Alberta hosts third BFL study conference on women in ministry leadership

A “learning and listening session” on women in ministry leadership was held October 15–16 in Linden, Alta., the latest event in a national study tour launched last spring by the Canadian MB Board of Faith and Life.

Facilitator Doug Heidebrecht, an instructor at Bethany College, Hepburn, Sask., led 31 participants through the same regimen of intense study and discussion undertaken at the previous events in Ontario and Saskatchewan (see MB Herald June 11, Nov. 5). The process included a review of Mennonite Brethren resolutions on women in the church, a broad examination of issues and methods in the study of Scripture, and ultimately a grappling with the contextual meaning and contemporary application of two difficult biblical texts: “I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man” (1 Timothy 2:12) and “there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).

Heidebrecht’s exegesis of both passages in their wider literary and canonical contexts was extremely thorough. Using Galatians as a springboard, he highlighted the non-partiality of God and the priority of new creation in Paul’s thought. The Pastoral Letters as a whole helped Heidebrecht dramatize and clarify the nature of the teaching crisis in Timothy’s Ephesus.

An expanded feature of Heidebrecht’s presentation in this third round was a closer look at the logic of creation order as appealed to in Christian discourse of the last two millennia. Mennonite Brethren directives on women in church ministry from the years 1975 and 1981, like their counterparts in 1 Corinthians 11:7–9 and 1 Timothy 2:13–14, make reference to a relation between male and female established at creation.

Additional items of particular historical interest were the 1878 resolution, still in effect, requiring head coverings for women; the 1957 re-designation of the terminology of “ordination” to that of “commissioning” with respect to women entering missionary service; and commentary from a contemporary Church of the Nazarene observer who rebukes as a caving-in to cultural pressure his denomination’s departure from its earlier convictions about the full partnership of women in pastoral ministry.

A prominent emphasis of the Friday evening and Saturday morning event was the value of patient, listening conversation on matters of hermeneutical dispute. It was variously affirmed that the act of sitting down together and talking things through produces fruit in and of itself. Heidebrecht also reminded participants of the need to “bear with each other” (Colossians 3:13) keeping conviction and humility in healthy balance, a stance he modelled as he led. He cautioned against taking positions with labels attached to them or attaching such labels to others, lest the communal seeking of the Spirit degenerate into a crass political contest in which the Bible is used as a weapon for the defense of predetermined worldviews.

These warnings notwithstanding, conversation during the small group discussion time was lively and deeply felt. Participants clearly understood that “bearing with each other” didn’t mean that they weren’t allowed to disagree. (See box below.)

Fourteen of 28 Alberta MB churches were represented at the Linden event. Ten of the 31 attendees were women. There were no attendees under the age of 30. No precise consensus emerged from the event, although the cautiously affirming response of Ernest Siemens, one of the most senior participants, seemed to represent a more general mood: “I think it makes sense to let local churches decide [where women will serve], just as long as they don’t travel around and dictate in other constituencies.” The conference was of particular interest to Ernest and his wife Eleanor because their daughter has served as a pastor in another Christian tradition.

Canadian Board of Faith and Life chair Walter Unger closed the conference at noon on Saturday, remarking on the deep convictions and divergent views held by prominent leaders in our denomination on this matter and BFL’s ongoing role in moderating the discussion. “Pray for us,” he urged.

—Chris Friesen, Lendrum MB Church, Edmonton