Flashback & Update: Lady Preachers

Way back on 10/31/2021 (yes, “Reformation Day”) a PCA church in Metro New York Presbytery had one preacher/speaker for their Lord’s Day service. The Lord’s Supper followed this exposition of scripture. The person speaking was an Episcopal (not Anglican) priest. She was, in fact, the first female priest ordained in the Episcopal Church in the USA. Her name is Fleming Rutledge. By March of 2022, presbyters across the denomination were noticing and communications were flying. The wheels of presbyterian process turn famously slowly (when they turn). This particular case made it to the PCA Standing Judicial Commission by a somewhat controversial route. And there’s a verdict in 2024. You can read all about it here and here— expect to be confused. The bottom line is basically: The presbytery blew it, the church shouldn’t have done that and should never do it again, and there’s still some homework due by this summer’s PCA General Assembly.

We knew about all of this two years ago and may have been the first to write about it:

Yes, you heard correctly: Women have recently preached (by any commonsense definition of preaching) in PCA churches, and PCA women (including pastors’ wives) have preached in churches of other denominations. I will not post links to videos and websites here that prove this contention (though hundreds are aware of them and they are not hard to find), since there are active or pending complaints and communications about these incidents at presbytery levels. One thing is certain—you will hear about some of these cases before long. (Reformation 21, 3/30/2022)

Well, eventually the wider PCA did hear about them. The other instances alluded to in the article involved churches that have mostly left (or are leaving) the PCA for egalitarian denominations to our left.

Here’s the article’s conclusion:

Now is the time for moderates, missionals, and progressives alike to respond swiftly and decisively as these cases appear, and to have the courage of conviction to stand against women/lay preachers in the pulpit. Failing to do so may extinguish the glimmers of hope that recent developments in the Revoice-Side B controversy have produced. And inaction would cause even more distrust and cynicism about the state of discipline in the PCA.

For those who know the history of presbyterianism in America, the struggle between order and ardor may seem familiar. Interestingly, movements where personal experience trumps biblical discipline—from Roman Catholic mystics to radical anabaptists, enthusiasts, revivalists, and charismatics—have often tended egalitarian in ethos. “Little things” like office and ministerial qualifications seemed to stand in the Spirit’s way. If it was difficult to see the sense in presbyterianism’s precise doctrine and persnickety (though simple) church order in previous centuries, how much more so today?  

Being presbyterian is inconvenient at the best of times. Being authentically presbyterian when an egalitarian culture is so decidedly against the truths of God’s word and his design for his church is hard. And though it is hard and unpleasant work, faithful churchmen must call to account those who would deviate from God’s blueprint for His church and her worship. 

Is the PCA holding the line against egalitarianism and unbiblical concepts of office and ministry? She seems to be for now. And that’s good news.

And there are constitutional amendments to be ratified (after presbytery passage) and considered anew at this summer’s assembly that would further strengthen the PCA’s hand in this respect. Stay tuned.