or she is given specific gifts for the service of God. The call for salvation is not an individual vocation, it is a call to a community uniting us with one another. God calls human beings as they are. God may allow transformation and may show us capacities which have not been visible before. In any case it is essential to listen to the Holy Spirit, which speaks to women as well as to men.⁵ In the New Testament the community acknowledges the charism of a person by the laying on of hands.

The development in the early Christian church

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchrae,..Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus...Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives, who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles... (Romans 16: 1,3,7)

Paul identifies several ministries in the church, for example those of apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists and deacons (1 Cor. 12:27). The above quoted greetings from the letter to the Romans is a vivid example that women, as well as men were leaders of congregations, apostles and teachers in the early churches.⁶

Wives, be subject to your husband as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the church ... (Eph. 2:22 ff.)

In the second century a change took place from charismatic and communal authority towards a more institutionalised and established structure which absorbed not only the teaching authority of the prophets and apostles but also the decision-making power of the community. This shift was, at the same time, a shift from alternating leadership accessible to all the baptized to patriarchal leadership restricted to male heads of households.

A patriarchal church

The development in the second and third century gradually excluded women from public ministries in the church. In this action, it was also responding to prevailing cultural patterns of the time instead of keeping to Jesus' radical practise of a community of equals.

Since that time, we have had to cope with this heritage. In my own church in Switzerland, women have been admitted to the full ministry of word and sacrament since the early 1970s. Yet still women pastors must fight prejudice and traditional images. This is occurring even though there are also positive experiences of parishes which explicitly ask for a woman pastor and recognize the special gifts of women in ministry.

Women are sometimes considered "male" or less feminine in this profession traditionally occupied by men. Sometimes we are labelled as "aggressive" and "arrogant". Often the question of authority becomes a negative argument. For example the question is often raised whether a men in the community can accept the authority of a woman and it is suggested that exercising authority might lead the woman pastor into conflict with other women in the parish. But isn't there another way of exercising "authority" than "dominion" or "superiority"? I believe that the problems women pastors face are due to a specific understanding of the role and nature of women. These images often operate on an unconscious level, but they still determine the thoughts, feelings and actions of women and men!

The nature and role of women

The dualistic concept

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ( Genesis 2:23)

According to this dualistic concept, the biological differences of women and men necessitate decisively distinct roles and functions for each in society. This understanding is often found in the church. The argument is based on the story of creation in Genesis 2 (Gen.). It declares that man was created first and is therefore superior to women.This order of creation, with the man as the head of the women, is given by God, which means that it cannot be changed by humans. Thus, patriarchal structure is considered to be divine order instead of an historical development.⁷ In this concept the myth of the fall (Gen. 3) is used to prove that the subordination of women is the necessary consequence for her responsibility for the sin in the world. But Gen. 3:16 only shows that inequality, dominion and subordination are the consequences of the destruction of the original good order of God's creation. This passage does not give room for the assumption that subordination of women is the consequence of the punishment .⁸

The concept which understands the functions and roles of women and men as complementary operates on a similar basis. It is also based on an understanding of divine order. In this order the role and functions of women in church and society are organised differently from those of men. Arguments about the psychology of women are added to support this concept: Women are defined as passive, humble, intuitive, receptive, etc. There is a danger in this concept that women are "the other" which is easily labelled negatively. The conclusions which are drawn from biological gender to the psychological, social and spiritual sphere do not take into account cultural conditioning, as well as role models, which influence education. Anatomy is a fate. There is no room for the change which Galatians 3:28 proclaims for those who are a new creation in Christ: There is no longer male and female; for you are one in Christ Jesus.

The monistic concept

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)

According to the monistic, or one-nature, view, gender differences are important but they are "incidentally" given and formed. It is important that human nature is created in the image of God. There are no predetermined roles which can be derived from the biology of each gender. Each gender is given the same freedom and responsibility to develop its gifts for the sake of all creation.

This concept is the base for a vision of a community of women and men in the church. It is a community where responsibility is shared and the genders mutually acknowledge each other's gifts and talents. It is not easy to realize this vision; the old structures and myths are still functioning well and keeping women in subordinated positions. There are very few models on to which women can hold to begin realizing their own callings. But the gospel encourages us to work for this vision. Jesus himself lived this vision and taught us again that women and men are created equal in the image of God, each one has her or his own dignity.

The church as a community of women and men

I would like to conclude with a few sentences summarizing my thoughts and experiences about how we begin realizing the vision of the church as a community of women and men.

1. The creation of women in the image of God (Gen. 1:27) is the starting point for recognizing the full human dignity of women.⁹ Therefore women have the same responsibilities in church and society. They should be given opportunity to follow their vocations and the church should acknowledge their vocation by ordaining them.
2. The more charismatic and egalitarian structures of the early Christian communities should be reclaimed in order to discover new ways of ministry for women and men.
3. Women and men are given the gifts of the Holy Spirit by pure grace. Ordination is one sign of acknowledging the work of the Holy Spirit.
4. Women should be given opportunities to follow their vocation and given access to theological education.
5. Experience of women in ministry show that they are more inclined to use participatory models in leadership. They are thereby encouraging the concept of the "priesthood of all believers".

Notes