The author of Christendom selected only men as apostles. But now, women are not only ‘disciples’; they lead congregations. TEMITOPE DAVID-ADEGBOYE and PASCAL OPARADA x-ray the propriety of the development in some churches.
The controversy over women who run churches alongside their husbands got hotter recently when a popular pastor made a public pronouncement that not all women whose husbands are pastors should be in ministry. He argued that the mistake most women, who have pastors as husbands, make is that they assume that because their spouses are pastors, it places them in the place of authority in the church or ministry.
But the controversy is an age-long one. In the past, women who run churches are seen as usurpers or rebellious because of certain Biblical injunctions, which does not permit women to be in a place of authority.
According to Pastor Dolapo Smith, Zonal Pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Lagos Province 17, Mowe, some people hinge it on the Biblical injunction that women should keep quiet in the Church, and that if they have anything to say, they should ask their husbands at home.
But must a male pastor’s wife be a pastor? Pastor Smith said the woman has to operate on the same spiritual wave-length as her husband, else she would constitute a problem to him in the ministry. She cited the case of Adam and Eve in the Bible where Eve had no complete information about the instruction God gave to Adam originally. She said if Eve had been given the instruction as it was originally given to her husband, the problem of the fall of man would have been a different story.
Titiola Adebara, wife of Rev. Solomon Adebara of Fountain of Grace Church, Ibadan, holds the same view. She said: “If a woman has a call upon her too, then she should be ordained as such. This is not to say that we should put titles upon ourselves, if we are not called. Ordaining the wife of a general overseer without a call is ceremonial.”
Not every pastor’s wife must become a pastor, said Bishop (Mrs.) Peace Okonkwo of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), and Rev. (Mrs.) Oluwaseun Alawode of Maranatha Chapel, Ibadan.
According to Okonkwo, the strength and grace of God upon the woman is key.
“Even if a husband passes on, it is not compulsory that the wife should automatically take over as the general overseer. The most important thing is that the ministry should succeed.
“What we should do is to look at those that constitute the leadership and get somebody that can get the job done. You can be part of the nomination process, but don’t take the job; it will kill you. So, it is not automatic. It depends on the strength of the woman. It also depends on the grace of God upon the woman. We should not forget that aspect,” she said.
For Alawode, the wife can be in secular employment and still play the supportive role to her husband, to ensure his ministry is a success.
“The primary ministry of every woman is to be supportive. So, it is not compulsory she must be a pastor to play that role. She can be a banker and still support her husband with her money, time, prayer and godly counsel.
“As a pastor’s wife, some would rather not be full-time church pastors like their husbands, but would utilise their divine gifts to volunteer in different areas of ministry. However, their priorities are to God first, then to their husband and children, and then to the members of the church,” Alawode said.
Iconic women
The Foursquare Gospel Church, founded by a woman, Aimee Semple McPherson, is a thriving church in Nigeria. When faced with opposition during her early days in the ministry, McPherson said, “Oh, don’t you ever tell me that a woman cannot be called to preach the Gospel! If any man ever went through one hundredth part of the hell on earth that I lived in, those months out of God’s will and work, they would never say that again.”
Today, even Foursquare does not allow women as ministers.
Florence Louise Crawford founded Apostolic Faith Church. She was a pioneer member of the Apostolic Faith Mission in the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States, a satellite church from the original Apostolic Faith Mission, begun by William J. Seymour.
Seymour’s Azusa Street movement, also named the Apostolic Faith Mission, began in Los Angeles in 1906. After several evangelistic trips, which took her up the West Coast, Crawford broke away from the Azusa Street group to concentrate on the Portland, Oregon, mission. Apostolic Faith historians list the birth of their separate organisation as 1907, according to Wikipedia.
Amid much debate regarding women being Christian spiritual leaders and pastors, Crawford stood her ground and built her church into a small but thriving organisation that kept an eye on the “mission” part of the name.
Contemporary women
When Archbishop Benson Idahosa of Church of God Mission died in 1998, the tussle of who should succeed him was very intense. His wife, Margret, was thought to have usurped the leadership of the church, which led to mass resignation of prominent leaders in the church. She is now bishop of the church.
Victory Christian Centre was founded and pastored by Rev. Harford Anayo Iloputaife. It is now headed by his wife, Nkechi, after a bitter court battle with her in-laws over the leadership of the church.
Rev Gabriel Oduyemi founded Bethel Ministries. After his death, the church is now led by his wife, Roselyn. According to reports, some people resigned in protest after her appointment as senior pastor.
Rev. Mercy Ezekiel, wife of Rev. Obiora Ezekiel who founded Christian Pentecostal Mission (CPM), is known as one of the influential women in ministry in contemporary Nigeria.
She started MEEZ Outreach in the 1990s with her Faith Clinic. Though her husband is still alive, she is known as a strong force behind the ministry, especially when her husband became visually impaired. She is the national and international coordinator of the ministry.
In the orthodox churches, The Church of England, Anglican Communion, has yielded to pressure and now appoints women as ministers. Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected in 2006 as the first female Presiding Bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church and also the first female primate in the Anglican Communion.
The pressure is still on in the Catholic Church. But it seems no Pope wants the tradition to break in his reign, even the more liberal Pope Francis.
However, a Dominican priest, Fr. Christopher Nnamani, said the issue is not about appointing women as priests in the Catholic Church; but about what Jesus would do. He stressed that Jesus never selected women as apostles during his earthly ministry.
“But that does not mean women can’t play a supporting role in the church. That is why we have women who are reverend sisters, but they are not allowed to officiate the holy Mass.” But women can go as far as administer the Holy Eucharist (Communion) in the Catholic Church.
Asked if the church will ever appoint women as priests like the Anglican Church did, Nnamani said it is not about what other churches do; it is about following the footsteps of Jesus.
