Aspiration Toward Inspiration

Women’s ordination: a continuing struggle with patriarchy
Introduction

Women’s right to Ordination within Christian institutions has been a continuing struggle since Christianity’s founding. Though there is evidence to support early Christian establishment of female leadership, as Christianity became more mainstream, these rights of women were lost, as in so many institutions. Though women began to be accepted into ministry positions in the 1800’s and women’s rights movements have seen an increase in denominational support of female ordination, there are some organizations which still deny that women are spiritually equivalent to men. An organization of Womanpriests exists as a progressive movement within the Catholic Church as a voice for those who demand a re-structuring of Church clerical positions. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest and most powerful voice of the Christian world and, sadly, still denies the rights of ordination to women. The consequences of the denial of ordination rights to women are far reaching—the conscious and subconscious mindsets created and supported by antifeminist religious positions are damaging to progressive movements and serve to keep people in an archaic mindset that presupposes the spiritual and moral superiority of men, which can be used to support abuse, oppression, and varying forms of mistreatment toward women.

Part I: The Early Church’s acceptance of Women

A large amount of evidence exists both biblically and extrabiblically for the inclusion of women in ministerial positions in the early church. Paul’s epistles, in several places, refer to women in leadership positions. Other early writings and artworks suggest women were accepted into church leadership as well. There is also evidence to suggest that the controversy of women presiding over sacraments extended well into the 7th century. Despite this wealth of evidence, the power of ordination was taken from women centuries ago and is only now begun to be returned.

Even before Paul, in the church’s very early stages of development, the church movement extended equal. “Pre-Pauline Christianity… was an egalitarian movement in which women figured prominently” (Young, 41). This was a remarkable religious movement, as the culture in which Christianity developed was highly patriarchal. The Christian scriptures refer to women many times “at a time when customs and traditions held that women were to remain in the background” (Ellwood & McGraw, 360-361). These mentions have more significance when viewed in the light of the times they were written, instead of simply reading them at face value. It is therefore my interpretation that this extension of equal rights to women was part of the essential teachings of Jesus, or these rights would not have been granted in the society in which this movement was rising out of.

Paul’s epistles provide the lens for some of our best visions into the setting of the early church. While there was much diversity in early practice, Paul’s writings, in which he makes mention of Phoebe as a deacon and Junia as an apostle (Ellwood & McGraw, 361). In fact, some scholars have suggested that Phebe “was a minister, even as were Paul, Timothy, and others” (Deen, 231), These mentions are perhaps easy to read over lightly, but have strong implications. The fact that women held such positions in the early church is often denied by those at the seats of religious power, even though it can clearly be seen within scripture.

Even beyond scripture, there is a wealth of evidence that clearly shows that women were accepted into positions of priests and apostles. Pope Hippolytus (170 – 236 AD) suggested that Christ’s treatment of and appearance to women clearly suggested that he regarded them as acceptable for apostolic positions. An Egyptian Christian female who died between 250 and 350 AD that was tagged as a priest. Early Christian artwork dated around 100 AD found in the Catacombs of Priscilla shows women celebrating the eucharist together. Women priests and deacons are found in artwork from the cathedral at Annaba (dated 4th c.), the Catacomb of St. Priscilla (dated 350), and the Church of St. Praxis (dated 820). Women were clearly accepted by their respective communities as not only able to participate in worship, but to preside over the Eucharist and stand in positions of leadership, such as deacon, priest, and bishop.

Beyond the early church, communities continued to let women into leadership positions, much to the dismay of church officials in Rome. Writings exist in which churches (most notably in Ireland) are admonished for allowing women to lead worship. In 494, the Pope wrote a letter to churches in Southern Italy, expressing his concern about women being allowed to preside over the Eucharist and stand in other leadership positions which he said were meant for men. Bishops wrote to the Celtic Church in the 6th century, outraged that they let women preside over the Eucharist and demanding that such agency be taken from those women. The ordination of women throughout world churches clearly continued to be a subject of controversy, even after the standardization of church practice and establishment of Church hierarchy.

