Toward A New Understanding Of Ministry

Women have played a significant role in the life of the church throughout its history. In recent years, women have participated in more and more facets of the church's life, leading to new insights regarding the nature of Christian ministry. This understanding, outlined in the following article, emphasizes the importance of human relationships and the sharing of power.

Historical Considerations From the time of Jesus, the participation of women in the public life of Jesus and his church has been documented. The Gospel accounts are replete with references to those women, who ministered to Jesus, who were delegated to announce the Good News, and who gave silent witness to his agonies. Paul in his letters and Luke in Acts also note the activity of women in the early Christian community. Both the influence they exerted and the respect they received attest to the unquestioned role accorded to women who ministered to the early community. Since that time and up to the present, the role of women in public ministry has waxed and waned. Little of this has appeared in most histories of worship. This may be understood as mirroring the larger culture, where the activities, contributions, and accomplishments of women have tended to be ignored or, at the very least, downplayed. The focus of religious histories has commonly been upon affairs of the institutional churches, precisely as institutions. The systematic exclusion of women from ordination and from positions of institutional authority guarantees that in these histories there is little or nothing about women. The Face of Women in Ministry: Structural Implications While neither ignoring the pain women have experienced as a result of their exclusion from many church structures nor affirming nor condoning the blatant sexism and sometimes subtle misogyny that have marked the Christian church's practices and structures, reflection on the consequences of that reality leads to some interesting observations. Having experienced exclusion from ministry in a hierarchical structure, gifted women have shaped alternative means to minister to the body of Christ and be Christ on this earth. Horizontal leadership based on mutual support, inspiration, and the convening of the community marked the public ministry of many women. Given their exclusion from institutional politics, some women were free to opt for a more prophetic style of public ministry than is usually possible for those who must accept the limits of conventional roles and institutional approbation. Finally for reasons already mentioned and often precisely because of their position in the church, women were often better able to notice and to attend to that which was left undone and to those who were overlooked, omitted, or excluded in the pastoral practice of the institutional church. Monika Hellwig has observed that, in such instances, the impact of women in public ministry has tended to be prophetic, radical in its long-term implications for the social structures of society, and, in terms of the social dynamics, a movement from below. The Face of Women in Ministry: Psychological Issues A key factor influencing the concept of women in ministry is to be found in the reality that the authentic involvement of women in ministry brings to ministry a potentially counter-cultural aspect. To better understand this, Anne Wilson-Schaef's identification of two operative "?systems?" in our culture is helpful. The first of these is the "?dominant?" system, typically characterized by current male-oriented values. The second is an "?emerging?" system, marked by what has been traditionally characterized as a feminine style. The shift that is currently occurring is the increased identification and acceptance of the emerging system. In this process, women and men are experiencing an enhancement of many styles of thinking and interacting that were previously not valued and are exploring the implications of these shifts in both their personal and professional lives. This transformation has major implications for an understanding of ministry. To begin, it affects how the notion of ministry itself is defined and integrated into the life of the minister. Traditionally reflective of the dominant system, ministry and work were seen as fairly synonymous. John Futrell, for example, in writing on "?The Challenge of Ministry,?" describes ministries as "?human services performed in response to the human needs of people.?" In the emerging system, relationships, rather than work, are seen as a focal point; everything must go through, relate to, and be defined by relationships. Hence, ministry is construed in terms of relationship. It becomes that which one does with one's life in order to make sense of other aspects of one's life. Neither profit- nor power-oriented ministry takes its meaning from creativity, from bonding, from the inherent humanness of ministry touched by the reality of the Incarnation, or from a keen sense of service. Ministry is, in the emerging system, an expression of one's relationship with God, with others, and with oneself. Other aspects to be considered in light of this shift in worldview and in terms of its impact on the notion of ministry include structure, power, healing, and various understandings of God and spirituality. The structure of the dominant system is hierarchical, with no ambiguity in regards to accountability or control. God is superior to man, who is superior to woman, who is superior to animals, which is superior to things inanimate. Boundaries are clear, and dichotomous (either/or) thinking abounds. Ministry is something "?done to?" others, with the minister clearly in a superior stance as the one who imparts (grace, benefits, etc.). The emerging system has a less clearly defined structure. Boundaries are fairly permeable; categories are less clear; and structures are more easily flexed to address the needs of all. "?Neatness?" is not a hallmark of such a system. Ministry in this context is a shared experience which reverences various needs of individuals. While roles are defined there is a giving/receiving dynamic that is consonant with the emphasis on relationship mentioned above. Power is another critical concept. Jean Baker Miller defines power as "?the capacity to implement.?" As such, power has two components: power for oneself, and power over others. With this in mind, the dominant system has traditionally seen the power of another person or group of persons to be dangerous. Either you control them, or they will control you. This is based, in part, on the assumption that power is a "?zero-sum?" entity; there is just so much power available. (If, for example, the amount of available power is twenty units, having twelve leaves only eight units available to others.) The dominant system, therefore, jealously guards power and sets deliberate limits, as regards to its use. The emerging system provides