For Charlotte

By Tyler Tankersley

We've made some vast improvements as a society in regard to women's equality. More and more women are being educated, empowered and encouraged to make significant contributions to furthering goodness in our communities. However, there is one arena in which we are still lacking: ministry.

My friend Jennifer was a seminary classmate of mine. Like me, Jennifer felt a call to pastoral ministry at a young age. When she approached her youth minister about her sense of calling, she was told that she was mistaken. She could not be called to pastoral ministry because of her gender; instead she was called to either be a children's pastor, a church kitchen volunteer or a pastor's wife.

Many Christians feel as if scripture prohibits women from serving as pastors. There are passages in which Paul seems to bar women from serving as pastoral leaders (most notably 1 Timothy 2:12). Many biblical scholars have argued that Paul is speaking of a specific situation in 1 Timothy and was not meaning to dictate policy for all Christian churches. Further, there are also numerous examples of women who held influential leadership positions in the early Christian church: Phoebe (Romans 16:1-2), Junia (Romans 16:7), Chloe (1 Corinthians 1:11), Priscilla (1 Corinthians 16:19), Eudoia and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3) and Nympha (Colossians 4:15).

This is an issue with which there is a lot of disagreement between Christians. Some of my friends who may disagree with me are people of goodwill and authentic faith. We may disagree on this issue, but we still can agree on many other issues.

Former President Jimmy Carter left the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 because of their refusal to allow women to serve as pastors. In his book, "A Call to Action," he writes, "When our mothers, wives, sisters and daughters are considered both different and inferior in the eyes of the God we worship, this belief tends to permeate society and everyone suffers."

While some may feel that not permitting a woman to serve as a pastor does not treat her as inferior, they should spend some time talking to one that feels called to pastoral ministry and is told they are mistaken.

However, the real disagreement between Christians on the issue of women in ministry is really one of interpretation. Does the Bible set forth pastoral gender guidelines and roles that were meant to still be 100 percent applicable to 2017? If one answers yes to that question, then what does someone do with the more than 200 verses that allow slavery as an acceptable practice?

On Jan. 6, I gained a daughter. Charlotte already has proved herself to be a feisty member of our family. I am proud to pastor a church that affirms God's calling to both men and women to serve as deacons, pastors and other church leadership roles. And now that I have a daughter, one thing has been made all the more clear: I always will look to attend and contribute to a church that recognized either my sons or my daughter could serve in pastoral ministry.