While women clearly were supported as Deacons, Priests, Bishops, apostles, teachers, and presiders over Eucharist in the earlier centuries of the Church, these rights were slowly taken from women. What was once an acceptable and widespread practice in the context of church communities became frowned upon, then controversial, then completely unacceptable. Movements such as the early Christian movement “challenge the norms of their societ and when their founder dies, in order to survive, the movement usually modifies its more radical views and begins to conform to their society’s practices, especially with regard to women” (Young, 41). This particularly sad truth of religious growth is one that has seen women abused for centuries, in order for religion to adapt to patriarchal societies and not go extinct. However, as Christianity developed power within the modern world, women’s movements began to call back to the teachings of Jesus and the first century church, demanding that their human and religious rights be restored.

Part II: Feminist Movements and the Return of Women’s Ordination

This country’s beginnings have had strongly religious overtones, with pilgrims and first immigrants’ goals in coming to this country being largely based in the goal of obtaining religious freedom from England. The Puritan’s goal was the be “a light on a hill” for the rest of the world, and while in many respects this country has failed as an example to the rest for the rest of the world, the feminist movements’ beginnings in America have certainly liberated many minds. Women’s secondary educations and ordinations were first allowed in the modern world by American churches. The women’s rights movement in this country, which by no means has achieved its ultimate goals of complete equality, has made substantial progress.

Essential to women’s rights has been the availability of education to women. While this country has offered primary educations to women since its founding, college-level educations were unavailable to women until the 1800’s. Since many early Congregationalist (Puritan) ministers had received educations from such Oxford and Princeton in their native country, college educations were valued by many of this country’s founding members (Nuttall, 41). Colleges were being built in this country at the same time as missionary efforts were being extended and Congregationalists involved themselves in the abolitionary movement. As minority groups gained voices within religious institutions, schools began opening their doors to minorities and women. Oberlin College became the first co-educational college, granting degrees to many women, including Antoinette Brown, who would become the first woman minister. Women were, at this time, finally allowed to obtain high quality educations, and shortly after this, were given more leadership rights within the Congregational Church. In 1853, the first recorded Congregational Antoinette Brown was ordained, with many more women to follow (Starkey, 295).

Many other U.S. churches began to follow the Congregationalists’ lead, though not without considerable controversy and schism. In 1976, the Episcopal Church voted in favor of female ordination, though they thereafter lost over a dozen churches. Despite this, the Episcopal Church stood firm in their decision and ordained its first woman Bishop in 1989 (Gaustad, 387). Similarly, in the late 1960’s, Lutherans held an Inter-Lutheran Consultation on the Ordination of Women, in which 2/3 of the groups decided in favor of women’s ordination, though one neglected to enter into official conversation about women’s ordination (Gaustad, 388). While such decisions and conferences are difficult to engage in and often result in disagreement and developments of animosities, the conversation is important and has resulted in much progress.

In the reverse, the Southern Baptist Convention has become more conservative on its position toward female ordination. While SBC began ordaining women in 1964 and had ordained over 400 woman ministers by the 1980’s, with the development of more conservative leadership, in 1984, the Southern Baptist Convention decided that women should no longer be able to hold positions over men. Thereafter, the church began revoking funding and taking membership from those churches which continued to allow women to act in ministerial roles (Gaustad, 389). Such decisions are tragic, though it can be said that some Baptist denominations held firm in their stance in favor of female ordination.

In today’s religious America, many denominations are in favor of female ordination and have joined in the fight for women’s equality. Most notably, Unitarians, Congregationalists, United Brethren, Universalists, Methodist Protestants, Free Methodists, Christian (Campbellites), Baptists, and Free Baptists have ordained women to their ministry. There are doubtless many other denominations which accept women into their ministries. However, Roman Catholicism, the largest Christian denomination in the country and the world, has yet to officially recognize women as worthy of ordination.

