Friends,
As the pastor of a Neo-Pentecostal/Charismatic church in the year 2011, having friends who are members of many different brands of the Christian faith, there is often a “white elephant” in the room concerning the proper role of women in the New Testament church program, (particularly when my friends realize, for the first time, that we have ordained women into ministry and refer to two associate pastors on our staff as “Pastor Eileen” and “Pastor Donna.”
Politically and socially, we Americans have seen great distortions in the proper role of the sexes, over the last fifty years, and unfortunately, in response to our culture’s overt feminization of men and symbiotic masculinization of women, it seems we have (to borrow a line from Jesus) leaped from one ditch to another. When I was approached by a long-time member of my church last year, who was asking how to explain this issue to a newer member of our fold (from a Baptist background), I decided I would go ahead and share our doctrinal position on the subject with those who may have wondered about our stand and perhaps felt awkward asking about it. Personally, as you’ll see below, this much work deserves a larger audience than one person (chuckling) so you have been “copied-in.”
My thoughts are, as you might expect, very settled. I hope that you would consider their merit, if you have the time. Should you decide to read on, I do ask one thing of you: if, while reading, you find yourself tempted to get offended, please remind yourself that I didn’t write this explanation to you, personally; I wrote it to a lady named Karen who is a member of my church.
Naturally, I believe our position on this subject, and the methods we use to interpret the scripture, as well as the way we conduct ordinations, is acceptable and pleasing to the Lord, but the purpose of sharing this correspondence is for none other than sharing “why we do what we do at Cornerstone Church.” I would hope to accomplish two things through this:
1) Present a differing view that we believe is correct, with the hope that some who read this might make an adjustment to their own former view.
2) Demonstrate the truth that while some churches may be cavalier with the formation of their doctrines, we are not.
You are, of course, free to pass this along to whomever you wish. The information is not private – as I have changed the names in the correspondence to protect the innocent.
Blessings,
Pastor Cary Gordon Read The Entire Article…
Most would agree that a church should be able to open a school to ensure that its children get an education that conforms with its religious teachings. It follows that a church should be able to employ only those teachers who actually agree with its religious principles and apply them to their lives. But this important aspect of religious freedom is now under attack, and its fate rests in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.
