Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 04:4 (Spring 2000)
Article: The Nitty Gritty Questions of Church Life
Author: David Wegener

The Nitty Gritty Questions of Church Life

David Wegener

A Policy Statement On Biblical Manhood And Womanhood

Regularly CBMW receives inquiries concerning the proper meaning and application of biblical texts such as Ephesians 5:22–33, 1 Timothy 2:9–15, and I Corinthians 11:2–16; 14:34–35. The questions often get down to the nitty-gritty of church life. Ought women to teach or lead adult Sunday school classes, senior or junior high classes, or small group Bible studies? And when the people of God gather to worship Him where is the proper expression of the silence of women which our Lord commands? For instance, who ought to lead in prayer, to give testimonies, to read Scripture, to preside over worship, to preach, or to serve the Lord’s Supper?

Tim Bayly and David Wegener serve as pastors at Church of the Good Shepherd in Bloomington, Indiana, and just recently Good Shepherd’s pastors and elders adopted the following guiding statement. The church has not followed the sort of minimalist approach to Scripture’s commands which seems to be predominant in the American church today. Instead, care has been taken to demonstrate in our worship of the Creator the nature and purpose of sexual differentiation as He created it. We believe such a public witness to sexual differentiation and male leadership will be a strong evangelistic tool here in Bloomington, a university community in which sexual anarchy and androgyny are so prevalent.

CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD’S
UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLICAL ROLES
OF MEN AND WOMEN IN CONGREGATIONAL LIFE

1. All men and women are equally created in the image of God and therefore are equally worthy of our honor and respect (Gen. 1:26–28, Rom. 13:7, 1 Pet. 2:17).

2. All Christian men and all Christian women enjoy equally the benefits of being redeemed by Jesus Christ. They have eternal life, their sins are forgiven, they have been declared righteous by God, they have been adopted as His sons, they have received the Holy Spirit, who has given gifts to each one just as He wills (John 3:16, Rom. 3:21–31, 8:9, 1 Cor. 12:11, Gal. 3:26, Col. 1:13, 14<...