Gender issues in politics/ministry
On 9/7/08, the Waco Tribune Herald posted a front page article regarding the selection of Gov. Sarah Palin as the GOP nomination for VP, and sought to draw a parallel with our culture's acceptance of women being qualified for service to their country, at the highest level, and the current growing phenomenon of women serving as senior pastors in seemingly conservative, evangelical protestant churches. Will this move affect the SBC's stance against women pastors? Terri Jo Ryan interviewed DorisAnne Cooper, pastor of Waco's Lake Shore Baptist Church to obtain her views on the matter. I thought DorisAnne did an admirable job in vetting the issues. (Although I would not classify Lake Shore as conservative, or evangelical. :)) Several things have emerged from this ongoing discussion that I feel strongly about. I will begin by posing them as questions --to more effectively frame the discussion: 1 . Is there truly a parallel between the qualifications between (A)secul