Jeremy L. Berg

Influential pastor and teacher, John Piper, got a heated response from some recent comments made in an interview regarding women as pastors and seminary teachers:

“If it is unbiblical to have women as pastors, how can it be biblical to have women who function in formal teaching and mentoring capacities to train and fit pastors for the very calling from which the mentors themselves are excluded? I don’t think that works. The issue is always that inconsistency. If you strive to carve up teaching in such a way that it’s suitable for women, it ceases to be suitable as seminary teaching.” -JOHN PIPER

Like many others who differ with Piper’s view of women’s roles and the Bible, his comments led me to reflect back on all the women pastors and professors who have helped shape me.  I have such a strong view of gender equality in ministry, stemming from the Scriptures, that I have never really stopped to notice just how many women have been part of my journey. Let me use this as a good opportunity to celebrate some of them!  

I was about 20 years old when I found myself in Dr. Karen McKinney’s class called Female & Male in Biblical Perspective at Bethel University (1999). To be honest, I was a bit intimidated at first by this tall, strong African American woman rumored to be a black belt in karate. She taught with great passion on the subject, introducing me to the two main biblical views on gender roles in the home and church — complementarian and egalitarian. Coming from a family with very traditional gender roles in the home, she gave me a lot to think about, and certainly influenced my shift toward an egalitarian position. She is now in her 22nd year teaching at Bethel.

 

Dr. Lidija Novakovic, a native of Croatia, was the Bethel professor who taught me to read New Testament Greek. I had 3 long semesters with her; those classes were intense, like language and grammar bootcamp! She had a thick accent and a fiery temperament, which was necessary to push us hard enough to begin experiencing the thrill of reading the New Testament in its original language. I just discovered she was busy finishing her Ph.D. at Princeton the year I had her, which may explain why she may have seemed a bit tired and sleep-deprived at times. She has been teaching at Baylor now since 2007.

 

Dr. Catherine Wright holds a special place in my academic journey. I was privileged to be her very first Teaching Assistant during her first year on faculty at Bethel. She was finishing (or had recently finished) her Ph.D. at Baylor, specializing in Luke-Acts, which was my obsession at that time having had my spiritual awakening through reading the Book of Acts. I did the usual amount of menial slave work such as plugging grades into a computer spreadsheet and grading assignments. But she also trusted me with some library research related to her own scholarship. I first brushed up against those small red and green volumes in the Loeb Classical Library thanks to some of her research errands.

 

I am especially grateful for the glowing, confidence-building letter of recommendation Cathy wrote for me when I was applying to Master’s programs after college. If I doubted my academic potential back then (which I did immensely), she did a lot to combat that and make me a believer! In fact, I pulled that old letter out this past summer when applying for doctoral studies just for a reminder. She still teaches at Bethel 17 years later, and I’m hoping to have lunch with her again soon.

Dr. Jeanine Brown was my academic advisor in seminary, and was a patient sounding board during a period of great uncertainty. I had no clue why I was in seminary, since I was never going to be a pastor, and I was too intimidated to pursue academic work. She taught a class on the Gospel of Matthew for which I wrote one of my most extensive exegetical essays, The Isaianic Substructure to the Gospel of Matthew. I’m dang proud of that paper, and I think she was too. She also let me waive a required New Testament course in order to pursue a semester long independent study on the Theology of N.T. Wright, which was a highlight of my seminary studies.

For me, the greatest honor is reserved for Rev. Cheryl (Williams) Goode who was senior pastor at the first church I served on staff at just out of seminary. She was the first ever woman pastor of a 100+ year old congregation.  I found out later she was put through the ringer at times, as not everyone in the church was ready to embrace a woman for a senior pastor. But she was resilient and gracious through it all.

 

Despite the significant challenges and emotional stress she was under, she always made time for me. (I was so absorbed with my own inner turmoil those years I fear I was less than sympathetic to the weight she was carrying.) She championed me even though I was a bit of a young, hot-headed zealot with a chip on my shoulder (fresh out of seminary with grand ideals and no real ministry experience). She allowed me try and fail at things — especially preaching and teaching for the first time.

If my memory is correct, she once went out of town and left the pulpit to me for two consecutive Sundays. I succeeded in offending enough people that she probably came home to an email and voicemail inbox full of complaints. But here’s the thing: I really don’t know any of the details. Why? She decided to absorb the blows for me, stood up for me even though I should have faced some of the music myself. She knew I was green and inexperienced, and I needed some room to try and fail. I’ll never forget that gracious act of self-sacrifice for the sake of her young apprentice. Thank you Pastor Cheryl for modeling strength, resilience and grace under fire! It was an honor to serve under your leadership those 3 years!

Finally, when I stop to examine the church culture we have been forming at MainStreet Covenant the past 6 years, I see everywhere the full recognition and celebration of women in leadership at all levels and roles. I am proud to serve in a denomination (Evangelical Covenant) that champions woman pastors and teachers, but even with our affirming position, its not always the case that women get the same opportunities —  especially serving as senior pastors and preaching.

So, I am proud to point out that in our short life as a church, I think we’ve had more women fill the MainStreet pulpit than men! I tip my hat and thank God for these women who I can recall off hand (and I’m sorry if I’m forgetting someone!): Julie Capel, Char Rotvold, Jen Barberg, Kris Causton, Linda Solie, Bonnie Kobett and Nancy Adsem. This is not even to mention all the faithful women who serve other significant leadership roles at MainStreet including the 3 women on our Leadership Team and my strong and gifted wife, Keri, who leads our children’s ministry.

Oh, and a final shout out to Julie Murdock who is the lone woman in my doctoral program cohort putting up with 10 other men! That takes courage and we’re better for her presence and participation.

 

When a friend first alerted me to John Piper’s comments, I simply responded with one short statement:

“I think Junia would disagree.”

If you’re unaware of who Junia is, that’s precisely the problem. She’s listed as an apostle by Paul in Romans 16:7. My teacher, Scot McKnight, would love to enlighten you in a short eBook called Junia Is Not Alone (2011). Here’s an overview:

In this fierce essay, leading Bible scholar Scot McKnight tells the story of Junia, a female apostle honored by Paul in his Letter to the Romans—and then silenced and forgotten for most of church history. But Junia’s tragedy is not hers alone. She’s joined by fellow women in the Bible whose stories of bold leadership have been overlooked. She’s in the company of visionary women of God throughout the centuries whose names we’ve forgotten, whose stories go untold, and whose witness we neglect to celebrate. But Junia is also joined by women today—women who are no longer silent and who are experiencing a re-voicing as they respond to God’s call to lead us into all truth.

McKnight, the author of over 30 books and the blogger and curator of the blog “Jesus Creed,” is a trusted, authoritative, and accessible voice on the Bible and theology. Junia Is Not Alone is a must-read for longtime followers, a valuable introduction for new readers, and a necessary call to awareness and action for the entire church.

I also commend this booklet, Called & Gifted, produced by the Evangelical Covenant Church providing a biblical case for women in all levels of church leadership and ministry.