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Yes, Women Should Do Degrees in Pastoral Ministry!

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Yes, Women Should Do Degrees in Pastoral Ministry!

Michael F. Bird
May 17, 2022
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man and woman sitting on sofa in a room
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

There was a big baptist brouhaha this week when seminary student, mother, and Army veteran, Erin Harding announced that she was graduating from South Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) with a BA in pastoral ministry.

Twitter avatar for @ErinMHarding
Eɾιɳ Hαɾԃιɳɠ ⍰ 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝕃𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝔾𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕤 @ErinMHarding
My Mother’s Day gift in the year of our Lord 2022 is that I earned my BA in Pastoral Ministry. I just submitted my last test and I am officially finished…for now. But I know that being a full time student took the support of my entire family. I am so blessed. #graduation2022
5:16 PM ∙ May 8, 2022
275Likes1Retweet

Now one would naturally think that this would be a time for friends and well-wishers to pour praise on Erin for persevering in her divinity studies while being a mother and a wife. However, for reasons that most of us find inexplicable and baffling, a certain Dr. Scott Aniol took it upon himself to pour some cold water on the celebratory cake that Erin was enjoying at her graduation by alleging that Christian women like her should not in fact study for pastoral studies degrees.

Twitter avatar for @ScottAniol
Scott Aniol @ScottAniol
Theological seminaries should not be giving women degrees in pastoral ministry. Full stop.
2:25 AM ∙ May 14, 2022
1,300Likes90Retweets

Aniol teaches at the unaccredited Grace Bible Theological seminary with his colleague Owen Strachan (what are the odds?). We normally roll our eyes at such remarks as the hater has to hate, but American Baptist twitter was fluttering with views about whether women should do degrees in pastoral ministry. I submit that this is a conversation that should not be happening!

Thankfully, the vast majority of my SBC friends and my complementarian buddies are equally abhorred by such remarks, rooted as they are in ridiculous notions of patriarchy and also collapsing offices and functions. I have friends in every SBC seminary, I know in particular several great Christian men and women at SEBTS, I know that they value the contribution of women to SBC life and their ministries in the churches, on the mission field, in academia, and in para-church ministry.

In fact, SWBTS president, Adam Greenway, pointed out the historical roots of training women for ministry in SBC seminaries in a very on-topic tweet.

Twitter avatar for @AdamGreenway
Adam W. Greenway @AdamGreenway
Providing theological education for God-called women has been part of the @SWBTS vision from the outset. Founding faculty member and later president @LeeRScarborough offered a compelling rationale as to why in this excerpt from the @BaptistStandard, July 14, 1910. #PointToPonder
Image
9:05 PM ∙ May 15, 2022
144Likes29Retweets

Let me be clear, we need women in pastoral ministry because churches have women in them. Believe it or not, but women have pastoral needs, things related to discipleship, mentoring, women’s health, mental health, marriage, domestic violence, and more. And, note this, women sometimes feel more comfortable and safer talking about personal and difficult topics with other women rather than exposing their soul and vulnerabilities to a sausage-fest of elders at their church.

So, whether you are complementarian or egalitarian, churches need women who minister to other women, and those women need to be trained in Bible, history, theology, communication, ethics, and pastoral care. So send your leading women to some great seminaries for training! At Ridley College, we believe in the ministry of women, ministries to women, or even in the wider church.

I am egalitarian, but you don’t need to be egalitarian to affirm this:

Women matter.

Women’s ministries matter.

Women’s theological and pastoral education for ministry matters.

Therefore …

Women should study pastoral ministry at seminary!

Full stop, no backsies, no right of reply!

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CynthiaW
May 17, 2022·edited May 17, 2022Liked by Michael F. Bird

"I submit that this is a conversation that should not be happening!"

I submit that nobody whose opinion is worth considering should be using Twitspace. That said, I'm pleased for Ms. Harding, and I hope she finds that her degree is useful to herself and others.

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Jose
May 17, 2022Liked by Michael F. Bird

Well said!

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