a. Role of the church in the subordination of women

A church woman from Zambia told us, "A government without women is like a pot sitting on one stone; and it is the same with the church."

"The church has been one of the strongest links in the chain of oppression of women because of its teachings, the ideology it promotes. --El Salvadoran woman

MCC often works with Christian partners. Therefore, we met with many church-affiliated people, some representing particular church denominations and many representing ecumenical bodies. None of the church denominations stood out as being more discriminatory of women than others. Likewise, none stood out as being more empowering of women than any other. What was most striking was the consensus among men and women from very diverse contexts--in terms of faith perspective and geographical location--about the church's influence on the position of women.

We heard that women are in the majority attending church and are the most active. They assume responsibility for much of the work that is essential to the running of a church--fund-raising (though not controlling use of funds raised), organizing social events and preparing the food and serving it, Christian education, cleaning, and decorating the church. However, despite women's role as pillars of the church, the church has been in the forefront of institutions in society which hold women down. And it is still men who are the named leaders of the church.

In all three countries we heard from church partners, church leaders and lay people that the church has played a key role in the subordination of women. Influenced by cultural understandings within the community and those brought by missionaries and colonizers, the church has used the Bible selectively to promote the submissiveness of women and the dominance of men, given men disproportionate opportunities to assume leadership positions, provided women less access to religious education, and reinforced cultural attitudes which discriminate against women. Rather than being a prophetic voice in this world, the church is seen to lag behind the rest of society. The focus of the church was described as being "life in heaven, and not on how to make our life on earth a form of heaven."

To illustrate these points, the following are excerpts of conversations we participated in. Though the conversation bits are attributed to specific countries, they are not particular to those countries; we heard the same points being made in the other countries as well.

In El Salvador, we attended a seminary class on the book of Luke taught by two women, one of whom was on the project advisory council. The question of the church's role in the relationships between women and men in El Salvadoran society came up. One of the professors, Ruth Eunice Rodriguéz, said, "The church has been one of the strongest links in the chain of oppression of women because of its teachings, the ideology it promotes. And the churches don't yet consider gender part of their agenda. For the church the situation as it is, the subordination of women to men, is normal, it's natural, it's the established order."

Does the Church need to confront this reality?

"Yes, because the church has a great responsibility in all that has happened. The first responsibility of the church is to recognize its sin, because the situation of women is a sin."

She went on to say, "As I read the Bible, the church has violated the Bible in its interpretation. It has looked at the Bible very literally, and not in a spiritual light. We get stuck in the text--`The woman is silent, one must do this or that'--but what is the spirit that runs through the Bible? God doesn't want anyone to be a slave. The church has seen the Bible as a book of recipes and it has killed the spirit that moves through it."

We heard echos of the same in Zambia. At a meeting of members of a Brethren in Christ church, we asked, "Are there women leaders in the church?" A man responded, "In the olden days, interpretation of the Scriptures influenced the fact that women could not take up leadership positions. According to the Word, women could not speak in front of men. This was the case in our traditions and we also heard this in the church, including from the missionaries. Men hold very strongly to these scriptures that support the subordination of women."

At a meeting of members of another Brethren in Christ church, a man told us, "Women must be silent in the presence of men, according to the Bible." But a woman retorted, "In the Bible women went to the tomb and brought the news. Women were in leadership in the Bible. Women must stand up and be counted, but not in opposition to men."

Meeting with the Christian Council of Zambia, we were informed that "The church has been silent on the issue of violence against women and perpetuates it by telling women that to be a good Christian is to suffer in the name of God. You will be rewarded in heaven. Humble yourself and God will praise you."

At one of the Christian colleges in Zambia, we asked a group of male and female students and the expatriate Director why there were so few female students in attendance at this school.

We were told there were two main reasons. Approximately four times as many boys graduate from high school as girls, so the pool they have to choose from is heavily weighted in favor of boys. And the students must be recommended by their church and the churches tend to recommend and sponsor males. When we asked about leadership opportunities for women, we learned that there are very few opportunities for leadership in the urban areas. These positions come with good remuneration and are more or less reserved for men. Because pay is low or non-existent in the rural areas and locations are isolated, men are much less interested in these positions and therefore they are more available to women. We asked, "Is gender on the agenda in Zambian churches? If so, is this because of Western influence? Because of Scriptures? Or because oppressed people are crying out?" The answer was that it should be on the agenda of churches for all three reasons, but it is not unless it attracts funds.

In India, we spoke with the General Secretary of the Lutheran Church of India, a woman, about the situation of women and the role of the church. She told us, "Women have not had a rightful place in India and the church has contributed to this situation. The church is an instrument of God and should take leadership in society but in reality it is two decades behind. Our theological institutes have not questioned interpretations of Scriptures which have been used to subordinate women." We asked if the churches were ordaining women. "Yes, some are. We even have a woman Bishop, the first in the developing world. But I have heard that some of the churches who ordain women request that the women sign an undertaking not to request a congregation or salary. This is one of my next challenges."

