Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 34:1 (Winter 2020)
Article: “Let Your Yes Be Yes”: Progressing Toward Female Ordination In The Mar Thoma Church
Author: Pushpa Samuel

PP 34:1 (Winter 2020) p. 20

“Let Your Yes Be Yes”: Progressing Toward Female Ordination In The Mar Thoma Church

Pushpa Samuel

Pushpa Samuel is an MDiv student at Fuller Theological Seminary. She has worked as a biomedical engineer and plans to pursue a career in chaplaincy. Pushpa is among CBE International’s 2019–20 Alvera Mickelsen Memorial Scholarship recipients, and this article was among the winners of CBE’s 2019 Student Paper Competition in Houston, Texas.

A law is only effective if it is implemented, even as a church’s position on theological issues does not further its mission if there is no corresponding practice. In 1986, the Mar Thoma Church officially stated that there is no theological barrier to ordaining both men and women to serve the church. However, there are currently no ordained females within the global Mar Thoma Church. Why is there such a dissonance between doctrine and praxis? To study this dissonance, it is important to compare and contrast the Mar Thoma Church with the Roman Catholic Church and Church of South India (CSI), two other prominent churches in India that also have a global presence.1

The formation of the Catholic Church, the CSI Church, and the Mar Thoma Church has played a key role in the spread of Christianity in India, and each has a distinct view of women’s roles within the church, specifically concerning female ordination. The global Catholic Church does not ordain women due to theological barriers. In contrast, the CSI Church doctrinally promotes female ordination and currently has over one hundred female clergy and a female bishop. The Mar Thoma Church has communion with the CSI Church, but since their practices regarding women’s ordination do not align, one would question if their doctrine differs as well. Since the doctrine regarding female ordination is the same, the question arises why the Mar Thoma Church has not promoted equal representation for all believers. Egalitarian doctrine is the first step towards religious equality, but if it is not practiced on a regular basis, it is merely a trope and does not further the mission of the church.

It can be argued, furthermore, that a move towards equality is not happening quickly enough in Indian churches as compared to Western churches, but one must not disregard how Indian women have overcome unique barriers in their struggle for equality. Although equal treatment of women and men is still a work in progress, many positive changes have been made in political, social, and religious contexts. In light of women’s advancement in all other sectors of society and Christ’s views toward the relevance and dignity of women, men and women must intentionally engage in conversations about the specific barriers preventing w...