Philip's Daughters: Women in Pentecostal-Charismatic Leadership

At first, the Pentecostal movement made no distinction between genders in the ministry. Anyone anointed by the Spirit was allowed to minister, whether to pray for the sick, testify about an encounter with God, preach or teach. The emphasis was not on the person of the one ministering, but on the Spirit equipping and empowering the person. Due to Pentecostals' upward mobility and alliance with evangelicals in order to receive the approval of the society and government since the 1940s, women's contribution to the ministry faded until in the 1970s some Pentecostals with an academic background started debating about Pentecostal hermeneutics; questioning also the omission of women from ministry. Although many Pentecostals still read the Bible in a fundamentalist manner, the article proposes a hermeneutical strategy-in accordance with the way early Pentecostals interpreted the Bible-that moves from the experience with the Spirit to the Bible, allowing one to experience the confusion and conflict necessarily associated with contradictory statements found in the Bible about issues such as women in the ministry. While the author agrees it is important that discrimination against women in the church should cease, the purpose of the article is not primarily to discuss this discrimination; it is rather to show how a movement's hermeneutical viewpoint and considerations can cause the movement to change its stance about an important issue such as women in ministry.

Probably the most common initial explanation for the dwindling numbers of Pentecostal female clergy is best illustrated in Max Weber's observation of how religious

Pneuma, 2016

The patriarchal structure has permeated and replicated itself through a variety of social organizations and the church is no exception. Thus, different leadership challenges, gaps, and pitfalls can be ascribed to it. Recently, human rights and gender activists have made concerted efforts to neutralize the impact of patriarchy on society. To date, the concept of equality between the sexes is the most appealing and influential for appraising social structures. As such, there is no doubt that the role of women in Pentecostalism is critical to this debate. It is important, therefore, to understand the challenges that women, who seek leadership positions, face within religious traditions like Pentecostalism. Pentecostalism's hermeneutical approach to the Bible emphasizes the significance of signs, miracles, prophecy and the Holy Spirit. These contribute to the perceptions of church leadership.The article aims to explore gender equality in leadership positions within Pentecostalism, using poststructural feminist and Pentecostal hermeneutic theory as theoretical frameworks. Data was gathered through interviews and participant observation. The study concludes that there is no clear position on gender equality in leadership posts in Pentecostalism.

Various ministers and laity within the Assemblies of God (AG) misunderstand the Pentecostal moorings of women in church leadership. Whether this misunderstanding is due to ignorance, misconceptions, or influence from cessationist or reformed theologies, it leads to a lack of education among local church constituents as well as among AG ministers. To counteract the missing component of Pentecostal women actively engaging in all levels of church leadership, this project established a biblical-theological foundation and general review of contemporary literature and incorporated that research into a curriculum and course for use in local churches as well as Assemblies of God institutes of higher education. Furthermore, the project exposed the challenges of women in ministry through surveys, brought about measurable changes, and educated ministers and laity on how the Spirit empowers women for all levels of church leadership. The intervention and research efforts resulted in a paradigm shift to understand the Spirit’s inclusion of both men and women into vocational ministry. The project resulted in: 1) the establishment of a strong biblical-theological foundation for women in church leadership, 2) a course usable for an institute of higher education as well as the local church, and 3) a course specialized for training Spirit-empowered women for ministry and leadership.

2020

Tom who brought a much needed professionalism and high standard of academic accountability to the task of historical research. I would also like to thank Jennifer Axsom Adler for her timely advice on the religious history of women in America and for her service on the Committee. As a highly respected leader in the field of religious studies, Jennifer contributed her knowledge of religion to shaping the issues surrounding women, power, and religious authority. My thanks to Jennifer for her keen editorial review and commentary that has greatly improved the academic quality of this study. Finally, I would like to thank William Douglas Burgess for his critical review, keen insight, and good humor in his comments on the text and for his service on the Committee. As an editor, Burgess performed the task with patience and goodwill refining the text to meet the high standard required of historical writing. I also want to acknowledge the generous contribution of Holston Conference Archivist Daniel Ferkin, Tennessee Wesleyan University Library, Athens, Tennessee for his time, effort, and diligence in providing documents needed for this paper. As well, a special thank you to Archivist Steve Zeleny, Heritage Archives Department, Foursquare Church, Los Angeles, California for his cooperation and provision of primary documents used in the production of this paper. These archivists epitomize the professionalism of their occupation. Last, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the staff of Sherrod Library, East Tennessee State University for their cooperation in procuring the many books needed to write this paper.