UPDATE: Confessional P&R denominations stand almost alone on male-only pastors and elders - the Mid Eva factor
2024 may be a decisive year for this issue
It's 2024 and NAPARC denominations stand almost alone for male-only pastors/preachers and lay leaders (elders). The Southern Baptists are far from solid on this issue (https://sbcamendment.org/) and most evangelicals are giving way by degrees. Decisive action from the SBC would help, but many evangelicals and megachurchers have already given in. The presence of female deacons in a few NAPARC denominations1 doesn't help but has not yet led to formal female elders. Made-up quasi-office titles for females in the PCA are being addressed by an amendment that seems likely to pass the presbyteries, but the continued presence of unordained unisex "diaconates" still undermines the doctrine of ordination and is worrying, to say the least.
The EPC and ECO provide a place for egalitarian PCA folx2 to go, and some are taking advantage and relocating. Egalitarians in the SBC can simply go independent. The "cool" Anglicans are NOT helping...they are all over the map.
The wider culture and evangelical culture are against the SBC conservatives and NAPARC on egalitarian issues. Can they stand? What happens in 2024 will tell us what the future holds.
MARCH 2024 UPDATE
Methodist Mark Tooley reminds us that about a quarter of all United Methodists have recently left for the new “conservative” Global Methodist Church, primarily over last-straw homosexual churches. He does not mention (on The Gospel Coalition website) that the new GMC is thoroughly egalitarian3 at all levels and for all ordained officers. We have long noted that TGC has had its eye on the “conservative” Methodists. They seem to agree with Tooley, who writes:
…a renewed Methodism could contribute mightily to Christian vitality in America. Methodism at its core focuses on personal and social holiness, with Christian perfection as the goal. This pursuit of holiness can be empowering and transformational.
TGC seems eager to welcome the “good” Methodists into what we’ll call Mid Eva, a segment that includes the more progressive, purple suburb or city evangelicals, most of whom fancy themselves “Reformed” in some sense. Most are independent or networked (though not denominational). We’d also include formerly mainline denominations like the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and ECO (A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians) who have left the PCUSA in recent decades. Some portions of the loose Anglican Church in North America and a number of churches that have left (or seem to be leaving) the Reformed Church in America also fit our Mid Eva category.
What all these groups have in common is some tolerance of ecclesial egalitarianism. Snuggling up to them will not make it easier for a denomination like the Presbyterian Church in America to hold the line on male-only officers. Again, stay tuned for what happens this summer with the PCA and the SBC.
Reminder: What we’re calling Mid Eva fits almost perfectly in the late Tim Keller’s so-called “Zone of Renewal” (meaning the only hope for evangelicalism, according to him) as described in his recent manifesto.4
(Another unhelpful factor is the very non-polity-focused TGC’s comfort level with female deacons, as evidenced by a set of pro/con articles on the issue and TGC’s continued promotion of a baptist author-pastor who supports female deacons.)
Interestingly, some church historians suggest that the ARP and RPCNA adopted female deacons at doctrinal low points. There have been (thus far unsuccessful) efforts in recent years to “grandmother” female deacons in the ARP—phasing them out over time. Learn more about the history of women’s issues in the ARP and RPCNA here and here.
This church was part of a multi-site “family” of churches and is one of several well-funded “trophy” plants that have left the PCA in the last few years over egalitarian convictions. https://kbindependent.org/2023/12/03/crossbridge-church-votes-to-leave-denomination-over-the-issue-of-ordaining-women/
(p. 35) “7. The charge conference shall examine and recommend to the board of ministry, faithfully adhering to the provisions of this Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline, candidates for ordained ministry who have been professing members in good standing of the Global Methodist Church or its predecessors for at least one year; whose gifts, evidence of God’s grace, and call to the ministry clearly establish them as candidates; and who have met the educational requirements. It is out of the faith and witness of the congregation that men and women respond to God’s call to ordained ministry. Every local church should intentionally nurture candidates for ordained ministry, providing for spiritual and financial support, and for their education and formation as servant leaders for the ministry of the whole people of God.”
https://globalmethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Transitional-Discipline-1.pdf
See p. 62 ff. of the downloadable document here. “The new institutions, new alliances, and leaders for a new renewal movement will mostly come from Zones 2 and 3—and especially Zones 2b and 3a. However—see below—the renewal will be different enough that it would be best to call it not some ‘Zone Straddler’ but a new ‘Zone 5.’” and: ”Sum: Generally speaking—the way forward is to (a) divide from Zones 1 and 4 in different ways, and (b) bring both individuals, and leaders and some older institutions most likely from the ‘right half’ of Zone 2 and the ‘left half’ of Zone 3 into a new Zone 5. (c) Then: do the strategic initiatives, launch the mission projects, and start new institutions.”
We can only assume that Keller’s tolerance of a level of egalitarianism is shared by many others in Mid Eva.
Other pieces by Brad on this issue:
https://pcapolity.com/2023/02/28/the-churchs-two-laws/
https://pcapolity.com/2023/04/27/an-overture-on-titles-ordination/
https://www.reformation21.org/blog/lady-preachers-in-pca-pulpits
https://www.reformation21.org/blog/ecclesial-disobedience https://presbycast.substack.com/p/questions-for-pca-officers-onoffices