Where have all the Bible College Graduates Gone? Chapter Two.

Don’t tell them - No Girls allowed!

The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC) has a long and ambiguous history with the concept of ordination. Does it confer an indelible privileged spiritual status to the pastor over the laity or does it simply imply a functional difference? Is it bestowed from above or from below?[1]

Initially ordination was a simple affair which involved two or more ordained ministers imposing their hands on a candidate who had sufficiently proven “his”[2] call to ministry. These early Pentecostals repudiated any thought that these “servants” were in any way ontologically different or superior to laity. Ordination was task orientated. Everyone was either a brother or sister in the Lord. The title “reverend” did not appear in the General Conference Minutes until 1931 and did not appear to be the descriptor of choice until the General Conference held 1940, in Toronto. But to be sure women ministers were excluded from this appellation.

A woman could be a deaconess. She could serve on mission fields. In fact, in these early years given that missions generally required raising your own support, most of our missionaries were women.[3] Women were also often behind start-up churches in Canada, that is until the church attained a certain size, and it is documented that they would often be asked to step aside as it was now time for a man to take over.

In 1955 writing in the Testimony (official periodical of the PAOC) pastor G.R. Upton wrote in an article titled, Why Men should Teach, “We appreciate the work that has been done by our faithful women. God bless them! They have contributed largely to the cause of Christ, having answered the call of God when the ears of men seemed to be dull and heavy. They have braved the jungles of Africa to do a man’s work, and today are doing for God a service of no small significance…But men should teach because of the great influence they can wield in their community- particularly to men…and they are best able to reach the boys of our generation who are the potential church leaders of tomorrow.”[4]

The road to ordination for women has been painful. Women were advised they “serve a grander sphere in that they created men to fulfill their divine mandate.”[5] For a detailed look at this journey including the role CP Rail played in recognizing women in ministry, you can follow the link below which will take you to my 1995 doctoral dissertation, A Paradigmatic Analysis of Authority Pentecostalism.[6] Chapter seven is dedicated to their journey from Deaconess, to Lady Workers, to Licenced minister to Ordination 1.0.

Ordination 1.0 occurred at the General Conference in 1984. It was the 4th attempt in 8 years to achieve the two thirds majority needed to make the constitutional change to ordain women. It is worth noting that the sudden sway of 90% of the conference agreeing to ordain women factored largely on three things.

1. Before the debate several men privately asked some of the more vocal women on this motion to let them argue on their behalf.

2. A report from a junior officer from national office reminded the constituency that from a traditional Pentecostal point of view “Ordination confers nothing”, it is simply a recognition of the call of God and the consecration of that person to that call to certain types of ministry.

3. That the “Ordination” for women that was being called for would not make one eligible for election of any office within the church, whether on district or national levels. Thus, in the minds of those voting, women would not be in ultimate positions of power and therefore have “authority” over men. They could have a prophetic voice but, would leave the priestly voice of power to men. This also explains why post 1984, a woman could be ordained, but women were denied in most churches even a place on the church board (this restriction caveat was later overturned in the General Conference of 1998 – thus Ordination 2.0).

I digress from my college project to bring attention to the plight of women on the pathway to ordination because over the years women have consistently comprised 1/3 to ½ of the student body at Eastern even though opportunities for employment in their respective fields of study were significantly limited. In 1978 the year of my graduation, 46 men graduated along with 22 women. And this was before Women’s Ordination 1.0. In 1989 in their 50th year celebration the numbers were 68 men and 41 women. And in 1998 there were 52 men and 34 women. All of which again is outstanding given the lingering prejudices post-graduation for women finding a placement within their training.

For this project over a third of my interviews were with female graduates. In this blog I introduce two women, both married who despite the odds against them have made their own path and are listed as lead pastors in their respective congregations. Deborah graduated almost 50 years ago, and Angel graduated over 20 years ago.

In brief here are their stories.

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Don’t Tell them - No Girls Allowed

Deborah

Deborah is listed on her church website as co-lead pastor with her husband, a distinction that her husband insisted on. Her story required two interviews. Deborah is smart, witty and passionate about ministry. She wasn’t ordained until she was in her mid 60s when she also went back to college to get her degree.[7] But when she talks it is best to listen. Nobody better tell her that she is not anointed to minister.

When she graduated there were very limited opportunities for women. She was single, which further limited her potential to be hired for anything but church secretary.[8] So she decided to go back home and find a “regular” job, but not before visiting a friend. It was there she met her husband to be. After a short courtship they got married. Back in those days she told me, “you got married on Saturday. You had to go to church on Sunday morning. And then you went on your honeymoon.” And with her husband she has been involved in pastoral ministry of one kind or another ever since.