Part III: Catholic Church and the Controversy Over Womanpriests

The Catholic Church, in its definition of women, posits that “man is called by the Creator to… position of leader, as is shown by his entire bodily and intellectual make-up” (newadvent.org). Such clearly male supremacist language is offensive and archaic, yet clearly not recognized as such by the RCC. As Mary Daly notes in Beyond Christianity: A World Without Models, “it is still not unusual for Christian priests and ministers, when confronted with the issue of women’s liberation, to assert that God “became incarnate” uniquely as a male and then to draw arguments for male supremacy from this” (Daly in Porterfield, 303). However, despite the Catholic Church’s backwards stance on female ministry and their denial of the evidence for Womenpriests in the past, Women within the Church continue to fight for ordination and a restructuring of the Church.

After Vatican II, many women were disappointed in the lack of progress the RCC was making with regard to women. In 1972, an organization representing 90 percent of sisters and nuns in the Roman Catholic Church, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, was organized in the U.S. (Gaustad, 390). Subsequently, in 1976, hundreds of women organized a “Women’s Ordination Conference to protest ‘a priesthood that is elitist, hierarchical, racist, classist,’ …[contending that] ‘what is central to the historical Jesus is his humanity and not his maleness’” (Gaustad, 390). Despite these efforts, the Catholic Church has been largely unresponsive to these calls for justice.

Since the Catholic Church has staunchly refused to open ordination rights to women officially, certain women within the Church have taken matters into their own hands. In 2002, seven women were ordained Womenpriests, with women being ordained as bishops in 2003. Although these ordinations are not recognized as valid by the Roman Catholic Church, they follow apostolic succession. The organization of Womanpriests’ goal is to:
“bring about the full equality of women in the Roman Catholic Church. It wants neither a schism nor a break from the Roman Catholic Church, but rather wants to work positively within the church.” (romancatholicwomanpriests.org)

While some of the members of this organization have been excommunicated, many of the women are still in good standing with the Church. As they state, they do not wish to create schisms within the Church, only to have women recognized as equal. They work toward a restructuring of Church into a more inclusive worship.

The Roman Catholic position on female ordination is holds deep weight for the progress of women’s rights in the world. As the largest religious institution existing today, their voice is perhaps the most dominant in the world of religion. Because of this, their moral positions on things like women’s ordination have a deep impact on the way that people perceive the world. The Roman Catholic church needs to take into account the historical record on women’s ordination, as well as the profound impact their moral positions have on people around the world and they ways that people are treated as a result of these positons.

Conclusion

For centuries, women’s rights have been withheld because of religious patriarchy’s claim of women’s supposed moral inferiority. Women’s ordination has remained a controversial issue and is not available to Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestant denominations, despite the compelling arguments for women’s equality and the progress that feminists have made in creating a voice for women around the world. Many, if not most, Christian institutions still reject the notion that women should have equal rights to ordination. Until women are granted equal rights in all spheres, including rights to positions of leadership in religious institutions, they will never truly be accepted as equal in the world.

Bibliography
The books I have chosen to use in this endeavor, as well as the websites that were important for my research, are as follows:

Deen, Edith. All the Women of the Bible. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1955.

Ellwood, Robert S. and McGraw, Barbara A. Many Peoples, Many Faiths: Women and Men in the World Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.

Gaustad, Edwin and Schmidt, Leigh. The Religious History of America. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins San Francisco, 2002.

McManners, John. The Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Nuttall, Geoffrey F. Visible Saints: The Congregational Way. Oxford: Alden Press, 1957.

Porterfield, Amanda, ed. American Religious History. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2002.

Starkey, Marion L. The Congregational Way: The roles of the pilgrims and their heirs in shaping America. New York: Doubleday & Company, 1966.

Young, Serenity, ed. An Anthology of Sacred Texts by and About Women. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1993.

Roman Catholic Womanpriests: http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/

Threshold Ministries: http://home.earthlink.net/~humanint/site/index.html