Aimee Byrd and the Egalitarians Explain Their Plan To Smuggle in Women Pastors
(Denny Burk) Mike Bird and Devi Abraham recently interviewed authors Kristin DuMez, Beth Allison Barr, and Aimee Byrd (see video below). All three of these authors have written books condemning complementarianism. Both DuMez and Barr are convinced egalitarians. While I have never heard Byrd own that label, she has said in her book that she is not a complementarian. In any case, it’s difficult to detect any daylight between Byrd’s position and that of the two egalitarians in this interview. They all three are very much opposed to complementarian theology, which is denigrated as abusive patriarchy in this interview.
One thing that they all three seem to agree on is the need for women to take on more teaching and leadership positions over men in churches. On this point, there was one revealing moment at the end of the interview that I think complementarians would do well to take note of. Devi Abraham asks the authors what one thing needs to change in evangelical churches, and Beth Allison Barr answers first with this:
You know, I would like for women to be able to teach Sunday School… In order for women to be accepted in leadership roles, we’ve got to put them in leadership roles… Lots of men have this story that their minds actually weren’t changed by what they read. Their minds were changed by hearing women. And hearing women teach and realizing they could be edified, that they could grow spiritually from hearing a woman.
So I would really like for more evangelical churches to put women in adult leadership roles… So I’m not expecting pastorate immediately. Everything takes time. But just put them in more spaces where they actually can use these gifts. Don’t confine them only to women’s ministry and to children’s ministry and to the dream team in the kitchen. Put them out in leadership roles… Let women teach the Bible. Let them teach actual theology and good stuff. And let’s see them do it… If I could change one thing, I would put more women in adult Sunday School and teaching places in churches.
Notice that the endgame for…
To continue reading and see the video, click here.
Editor’s Note. This article was written by Denny Burk and published at DennyBurk.com. Title changed by Protestia.
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Sure, Scripture is just a bunch of words written by men, right?
Let’s do it our way – because justice and stuff…
Fools.
Complementarian is a garbage doctrine and its fruit is rotten. What makes it so dangerous is even the most conservative churches can’t tell how subversive it is, they think that because it’s just as offensive to feminists as tEh pAtRiArChY it must be right but in reality it’s the doctrinal equivalent of wearing gray pants and a blue coat during the Civil War. It was created by closeted feminists (Grudem and Piper) who introduced the novel interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:12 that makes the emphasis about who women should teach and have authority over rather than if they should teach and have authority. Complementarian theology also does nothing to prevent male leadership from being viewed something that is intrinsically abusive, and it always seeks to couch biblical commands for submission to male authority with “except if” statements.
Growing up in a socially conservative Anabaptist church that didn’t allow women pastor’s, elders, or deacons there was a lot of emphasis on “servant leadership” followed by sermons about how Jesus washed the disciple’s feet in the upper room. Leadership never had a clear tie to authority, for over a decade, it was always “you lead by serving”. However, as the years go on, I see how the top-down influence of liberal theology has affected that Anabaptist denomination and how they are now “having conversations” and “rethinking” their stance on women leaders in the church. Of course, these conversations do not deal with how aspiring lady preachers can lead by serving and being humble, instead the focus is on women “having a voice” and “authority” and not being a “servant leader”.
Peter, you’re clearly an effeminate with an effeminate contortion of Scripture because you weren’t man enough to stand up to a little complimentarian bullying once in your life, so now you’re casting it all out as garbage.
All the Sunday school teachers I’ve had are volunteers, and God bless anyone who will volunteer for anything as time consuming as teaching Sunday school for a year. Some of them were women. I never once confused a volunteer Sunday school teacher with the preacher. I didn’t know anyone else did. I’m not convinced this is a thing.