On being co-lead pastor…

“Well, I wouldn't say it that way. He (husband) likes to put me on there because I do a lot. I preach, and I lead studies, I do a lot, but I'm not paid. I'm not on salary. I'm not accountable to anybody but my husband.”[9]

On Bible College…

Today when I look back on my bible school years, 45 years later, I don't really remember that I learned that much, obviously, but the friendships I made have been lifelong.

I have since learned that ministry doesn't give us a free ticket to life. Sometimes I look back and I think of some of my classmates, life has been hard and unfair to a lot of them, if not all of us. I think, if you don't expect life to be a challenge, then I think you're setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment. There's an Eastern Pentecostal page on Facebook, that I follow and a classmate of mine posted a picture of our grad class. Occasionally, somebody will comment on it. The other day, a fellow classmate posted and said something like, ‘I wish I'd done better in college. I wish I cared. I wish I'd poured more of myself into it.’ And I felt bad for him because I don't remember him as being uncaring. But if you knew me in my 20s, you only knew one season one of my life. The script wasn't thought out. And now I'm seasoned right? (gentle sarcasm noted) Back then we were all immature. We all thought we knew everything. We all thought we knew more than anybody else. We probably didn't apply ourselves fully spiritually, educationally, or relationally. But that was just one season of our life. And there were a lot of seasons to follow. Back then it was probably impossible to get that message across, because we wouldn't have received it. And the generations now don't receive it. So, take it as that, not as a broken doll and go into the rest of your life willing to learn and listen, and serve. And just be ready for life.

On ordination and further study…

A few years ago, while my husband I were on a mission trip in Africa, we were at a church compound kind of school that we support. I had always wanted to be a schoolteacher. So, I asked the director, “can I just sit in on the classes, you know?” And he said, Sure… And as I was sitting there, I thought to myself, if I just had the credentials, I could do that. And as I was walking back across the compound, I really felt the Holy Spirit, say to me, finish theory, like, do all you can. and leave the rest to me. So, I walked back into the little place where we were staying, and I said to my husband, I'm going back to school, I'm going to finish and get my undergraduate degree. And I'm also going to get ordained while I'm at it, because I'm going to get as much as man's approval as I can get. And then I'll leave the rest to God.

What else should readers know…

I think I would rather in some cases, not everything, but in some of the things of my life, I would have applied a bit more wisdom than before. Because the effects of failure, they are deep. They not only shape us, but sometimes they can scar us… And that's a little harder to live with.

There are two things going on here. There are the mistakes, or the difficult circumstances that we walk through. In some cases, you wished at the time, life was easier, but when you look back, you recognize that these are the things that perhaps brought strength. But then there's our own personal choices. And I think those are the things that we often look back and would like to have changed. The personal decisions that we made that had negative effects. But at the same time, it's good for us to recognize and to encourage others, because we all have been there, but God is bigger than all of that, right? And if we keep our focus where it needs to be, with humility and repentance in that package of faith, God will see us through.

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Angel

Angel graduated from EPBC a little over 20 years ago. As the pastor she is a gift to her modest church. She too is married with children which given her lead pastor role puts her in an anomalistic position. For her ordination while accompanied by her husband, the district official who came to pray for the ordinands was more than a little confused and prayed unconscionably (in my estimation) for her husband and his youth ministry (her husband was still in college and was not intending to go into church ministry). Kinder than I would have been, Angel responded, “It was just so funny. It was hilarious. All Mixed Up funny.” I will let her tell the rest of her story.

On being a lead pastor…

I had a job coming out of Bible College, It was my home youth group. And I was there for five years. Leaving there I was pregnant and went to work in a daycare until our daughter was born. Eventually I found a family and children’s ministry position. Later we transitioned for my husband’s job, and I knew I needed to get out of being pigeonholed as a children’s pastor. A few moves later I applied for the job in my current setting and was accepted.

The first day that I came to preach the call, there were 40 people? Everyone showed up because they had had to vote in their new pastor. And then, a few months later, 12 people showed up for Sunday. I remember texting another female lead pastor and it was like “help.” And she said, “Well, Jesus only had 12.” I was like, Oh, thanks for reminding me. You know, it was a good, slap in the face. Because at the end of the day, you're called to disciple people. So, it's been a great journey. And it's a great little church, they're good people and, it's a great community.

And now because of my femaleness and being a lead pastor, I get opportunities to mentor young leaders out of the Bible College. I almost forget what it is like to feel that naïve again where everyone's good, and everyone thinks the best of their pastor. And sometimes I must fight against the cynicism that comes on a bad day. Hopefully the students don't catch me on a bad day.