another consideration of power. Here, power, like love, is assumed to be limitless. When shared, it regenerates and expands. Women and men need power to grow and develop. However with the greater development of each individual, the more able, more effective, and less in need of limiting or restricting others she or he will be. Because of their place in the structure of the dominant system, many women have marked difficulty in coping with and appropriating power. Given their limited understandings, many have used power in the style of the dominant system. Others, fearful of such an outcome or distrustful of their own giftedness, have abrogated any power that is even rightfully theirs. Distortions of spirituality, where humility has become equated with actively avoiding the recognition of gifts and talents, also has discouraged individuals from appropriating their God-given heritage. Interestingly, references to the Spirit of God often reflect a gender difference that may be an indication of an even deeper power issue. Women refer to the "?Spirit of love,?" and men invoke the "?power of the Spirit.?" There is another aspect to be considered in terms of power and the role of women in ministry. It comes in terms of weakness or powerlessness. For women, weaknesses are typically seen in terms of vulnerability, helplessness, and neediness. The dominant system encourages men to abhor these feelings in themselves, while it has encouraged women to cultivate this state of being. In reality, however, these feelings are common to all. Those who are better able consciously to admit to and tolerate these feelings have a ministerial "?edge?" in this regard since this ability puts them more closely in touch with basic life experiences. Having to defend less and deny less, they are in a position to understand and minister to weakness. As persons more comfortable with their own weakness, they are more readily able to illumine the path to wholeness for others. As might be expected, "?healing?" in the dominant system is something done by the hearer, who is "?certified?" by the system. Failure in the treatment is most typically construed in terms of some deficit of the patient. Linear logic marks the thought construction of this system. In contrast, the emerging system views "?healing?" as a process that occurs within a person with the facilitation and help from the healer. This relationship between healer and patient is a key factor. Translating this understanding to the terms of ministry, it is easy to understand the existence of tensions in the church as regards the determination of who, for example, is "?legitimately?" a minister to a community and how that role/relationship is expressed. In the dominant system, understandings of God and spirituality parallel the schema already outlined. The structure of most theological assumptions is a dominance-submission scheme. With the perpetuation of the belief that the suffering servant is the holiest of all, women and others found "?lower?" in the order of things have been encouraged to be suffering servants, thus achieving absolution for their status. God, the "?prototype?" of perfection of this system, is perfect, all-knowing, and unchanging. The role of the minister is to mediate between God and those lower in the hierarchy so that salvation might be accomplished. The emerging system's view of God also parallels the emerging worldview. Here, God is viewed primarily in terms of relationship. Coming to know God is imaged as a deepening and broadening process, rather than one of climbing a ladder. Boundaries between the sacred and the secular, between what is holy and what is profane, are less rigid and apt to be informed by the lived experience of those who come to worship. The role of minister is to facilitate that identification process and to enable the community to encounter the holy in this way. New and Old Directors of Ministry What is it that makes the movement that is publicly acknowledging and incorporating women in ministry? While some might describe it as "?tokenism?" or a long overdue acknowledgment of the real contribution made by women, there also seems to be a subtle, yet discernible, shift in the understanding of what ministry involves. The affirmation of the emerging system described in the previous section attests to this shift. The shift might also be interpreted as the acknowledgment that the "?works?" or activities of women in public ministry, different as they have been from traditional or formally "?sanctioned?" works, are not only true expressions of ministry, but are also activities that are to be embraced by all in the church. The image that best expresses one of the greatest contributions that women have to offer to the emerging understanding of what it means to be a public minister in the church may be found in that of pregnancy. For centuries, the male model of potency, impact, and discharge has dominated the cultural image of ministry. Filling empty churches, establishing flourishing programs, and erecting tangible structures were frequently the measures of effective ministry. The emergence of the women's movement, particularly in the United States, has brought with it some alternative approaches to these familiar activities of ministry. In contrast to the male style, the image of pregnancy depicts attitudes of trust, surrender, and receptivity. The pregnant woman is intimately connected to the new life within, yet is not in total control of either the ultimate outcome or many aspects of the process. She does not, for example, determine that on this day "?we will work on the nervous system?" and that at another time "?we will develop fingers and toes.?" Yet, the woman who is pregnant cannot help but be mindful of the new life within and must direct a significant portion of her consciousness toward health and wholeness. While often finding herself in a stance of reverent reflection, she is an active participant in the process of forming this new life. At no point is the pregnant woman a passive observer. The shift in the culture's attitude toward pregnancy also provides a fitting metaphor for the new understandings of the role and influence of women in ministry. It is not long ago that pregnancy and all it entails was marked by embarrassment, seclusion, and disfavor. Euphemistically referred to as being "?in seclusion,?" women were typically excluded from the public eye. Only in recent years have pregnant women been "?allowed?" to continue and experience "?public?" roles. The condition of pregnancy no longer needs to be hidden. Hence, there appears an increasing readiness to acknowledge the value of the lessons of pregnancy, the lessons of that experience of actively waiting, in hope and in faith, with participation in the process, surrender to the mystery, and commitment to the product. Such might be wholesome attitudes to inform those who are committed to ministry in this age of transformation.