IN LIKE MANNER…THE WOMEN ELIZABETH D. RIOS
Walk the Line As I sit down to write my first column for 2008, I marvel at the significant victories women in leadership have experienced of late, at least in the political realm. On the international scene, a wave of change seems to have taken place in recent years, with many countries swearing in their first-ever female president: President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberia (2006); President Michelle Bachelet, Chile (2006); President Micheline Calmy-Rey, Switzerland (2007); Acting /Interim President Dalia Itzik, Israel (2007); President Pratibha Patil, India (2007); and Executive President Cristina E. Fernández Wilhelm de Kirchner, Argentina (2007). Of course, female heads of state are not a 21st-century invention: Margaret Thatcher (Britain), Benazir Bhutto (Pakistan), Indira Gandhi (India), and Angela Merkel (Germany) are several well-known examples from the 20th century. But although these women, both past and present, have broken barriers and often been inspirational leaders, they constitute an exceptionally small and elite group, and they have all paid a high price for their pioneering spirits. Only a handful of the world’s 193 nations are now (or ever have been) governed by a woman. The glaring omission from this list is the United States, indisputably the world’s leading democracy. The closest this country has come to having a woman in the Oval Office was the Geena Davis character on ABC’s (sadly, now cancelled) series Commander in Chief, yet a 2006 Roper Public Affairs poll showed that nearly 80 percent of Americans are ready for a female president. Over half felt that a woman would do as well as a man in foreign policy, homeland security, and the economy. In some ways, the church has fol-
lowed suit—signs of change are evident, but the church is still very much a man’s world when it comes to leadership positions. In 2006 the Episcopal Church elected Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori to be the first woman to head any denomination in the Anglican Communion worldwide.Yet today only about half of American denominations ordain women, and a 2004 Barna Group report found that “just 6 percent of all [US] Protestant senior pastors are women” (barna.org). These numbers will undoubtedly climb as female enrollment in seminaries continues to grow: Statistics from the Association of Theological Schools put female enrollment in MDiv programs at 39 percent, up from the 30 percent in 1994. Like women called to politics, women who are called to ministry walk a fine and often precarious line. On the one hand, we are not radical feminists who pick fights, denounce patriarchy as the greatest of all evils, or refer to God as “she” at every turn. On the other hand, we are passionate about our call to ministry; we are realistic (and vocal) about the obstacles we must negotiate in the male-dominated church; and we acknowl-
In memory of Benazir Bhutto 1953-2007
PRISM 2008
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edge that both female and male reveal the image and glory of God. We do not wish to displace men, nor do we view women who are not called to leadership and/or ministry as being in any way inferior to those who are.We simply ask for the room to be obedient to what the Lord has called us to. And we are certainly not the first generation of women who have pursued such an opportunity. By honoring those who came before us, we are reminded that we must live today with courage and faith in our calling, so that we continue to pave the way for those who come after us. As we recall some of the great female Pentecostal evangelists, for example—Aimee Semple McPherson,Alice Belle Garrigus, Maria Woodworth-Etter, Marie Burgess, Kathryn Kuhlman, Mae Eleanore Frey —it is encouraging to note that these gifted women ministered successfully at a time in history when obstacles were significantly greater than today.Their call seemed to supersede everything else in their lives, motivating them to pay a high price to fulfill God’s will. They walked the line back then, and we’re able to do what we do today in large part because of them. To paraphrase from the recent film The Great Debaters, those of us who are women in leadership “do what we have to do” so that future female leaders “can do what they’ve been called to do.” So, women of God, continue to walk the line! Or as the Scriptures say, “Let your eyes look right on with fixed purpose and let your gaze be straight before you” (Prov. 4:25). ■ Rev. Dr. Liz Rios is the mother of two sons and the co-pastor, along with her husband of 17 years, of the alternative faith community Grace Fellowship in Pembroke Pines, Fla. (gracefellowshipbroward.com). As founder of the Center for Emerging Female Leadership, she coaches women to rebound from all of life’s situations.Visit cefl.org or reboundcoach.com for more info.