There has been a lot of brokenness that happens because of people and leaders who have been victims of other people's crimes. And so, I have had to go back to my original calling, and depend only on that, and not what other people around me are saying, even people close to me saying, ‘Yeah, well, that's not gonna happen. That's nice. You know, that would be nice.’ All this naysaying has a way of breaking you down. But it has also drawn me back to my original journaling in Bible College about following God's call.

On personal growth..

My growth as a person of faith was really in those transition times between pastoral jobs. I was able to draw the lines like, this is my gifting mix. This is who I am and how this translates no matter what role I'm in.

I am learning to trust God's voice again. I lean into that wisdom, trusting it. Now that I'm older, I am trusting more in the giftings of the Spirit? This trust and obey thing, which is kind of where I'm at now believing in it more than ever.

On Bible College…

I had nobody in my family who has spent two minutes in ministry. I went to Bible college because I felt called. I didn't know what I was going to do but it was during my time there that I realized that, oh, I could be a pastor. It was because of the professors. They didn't have to say it out loud. They just treated us as equal people on the playing field for going into ministry, whatever that would look like. And it was kept open enough that you actually believed you could be whatever you want it to be in the ministry that God was calling you into.

On Denominations…

I remember my dad getting filled the Holy Spirit, but my mom was never like speaking in tongues, but probably in my opinion, one of the more spirit-filled people in our household. But I I would say that I've always been more open to multiple denominations. I love the fellowship of Pentecostal seminaries and I am Spirit filled and believe in the Spirit even though I don't preach on it all the time. But I haven't shifted away from it. But I would also add, theologically speaking, we as Pentecostals don’t have it all figured out either, and I'm okay with it. And I'm okay with the gray lines.

My Observation…

I chose the cover names Deborah and Angel quite deliberately. Their stories are a living witness reminding me that the Holy Spirit delights in making a mockery of our gendered roles and our attempts to suppress the voice of women in pastoral leadership. I am reminded of the religious leaders in in their attempt to keep the Holy Spirit from leaking out of the temple (Acts 3) After Peter and John were complicit in the healing of a lame man on the steps of the Temple, the religious leaders, the keepers of the gate leading into the temple, proceeded to arrest Peter and John for breaking accepted protocol. “Oops, says the Spirit I didn’t know I was under house arrest. I was just going for a walk outside to get some fresh air. Think I might stay out for a while. I hear Deborah and Angel might need some help and encouragement.”

Next week: Back to School: “Danger, Danger Will Robinson.”

[1] In my 40 plus years of ordination within the PAOC I have attended many yearly ordination ceremonies. The language used to describe the significance of the ritual appears to be at the whim of the presiding District Superintendent and is all over the proverbial map. The constant is we think it is important but based on the language used, there is confusion in terms of why it is necessary. [2] The wording here is exclusive because until 1984 in the PAOC, ordination was the exclusive privilege of men. [3] In 1925 the Western council of the PAOC passed the following resolution, “Resolved that whereas the majority of missionaries already on the foreign fields are woman and sufficient funds are not yet forthcoming…be it resolved that when new recruits offer themselves, men have first consideration…” PAOC General Conference Minutes (1925) [4] We may cringe reading this, but in 1955 this reflected the tone of the day in the broader evangelical world. Pentecostal Testimony(September 1955). [5] “Men have their part, but to woman as queen of the home and mother of the children, God gives an intuition, touch and power which men can never know. With Christ in control she becomes the greatest agency in al the world.” D.N. Buntain, Pentecostal Testimony (Oct. 1, 1944): 2. [6] My thesis was interested in the decision-making process of denominations like the PAOC. In the case of the ordination of women I was not interested in defending or opposing the ordination of women. Although if asked, I would be defending ordination. My focus was on the process. Why did it take almost 80 plus years before we made the change? What factors lead to the change? On the ordination of women scroll to chapter 7, on the question of ordination scroll to chapter 4https://www.academia.edu/4422810/Authority_in_Pentecostalism, See also this shorter article that I published in EPBC’s Journal of Practical Theology while working on my doctoral dissertation. https://www.academia.edu/5259722/Pentecost_Womens_Emancipation_Day Eastern Journal of Practical Theology vol 5:2 (1991): 27-34. [7] In Deborah’s time as it was when I was a student, the highest credential a graduate could obtain was a diploma. [8] Nelson Rogers in his Master’s Thesis, And Your daughter’s Shall Prophesy? The Impact of the dominant Ideology of Canadian societ on the Role of Women in Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (1992) he tells the advice given to Edith Middleton and Grace Swinton by a district officer when they requested help for her fledging congregation. The minister told them, “What you girls need to do is get yourselves a good husband and settle down.” [9] Unfortunately, back then that was the deal. A husband and wife was a two for one price. Unless the spouse, usually the wife worked “outside” of the ministry and then she was often frowned upon as a “secular” as opposed to a “spiritual” pastor’s wife.