Baptist
Women
Baptist Women
I. Introduction
A. Content of Lecture
B. Distinction between Deacon and
Deaconess
Charles Deweese
Distinction between Deacon and Deaconess
Baptists have usually made a clear distinction
between them Deaconesses were usually not
ordained, they often met separately from
deacons, and were seen in a subsidiary role as
assistances to deacons. But, some Baptists did
ordain deaconesses and made no distinction
between them and deacons. Indeed, the term
“deaconess” has been used to refer to a
woman deacon.
Baptist Women
II. An Historical Overview
A. England
B. America
C. The 20th and 21st Centuries
John Smyth
1605 A Pattern of True Prayer
“Deacons are 1. Men 2. Women deacons or
widows . . . . Women deacons or widows are
of 60 years of age, qualified according to the
Apostles rule 1 Tim. 5.9, relieving the bodily
infirmities of the Saints with cheerfulness.”
1607 Principles and Inferences Concerning the
Visible Church
“Women are not permitted to speak in the
church in time of prophecy.”
Thomas Helwys
1611 Confession of Faith
Article 20
“That the officers of every Church or
congregation are either elders, who by their
office do especially feed the flock concerning
their souls, or deacons, men, and women who
by their office relieve the necessities of the
poor and impotent brethren concerning their
bodies.”
Thomas Edwards
Among the Baptists “there are also some
women preachers in our times who keep
constant lectures, preaching weekly to many
men and women.”
Two Significant Points
1. Baptist women apparently held the majority
in many churches.
2. Baptist women suffered persecution in the
same way as did men. They were “fined,
whipped, and jailed along with their
menfolk.”
South Wales Baptist Association
1654
“For the assistance of deacons there are
widows, of whom, see 1 Tim. 5.16, who are
likewise to serve the church, Ro. 16.1 most
probably in looking to the poor and sick.”
Records of the Broadmead Baptist Church
Bristol, England 1679
On the Duties of Widows or Deaconesses
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
“Their work was further declared to them in these particulars:
To visit the Sick, to have their Eye and Ear open to hearken and enquire
who is sick and to visit the sick sisters in a special manner, to see what
they Need Because it may not be so proper for men in several cases.
To visit not only sick Sisters, but sick Brethren also; and therefore some
conceive may be the Reason why they must be 60 years of age, that none
occasion may be given; and as 1 Tim. 5.14.
Not only to take care of their sick bodies, of the Brethren and Sisters, But
that their wants may be supplied; and therefore to make reports back of
their condition, to the Elders and Deacons of the Congregation.
It is their duty also to speak a word to their souls, as occasion requires, for
support or consolation, to build them up in a spiritual lively faith in Jesus
Christ; for as some observe, there is not an office of Christ in his Church
but it is dipped in the blood of our Lord Jesus.
Some think it is their duty to Attend the sick; and if so, then they are to be
maintained by the Church.”
H. Leon McBeth
“The records do not show any uniformity of
duties for those churches that did accept
women deacons and preachers. However, we
gather that the office of deaconess was
primarily a welfare office.”
H. Leon McBeth
“The role of Baptist women tended to
diminish in England as the years passed.
Women were quite active in the 1600’s, still
active in the 1700’s, but less so by the 1800’s.
By the mid-1800’s some churches had
abolished the office of deaconess, and some
even questioned the right of women to vote in
church conferences, much less to speak out.”
The Order of Baptist Deaconesses
The Baptist Deaconess Home and Mission
Opened 1890, London
Gwenyth Hubble
“The existence of an order of deaconesses has
been, for us as a denomination, an escape route
by which we have avoided facing the real issue of
women in pastoral ministry, and we have been
content, because of the shortage of male
ministers, to let women do the work of the
pastoral ministry and call by another name.”
She concluded, “It is obvious that a church will be
prepared to have a deaconess when it cannot
afford to have a minister because she is cheaper.”
Bill J. Leonard
“Women were at the center of frontier Baptist
church life.”
In the early revivals, “women were allowed to
‘prophecy’ (preach) even to mixed audiences.
With time, however, the practice was
discouraged. The sphere within which women
could serve was narrowed: they “could prepare
communion but not serve it, feed the preacher
but not preach themselves.”
The Philadelphia Baptist Association
“There must be times and ways in and by
which women as members of the body may
discharge their conscience and duty towards
God and men.”
The Bible “’excludes all women whomsoever
from all degrees of teaching, ruling, governing,
dictating, and leading in the church of God.’”
Morgan Edwards
“The Scripture forbids women to speak, ask
questions, teach, dispute, rule, or vote in
church.”
