This June, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) faced a pivotal moment, declining to accept a proposed amendment that would have severed ties with any church led by a woman pastor. While this decision might seem like a step forward for women’s ordination, it simply reaffirms the SBC’s stance that only men can be ordained.
In contrast, across the Pacific Ocean, on July 11th, the Uniting Church of Australia made a groundbreaking installation of their first woman of color as president, Rev. Charissa Suli. Vibrant performances, including choirs and bands from Tonga, Fiji and Sydney, celebrated this historic milestone.
Rev. Suli’s installation is a powerful testament to the Uniting Church’s commitment to embracing and empowering women leaders to guide their congregations into the future.
The future of the church depends on more women elected as leaders. The church’s origins are deeply rooted in the contributions of women, who were the first to share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Despite these beginnings, women have faced significant challenges within the church.
Personally, I once struggled with my calling to teach and minister when I was considering attending seminary in the early 1990s. At that time, there were not many ordained women ministers and there were only two in the Korean immigrant churches.
This scarcity of role models made it difficult for me to envision a path to becoming a theology professor or a minister within the Presbyterian Church.
Much has changed over the past 30-40 years, yet many things remain the same. The church remains a male-dominated space despite so many women entering seminary, getting ordained, and becoming prominent church leaders.
In her book “The Making of Biblical Womanhood,” Church historian Beth Allison Barr highlights this persistent issue. She notes that, rather than elevating women’s roles, the Reformation reinforced their positions within marriage and the household.
Women’s alternatives to marriage diminished, and their dependence on their husbands grew. This was exemplified by the life of Katharina von Bora (Katie Luther), who married ex-monk Martin Luther. Luther’s teachings on marriage emphasized the roles of wife and mother, further entrenching women’s domestic identities.
Martin Luther taught that marriage was ideal for both men and women and his writings popularized the notion of the godly roles of wife and mother. Unlike in Catholicism, Luther did not advocate for female spiritual power. His understanding of God was not shaped by the Virgin Mary or female saints but by Martha, the sister of Lazarus, who managed household duties.
Luther’s wife embodied this ideal. Katharina von Bora transformed their home into a domestic sanctuary, raising six children and hosting influential gatherings that bolstered her husband’s reputation.
Such was the impact of Luther’s theology that every Protestant territory implemented marriage ordinances emphasizing wifely obedience, further intertwining women’s identities with household roles.
Today, we still live in a patriarchal world and church. One prominent factor perpetuating this is the continued reinforcement of God as a white male.
No one has seen God. However, for the last 2,000 years, the image of a white male god has been preached, disseminated and liturgized. It adorns our historical understanding through paintings, stained-glass windows and sculptures.
We need to recognize how white men use this to legitimize their power over women and people of color.
It is crucial to recognize that the words we use to describe God are metaphors, not literal representations. These metaphors help us grasp the mystery of God, but we must be mindful of their implications. If our metaphors for God are exclusively masculine and white, they will continue to reinforce patriarchy and racial bias in our society and church.
There are other biblical metaphors of God, which are non-gendered and non-racialized. Embracing these alternatives can help create a more inclusive and welcoming church that celebrates and honors the roles and leadership of all women.
As the Uniting Church of Australia celebrates the installation of its first woman of color president, may this milestone inspire churches worldwide to affirm that all women are called to serve, lead and love the church.
