My Speech on Ordaining Female Bishops at the Church of God 2010 General Assembly

I have received a number of requests to publish the text of my speech in support of the measure to ordain women as Bishops at the Church of God General Assembly in Orlando in July 2010.  The measure was subsequently defeated in a vote by the all-male General Council and therefore was excluded from the agenda on which the entire Assembly had the opportunity to vote.  Lacking any video or audio record, I have reconstructed my speech based on my rather brief notes.

“Mr Chairman, I rise to speak in support of this motion.

Some have asked why we are discussing this issue yet again, even though I understand it has been 20 years since we voted in this body whether to ordain women to our highest level of ministry.  I would stress that this measure comes before us at the instigation of the international community of the Church of God, through the International Council, which represents leaders and members from every continent of the world.  Over 80% of the membership of the Church of God live outside the United States and, even if their financial circumstances permitted them to travel here, many of them would never receive a visa to enter the US.  Therefore they will never have the opportunity to attend, or to vote in, a General Assembly.

Our denomination embraces many nationalities with diverse cultural patterns.  This cultural flexibility has helped the Church of God become one of the Christian world’s leading examples of a movement that successfully communicates the Gospel and establishes churches cross-culturally – an achievement we are rightfully celebrating in this Centennial year for our World Missions outreaches.  In regard to the issue currently before us, the ordination of women, this cultural diversity is evident.  In some nations the idea of ordaining women as bishops would not be accepted, and nothing this body does or says on the issue will make any difference to their local practices in the foreseeable future.  In many other nations, however, the Church is being immeasurably enriched by the ministry of female ministers.  I fear that our cultural diversity, normally one of our greatest international strengths, is being stifled in this case because US religious culture (or, more specifically, southern US religious culture) is being imposed by this body onto the majority of the Church of God who live outside the United States.

I appreciate that many here see this as a biblical issue, not a cultural issue.  But let’s be clear about this – our concept of an ‘ordained bishop’ who can vote in something called ‘the General Council’ is not found in Scripture.  The Bible knows nothing of three distinct ranks of ministry called Exhorter, Licensed Minister and Ordained Bishop.  So let’s not pretend that that the word ‘bishop’ in the New Testament means the same thing as being an Ordained Bishop in the Church of God.

Furthermore, we need to understand that we are Pentecostals.  We are not just fundamentalists with speaking in tongues tacked on to our belief system.  Early Pentecostals, like the early Church in the Book of Acts, did not see Scripture as a collection of proof texts, but were prepared to see Scripture fulfilled when God blessed certain practices.  An example of this was seen at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, where the apostles could not deny that God was at work in the salvation of the Gentiles and so interpreted Scripture accordingly.

And God is demonstrably blessing the ministry of women in ministry in our churches today.  We already have women serving with distinction as pastors.  I know of one lady pastoring a church of over 8000 members.  That means that God has seen fit to entrust her with more pastoral responsibility than most of us on this floor, and with more direct pastoral responsibility than any of us that are sitting on the platform!

Women can already vote as part of the General Assembly which, according to our minutes, is the highest governing body of the Church of God.  This body (the General Council) is subordinate to the General Assembly, which includes women!  Women are ministering as teachers in our Schools and Seminaries.  Women are serving as District and Regional Overseers in other parts of the world with great success.

Most importantly, our female ministers in some parts of the world have already been counted worthy by the Lord to be imprisoned, to suffer torture for their faith, and even to be executed.  I have personally met some of these dear sisters in the Lord.  I have heard their testimonies first-hand.  I have seen the marks of torture on their bodies.  I freely admit that when I stand in their presence I count myself unworthy to even bow down and unbuckle their shoes.  What message will this General Assembly send back to them?  Their representatives are here among us today.  Many of you know who they are – but I refrain from naming them since these sessions are being streamed live on the internet and I have no wish to endanger those working in ‘closed’ countries.  Will they yet again relay the message that the ‘great and good’ of the General Council of the Church of God agree with the Lord that these ladies are worthy to suffer for His Name, yet are not deemed worthy on account of their gender to be a part of this body?

In conclusion, there are strong feelings on both sides of this issue.  I feel strongly, and am passionate, in support of this measure.  Our fellow Church of God members in many parts of the word feel the same.

I believe that history will judge our words and actions tonight.  There have been times in Christian History when we can look back with pride at how our forefathers behaved.  Their have been other times, such as with regard to slavery and racial segregation, where we are ashamed at how past generations of Christians used Scripture to justify the unjustifiable.  Will we make future generations proud of how we behaved at this General Assembly, or will they be ashamed of us?

It’s time to do this!  It is time to do the right thing!  Let’s vote in support of this measure!”