Baptists in the American South
Separate Baptists
Roots lay in Calvinistic Baptists
who became highly evangelical
in the Great Awakening
revivals
Spread in rural areas (more a
frontier setting where women
had had a stronger role in
Baptist churches)
Margaret Clay and Martha
Stearns Marshall were noted
preachers
Regular Baptists
Roots lay in the staunchly
Calvinistic Particular
Baptists
Found in urban areas
Opposed to deaconesses,
women speaking in church,
women preaching
H. Leon McBeth
“The United Baptists (and later the Southern
Baptists) largely accepted the Regulars’
concept of ministry and doctrine. . . . The
Separate tradition of the leadership role of
women . . . largely disappeared.”
Freewill Baptists
1746 licensed a woman to preach
1791 ordained Mary Savage who was “the first
name in the records as a female laborer in the
gospel.”
Examples of Ordinations in
the Nineteenth Century
1876 M.A. Brennan, Freewill Baptist
1887 and 1889 two other Freewill Baptists
1882 May C. Jones, Northern Baptist Convention
1885 Experience Fitz Randolph Burdick, Seventh
Day Baptist
H. Leon McBeth
“The evidence suggests that in the nineteenth
century many Southern Baptists approved
deaconesses and regarded the offices as
biblical. Moreover, at least some churches
acted upon these views and regularly set aside
deaconesses as well as deacons. Probably
Southern Baptist churches have never been
without deaconesses.”
Lottie Moon
“There is a latent
power in our churches
which, following the
wise example of other
denominations, we
should seek at once to
develop.”
The Baptist Deaconess Home
1884
New York City
Sarah Frances Anders
“Many state Baptist newspapers will not
publish information about the ordination of
women because they want to avoid having
their editorial staff criticized”
Examples from the
Southern Baptist Convention
Addie Davis ordained in 1964, the first ordained
Southern Baptist woman (moved to the
American Baptist Convention to pastor)
Druecillar Fordham (ordained by the American
Baptist Convention), in 1965 became the first
woman pastor of a Southern Baptist church
and the first African-American ordained
woman to serve in the SBC
1964 - 1997
Sarah Frances Anders documented 1,225
ordinations of Southern Baptist women—an
average of 37 per year.
Leon McBeth said that between 1964 and
1978 perhaps fifty or more women were
ordained in SBC churches, a number of them
for the chaplaincy.
1984 SBC Resolution
“On Ordination and the Role of
Women in Ministry”
Paul “excluded women from pastoral
leadership (1 Tim. 2:12) to preserve a
submission God requires because the man
was first in creation and the woman was first
in the Edenic fall (1 Tim. 2:13ff).”
The Baptist Faith and Message
2000
Article on the Church
“While both men and women are gifted for
service in the church, the office of pastor is
limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
Anna Marie Feltner
“When I entered the education ministry it
was unheard of for women to be ordained . . .
I will not ask for ordination. My people know I
am their minister.”
American Baptist Convention
Resolution on Women and Ordination
1965
“We believe there should be no differential
treatment of men and women in the church, family,
or society and that there should be equal
opportunity for full participation in the work of our
God.”
American Baptist Convention
2003
410 women serving as ABC pastors, 9% of all
ABC pastors
said to be an increase of 13 over 2004
American Baptist Convention
2005
American Baptist Women in Ministry reported
403 women serving as pastors or co-pastors of
ABC churches
African-American Baptist Churches
57% of Progressive National Baptist pastors
and 74% of Nation Baptist Convention USA
opposed ordination of women
African-American Baptist Churches
The 1997 reports of the National Baptist
Convention of America and the National
Baptist Convention USA said none of their
churches had women pastors
Freewill Baptists
ordaining women as early as 1876
between 1780 and 1920 , 70 women pastored
churches
in the 1950s begin excluding women from
leadership positions
in 2005 only one conference (out of seven)
reported any ordained women serving in its
churches—another one reported a restructuring
of its licensing process hoping all candidates
regardless of gender would receive serious
consideration
Seventh Day Baptists
first woman ordained in 1885
since that ordination at least 15 other women
have been ordained
in 2005 , 4 out of 127 pastors were women, 3
in full-time positions and 1 as an associate
pasor
Other Baptists
2005
Alliance of Baptists had 118 churches with 26
women as pastor or co-pastor
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship had 1,854 churches
with at least 5.5% served by a women pastor
The Baptist General Association of Virginia had
1,411 churches with 16 women pastors or copastors
The Baptist General Convention of Texas had 5,900
churches with 11 women pastors or co-pastors
Pamela R. Durso
“Given the number of Baptist churches in the
nation . . . less than 5 percent of all Baptist
churches in the United States had a women
serving as pastor” [in 2005].
Since 1964 Baptist churches have
ordained an estimated 1,600 women.
Durso estimates this would double if
we included American Baptists, Free
Will Baptists, national Baptists,
Progressive National Baptists and
Seventh Day Baptists. The majority of
these women worked as chaplains or
served on a church staff working with
children or youth or serving as an
associate pastor.
