the limits of dissent

[A personal view - not an official account - of one aspect of Baptist Union Council this week.]

 

I returned from BU Council on Wednesday, feeling that this had been three days well spent.  Recent Councils have been excellent in grappling with substantial issues in ways that restore your confidence in the principle of the gathered community discerning the mind of Christ under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  I commented on this in relation to last November’s Council here.

 

These last three days have had a major focus on “Women in Leadership among the churches of the Baptist Union of Great Britain”.  This wasn’t a debate about whether women can exercise ministerial leadership.  That was established back in the 1920s and affirmed many times since.  Nonetheless we were ably led by both women and men into an understanding of some of the attitudes women encounter when they explore a leadership calling, not least to pastoral ministry itself.  And we engaged with a wise, theological understanding of Paul’s overarching ‘grand vision’ as exemplified by Galatians 3:28 as well as his need to attend to immediate realities occasioned, for instance, by hitherto uneducated women speaking up in worshipping communities. 

 

As you would expect, there were a range of views expressed, though with the vast majority supportive of the Union’s long-held support for women in leadership in all roles. 

 

But it wasn’t theological pressure that brought this issue to Council but the continuing discrimination experienced by women exploring or undertaking leadership roles, especially as ministers.  And so, fittingly, it was the pain of women’s experiences brought into the open by their story-telling that shaped the character of Council’s listening.  Their stories at times made me ashamed to be a man knowing that men in our churches could be so offensive, so hurtful and at times so misogynistic.

 

And so Council, it seemed to me, was clearly of a mind to say enough is enough.  Things must change.  And that is a challenge to all of us, not least those of us in denominational leadership. 

 

But then comes the question of how we handle those who dissent, some out of biblical conviction, others out of ignorance, some out of prejudice. 

 

Whilst Baptists would never wish to stifle dissent, nor act punitively towards those who do so, there was a courageous recognition that whilst there is a place for conscientious dissent, this must never, ever occasion the kind of hurts that were recounted this week. Further, prejudice masquerading as dissent could no longer be tolerated. 

 

And how is prejudice to be distinguished from principled dissent?  Blind prejudice is when someone says to a woman in ministerial training that she shouldn’t expect a salary because her husband has a good job.  Blind prejudice is when women have to tolerate comments about their shape, their weight or parts of their body. Blind prejudice is when a woman is told that ‘I hope you’ll never preach while menstruating’.   And there were many other stories besides. 

 

There was a tacit understanding that as a Baptist people we have made our position clear.  Our forebears believed they had discerned the mind of Christ on this matter many years ago (at a time when women’s justice was hardly a popular cause).  That conviction has been reaffirmed over the years and now again in March 2010. There should be no barriers to women exercising leadership in our churches. 

 

It follows therefore that even those who dissent on grounds of biblical conviction have to understand that they do so over and against the conviction of the gathered community.  Of course, there are examples in history where the majority have been wrong, and this mantra will be trotted out.   But this is significantly deeper than ‘a mere majority vote.’  This is men and women from our Baptist family, over many generations, set apart for a purpose, devoting themselves to listening, praying and discerning, and together we have again and again arrived at the same position. 

 

Enough really is enough therefore. 

 

Those who dissent on biblical grounds must understand that this is not the position of the family of which they are a part. 

 

And anyone exhibiting the kind of ‘blind prejudice’ illustrated above is behaving in a way that, let it be understood, is completely unacceptable among us.

 

No woman within our Baptist family, called and gifted for leadership, should have that calling stifled. 

 

David Kerrigan

Comments

[Chris]

David, your post put me in mind of the document produced by the Faith and Unity department in September 2009, called "Knowing what we believe: Theological authority amongst Baptists". It's available still on the BU website, (not sure if I should put a link in here?) and includes a section on the settled position regarding women in ministry.

It suggested that those who don't agree, rather than being excluded from the centre, were actually in the process of excluding themselves.

I think that is a very helpful way of putting it, because too often it seems to me those who wish to exclude others are the first to complain if they feel excluded themselves, and you end up with a battle of who feels the most excluded!

But that document was phrased in a way suggestive of more discussion in the future. I'm not sure quite how the Faith and Unity department fits in with the Baptist Council, but was the meeting you described part of this process?

[David Kerrigan]

Chris, the link you refer to is to be found http://www.baptist.org.uk/resources/a-z.asp?section=61 , a document well worth reading.

To answer your question, it was indeed the ‘Faith and Unity’ department that brought forward this matter for discussion. It seems to me that the Council is doing exactly what the above document envisaged, namely “helping recover a confidence to debate, discern and agree statements of conviction and belief that have authority amongst us. This is part of our covenant responsibility to discern the mind of Christ, and is a way in which we give meaning to our identity as Baptists”.

David

[steve]

An interesting post, thank you. Some awful examples of prejudice although as a male minister I get comments about my shape, weight and haircut as well.

[Simon Goddard]

I am so pleased that Council has spent some time seriously considering this issue. I wrote a letter to the Baptist Times a couple of years ago on this matter http://www.exacteditions.com/exact/browse/354/377/4095/3/8/0/ and my strength of feeling then came from hearing similar stories from my female ministerial training colleagues. Whilst we do need to be gracious to those who hold different views, there are clearly some aspects of what we believe which should define us as a family of believers. As a denomination we rightfully no longer tolerate discrimination against ministers from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (even though in the past some might have mistakenly used scripture to justify such behaviour) - I think the time has come for us to take a similar stand with regards to this unjust treatment of the women whom God has called into baptist ministry.

[Julie Aylward]

I just want to say thank you to Council and especially to you for being willing to say this in such a public way. Your support in this matter means a great deal to me. I pray other leaders in our denomination also express such views so publically.

[Catriona]

Thank you David, and BUGB council, for grasping this particular nettle at this time. Thank you for 'putting your head above the parapets' by speaking publicly on this. Every blessing.

[John]

The time at Council drew out the unacceptable comments and behaviours of some in our churches. Whilst this affects both women and men in leadership, there have been some particularly harrowing incidents for our women. Many of these behaviours and comments would not be tolerated in the secular world. As a family in Christ we should be better than the secular world and any failure to treat others with respect is unacceptable. Dissent is no excuse for rudeness. Our focus needs to be on the God given gifts in both women and men.

[David Kerrigan]

Keep two things in mind. Firstly, we are a dissenting people, and even though that dissent was, and is, more naturally expressed in our opposition to those who sought, or seek, to control what we believe and how we worship, a measure of internal dissent is not unusual nor is it unhealthy. We are not a hierarchical structure. Therefore we mustn't demonise in any way those whose views are different, simply because they are different. What Council recognised is that there is an unacceptable face of dissent, which shows up as a prejudice which is rude or offensive.

Secondly, the document Chris mentioned above ( http://www.baptist.org.uk/resources/a-z.asp?section=61 ) makes it clear that far from excluding people who think differently, it is others who tend to exclude themselves. A key extract reads:

“a local church may always choose not to receive that which has been agreed in the wider bodies of the Union. But this may then have the consequence of the church excluding itself from covenant relationships. A church needs to be aware of the convictions that unite Baptists and the possible consequences of putting itself outside the processes of discernment that guide our life together.”

Peace and Grace

David

[anon]

I wish I lived in England.

[David Kerrigan]

Anon - your comment reminds me that we have great freedoms here in the UK but, as we know, with great freedom comes great responsibility. As we encourage and celebrate the unique contribution of women in leadership among us, I hope that fewer and fewer women leaders will have to struggle to fulfil their calling. Hang on in there!