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This story was featured in the May 2008 issue of Chatter, a publication of Irving Bible Church.

Two weeks ago, my daughter Elizabeth elatedly informed me that she has been accepted to attend a major seminary to get her master’s degree in theology. I was as elated to receive this news as she was to report it! That’s not just because I’m excited for her to pursue a graduate degree, but because I now have a whole new perspective of what attaining that degree might mean for my daughter.

There was a time when I might not have been quite so gung ho about Elizabeth toiling for those years to get a seminary education, the reason being that I didn’t see much opportunity for her to put it to use in ministry. I had spent most of my life assuming that the traditional role of women as explained in the churches of my youth was the only biblical position, i.e., that women can teach women or children but that they’re not free to lead or teach (or Heaven forbid, preach) in mixed groups or the main worship gathering of the Church.

That’s pretty much what I grew up with. My dad is a pastor and my mom was the perfect pastor’s wife. She was involved in women’s activities and played the piano for worship services, but never taught or preached or led. Because she seemed happy with that state of affairs, so was I. I just reckoned this was how it was supposed to be, though even as a child it occurred to me that there were some inherent contradictions in that state of affairs.

I had observed that my father was a fantastic preacher. He’s Irish and has a brogue; how could he not be? But I had also observed over the years that my mother was extremely articulate. She could explain complex things in powerfully simple ways. And she was a scholar. My father will tell you to this day that mom got him through Greek and Hebrew classes when he went to seminary back in the day. She studied the lessons, explained them to him, and he sailed through. I wonder if my mom shouldn’t have a seminary degree, too? Later, her intelligence was on display when, at the age of 66, she earned a Master’s degree in education from LSU at the top of her class with a perfect 4.0 GPA!

Yet my articulate, smart, godly, scholarly mom who knew the Word of God inside and out and knew how to teach effectively (she was a public school teacher for over 50 years!) dared not do any teaching or leading in the local church. There were Bible verses that forbade it, you know, and since our family believed and followed the scriptures, mom always chose a back seat when there were times she probably should have been behind the wheel.

Well, I’ve had the chance over the past year and a half to study those verses with the other elders at IBC. And what do you know, we’ve concluded that they don’t really restrict women today from leading and teaching ministries as we have so long assumed.

We also looked at the sheer preponderance of scriptures that affirm women serving in ministry roles and wondered why we’ve tended to ignore them and focus instead on the few “problem” passages that restrict women’s ministry. With Frederik Franson, missionary leader and founder of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM), we were amazed with what we discovered. He searched both the Old and New Testaments for every reference to any kind of speaking ministry or leadership position carried out by women and came up with nearly 100 references. His observation? “This is all the more remarkable in view of the fact that there are but two or three references which seem to be against women’s audible ministry. Yet these few references have been made the basis for muzzling women in spite of the fact that the main thrust of Scripture is against such silencing.” (L.E. Maxwell, Women in Ministry, p.97).

Have we traditionally allowed a few difficult-to-understand passages to put the kibosh on women being unleashed in the church to use their full giftedness? I don’t even like to entertain the idea, but I fear it’s true. That is why I have been careful to think through the implications of whatever theological position I assume on women’s ministry in the Church. I’ve concluded that, if I’m going to err, I need to err on the side of releasing people to ministry rather than on the side of erroneously restricting them from it. Let’s just say that we’re wrong on this (though I don’t believe we are!) and that God never intended women to lead or teach in mixed company in the Church. I’ll have to stand before Christ and take my lumps for trying to build the Kingdom of Heaven by using the wrong means. I’ll tell you this: I’d rather take my lumps for over-aggressively building His Kingdom than for the alternative, which is that I erroneously took 50% of God’s gifted servants out of the game because I was scared of misinterpreting a couple of difficult Bible texts!

It’s probably too late for my mom to really use her significant abilities to teach and lead in the Church. I do like to think, though, that since her blood runs in my veins, every time I get the chance to minister publicly in Christ’s name, she stands right there with me. She’s told me that she’s proud of me, and I hope that at least a little bit of that is realizing that even though her gifts weren’t fully utilized, perhaps I can help make sure here granddaughters’ will be.

But it’s not too late for any number of women at IBC whom God has gifted in significant ways to lead and teach in His church. That makes me very happy. Elated even!

Best wishes, Liz.
DAD

At IBC we recognize that God created both man and woman in His image, that He offers the same Holy Spirit to both men and women at salvation, and that the same spiritual gifts are available to both men and women for service. While the New Testament seems to imply that eldership is reserved for men, the elders of IBC affirm that women in all other roles are scripturally qualified, spiritually blessed, and directly called to use their spiritual gifts to build Christ’s Kingdom.

Dr. McQuitty spent his high school years in Paris, TX where his father served as Sr. Minister of a Presbyterian church. Andy is husband to Alice and father to Julie, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Jonathan, and Jeffrey. Andy is an avid reader, golfer, gym rat, and writer; but what he enjoys most is spending time with his family.

He is a graduate of Wheaton College, Wheaton IL and of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, TX. Andy earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1997, receiving the C. Summer Wemp Award in personal evangelism as well as the John G. Mitchell Award for outstanding scholarship and effectiveness in ministry.

As Sr. Pastor of Irving Bible Church since 1987, he transitioned the church to a contemporary style of ministry with a strong emphasis on world missions and the arts. Under his leadership, IBC has grown from 300 to 4000 adults in three worship services each Sunday, with extensive children’s and youth ministries.

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