Baptist Women in Ministry
2005 Report
“In the early twentieth century Baptist
churches began to employ women
(without ordination) to direct specific
ministries of the church.” (my emphasis)
Southern Baptist Convention
2001 motion to stop the ordination of women
as chaplains
2002 the North American Mission Board
ceased endorsing ordained women or women
who asked to be ordained as a chaplain
H. Leon McBeth
1973 only 200 to 300 SBC
churches had women deacons
Charles Deweese
In Women Deacons and Deaconesses he listed
292 Baptist churches where a women had been
chair of deacons—most affiliated with the CBF
Deweese said, “Since the number of churches
with women deacons that have not yet had a
female chair is much larger than the number that
have, it is extremely likely that thousands of
Baptist churches nationwide and worldwide have
women deacons.”
Baptists in Other Countries
Marita Munro, Australia, 1978—seven more
ordained between 1991and 1997
Angelina Belluga Buensuceso, Convention of
Philippine Baptist Churches, 1980
Cuba, 1992, three women ordained—early 21st
century there were 20 ordained men pastors
and 13 women
Silvia de Silva Nogueira, Brazil, 1998
Rebeca Montemayor Lopez, Mexico, 2000
Carolyn DeArmond Blevins
“Reflecting on Baptists and women's issues in the twentieth
century, it seems to me that there was one issue that dominated
woman's relationship with Baptists: who controls the voice of
women? One statement sums up woman's story in twentieth
century Baptist life: Baptist women, black and white, in the north
and in the south, spent the century trying to get a voice in the
denominations they served. Recall some of the issues Baptist
women faced in the last century: Can women speak in mixed
audiences? Can women vote in the nation, in the convention, n
the church? Will women be elected to denominational boards?
And if they are, will they be elected at the same rate as men? Can
women be admitted to all educational
opportunities?
Will women be hired into any vocation to which they are called?
Can women be ordained? Will churches call women as senior
pastors?”
“From the early 1900s to the late 1990s, too many Baptists
preferred women with silent voices--women who would
unquestionably follow the authority of men,”
Li Li
“The rise of educational missions offered Southern
Baptist women a great opportunity in China at the turn
of the century. Historically speaking, the most common
public profession for women was to become teachers
especially at the primary and secondary levels. By
participating in the Southern Baptist educational effort
in China, women found an effective way to change their
role in the foreign missions.”
“During the late nineteenth century and the early
twentieth century, there was a revolution among the
Southern Baptist women in their attitude toward
foreign missions. Independence became the key word.”
Baptist
Women
in
Ministry
Baptist Women in Ministry
Purpose Statement:
The organization will “provide support for the
women whose call from God defines here vocation
as that of minister . . . And to encourage and affirm
her call to be a servant of God.”
Mission Statement:
“To be a catalyst in Baptist life, drawing together
women and men in partnership with God, to
illuminate, and advocate, and nurture the gifts and
graces of women.”
Baptist Women
IV.Some Concluding Thoughts
A. Pamela R. Durso
B. Charles Deweese
C. Charles Deweese
D. Carolyn DeArmond Blevins
E. An Exception to the Rule
Pamela R. Durso
“In truth, other denominations have benefitted
from the Baptist opposition to women ministers.
Scores of Baptist women have fled their
childhood denomination and moved into
Methodist, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ, and
United Church of Christ circles. Yet, many Baptist
women who have been called to and gifted for
ministry have remained Baptist, and their
steadfastness has brought renewal and change to
the churches to which they belong.”
Charles Deweese
“What issues are at stake in this discussion relating to women
deacons? A partial list would include at least the following: the
power of God to call women into whatever ministry he chooses; the
focus given or not given to the life, spirit, and teachings of Christ in
assessing the matter; literal views of scripture compared to more
contextual understandings; misuses of the writings of the apostle
Paul relating to women; the place of women in the ministry and
service of the church; the implications of growing patterns of
excessive pastoral authority in Baptist life; increasing concerns about
women’s subordination and submissiveness in denominational
confessions of faith, resolutions, theological education, missions
programming, and curriculum literature; diverse attitudes regarding
the biblical basis and meaning of ordination; misuses of the
autonomy of the local church against women’s leadership and
service; and theological influences that affect Baptist’ attitudes
toward women”
Charles Deweese
“Finally, as Donald F. Thomas put it in his
1969 Judson Press book The Deacon in a
changing Church, ‘It may be that the
most important question is not whether
women should hold positions in the
church but whether the modern church
can fulfill its ministry without them.’”
Carolyn DeArmond Blevins
“We Baptists tout our doctrines of freedom
while we muzzle our female voices. It is a very
confusing message.”
An Exception to the Rule
Jana Mayfield Mullen
“Rebecca Anna Phillips: Question of Authority
and Gender among Primitive Baptists”
Baptist History and Heritage
Winter 2006: 67-76