We heard from men in some settings that women are responsible for their poor representation in leadership positions in the church because they tend to vote for men and not women. The retort from women was that men form the nominating committees, that if they vote for a woman in the rare case of a woman actually being nominated they will not be permitted to attend a meeting again, and that the formidable lack of support from men makes women very reluctant to assume leadership positions if given the opportunity.

b. The church as hope

"When the Spirit distributes gifts, I don't see Him ignoring women." --Zambian man

Despite the overwhelmingly critical assessment of the church's role in the subordination of women in the Christian settings we visited, the people we spoke with all had visions of hope for the church. And as church people working on these issues, they themselves symbolized the promise of the church.

In all three settings, we heard that the Reign of God is about the struggle for survival, human dignity and social justice, being lived out here and now. The focus should not be on the after-life and acceptance of oppression in this life with the promise of reward in heaven. The role and responsibility of the church, and indeed all of us as the church, is to participate with God in the daily struggle to bring about a different society. Unless the church can take up issues that relate to the basic needs of people and issues of relationships of power between people in addition to the spiritual needs of people, the church will become irrelevant. Therefore, the church needs to be "out there under the trees and at the well" addressing the plight and concerns of the voiceless, the oppressed, the poor like Jesus Christ did, and this must involve acknowledging, supporting and advancing the cause of women in the church and in society. If the church is willing to do this, it has the potential to "make the mighty tremble."

We saw encouraging efforts, though we also heard there is a long way to go in terms of women's ability and right to use their gifts in all areas of the life of the church. Some church leaders are acknowledging that the church has been one of the strongest links in the oppression of women because of its teachings and the ideology it promotes. Repentance is the first step.

Some churches are addressing the low self-esteem of women as a result of the marginalization of women in church and society. Some church bodies are encouraging discussion and debate about the interpretation of scriptures and giving voice to different, challenging perspectives. It was often said that while the Bible is a source of liberation, all too often it has also been a source of oppression because many of its passages either assume or explicitly prescribe women's subordination or have been interpreted that way. In the context of Bible studies, seminary classes, and workshops on development and peacemaking, the church is grappling with how to disentangle the text from the historical context and the cultural attitudes of the writers. Women are being encouraged to reread the Scriptures through their own eyes, and men are being invited to join in. Of critical importance is that space is being created to discuss these issues. We heard the call for a theology that is culturally relevant and sensitive, but also the call for a commitment from the church to confront oppressive cultural beliefs and practices and not hide behind them. All of this, in turn, is engendering discussion about leadership in the church, how this has been limited, and how it can be expanded. It is often a discussion about the sharing of power which, we heard, presents one of the more difficult challenges.

At SEBLA, a Baptist seminary in El Salvador, some of the staff are trying to promote a different understanding of power. According to staff, power is too often thought of in terms of domination of one over another and in finite terms. The gaining of power by one party is inevitably seen as loss of power by another. And that is frightening for people--all the more so when it comes to relationships between women and men, because it involves our understandings of ourselves, and our most intimate relationships. As the church, they want to explore more creative understandings of power as an infinite and expandable resource. Then it will be easier to envision a society of women and men characterized by mutuality and sharing.

Some church members, lay and leaders alike, are talking about women and men being of equal value and equally able to assume all tasks and roles. Many we spoke with would not go that far, but did say that women are assuming more tasks and roles than was historically permitted. Bishop Shamapani of the Brethren in Christ Church in Zambia says, "When the Spirit distributes gifts, I don't see Him ignoring women."

Girls and women have more interest in and greater access to religious and pastoral education and leadership training. This can be attributed to greater openness on the part of churches and religious institutions, scholarship incentives, specific encouragement and recruitment, curricula that expand understandings and perspectives and incorporate the experiences and interests of women, and an increasing number of strong female role models. According to what we heard, more of these factors apply in the cases of the church organizations we met with in El Salvador and India than in Zambia.

The Baptist Seminary, SEBLA, in El Salvador is trying to bring courses to communities using popular education techniques. They are seeking to dispel the idea of the Reign of God as a set of laws and rules that has excluded many people from the church in the past. They are promoting Jesus' revolutionary idea expressed in the banquet parable that all should be invited to the table, with the marginalized being among the first to be invited and not the last.

Women and men are working together in some seminaries to explore and debate the implications of the theological concept that all human beings are created in the divine image and that women and men are equally valued and loved by God. In our experience, the debates can be lively, cathartic, and revealing in many ways--of biases, hurts, ignorance, shared experiences and expectations, and areas of agreement. Creating space for discussion offers the potential and hope for healing, new vision, and growth.

The church in some places is challenging discriminatory cultural attitudes. In some church and other religious settings, parents are being encouraged to give their daughters the same opportunity for education as their sons. Also, forums are being set up in the context of Bible studies and theological reflection groups for women and men to discuss the roles each play in society and the contributions they bring as women and men. In some cases this is having a positive impact on the self-esteem of women and on relationships between women and men.