Dismantling the dualisms for American Pentecostal women in ministry : a feminist-pneumatological approach

212 Pages·2012·1.45 MB·English

by  Stephenson, Lisa P.

Dismantling the Dualisms for American
Pentecostal Women in Ministry
Global Pentecostal
and Charismatic Studies
Edited by
Andrew Davies, University of Birmingham
William Kay, Glyndŵr University
Advisory Board
Kimberley Alexander, Pentecostal Th eological Seminary
Allan Anderson, University of Birmingham
Mark Cartledge, University of Birmingham
Jacqueline Grey, Alphacrucis College, Sydney
Byron D. Klaus, Assemblies of God Th eological Seminary,
Springfi eld, MO
Wonsuk Ma, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies
Jean-Daniel Plüss, European Pentecostal/Charismatic
Research Association
Cecil M. Robeck, Jr, Fuller Th eological Seminary
Calvin Smith, King’s Evangelical Divinity School
VOLUME 9
Th e titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/gpcs
Dismantling the Dualisms
for American Pentecostal Women
in Ministry
A Feminist-Pneumatological Approach
By
Lisa P. Stephenson
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2012
Th is book is printed on acid-free paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stephenson, Lisa P.
Dismantling the dualisms for American Pentecostal women in ministry : a feminist-
pneumatological approach / by Lisa P. Stephenson.
p. cm. -- (Global Pentecostal and charismatic studies, ISSN 1876-2247 ; v. 9)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-20752-3 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Pentecostal churches--United States--
Clergy. 2. Women clergy--United States. 3. Feminist theology. I. Title. II. Series.
BX8762.Z5S74 2011
262’.140973--dc23
2011034517
ISSN 1876-2247
ISBN 978-90-04-20752-3
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, Th e Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
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To Daughters and Sons of the Spirit
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................ix
Chapter One Introduction......................................................................... 1
1.1. Methodological Justifi cations ..........................................................2
1.2. Analyzing the Issue of American Pentecostal Women in
Ministry from a Feminist-Pneumatological Approach ...............8
PART I
SETTING THE STAGE: HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Chapter Two Azusa and Beyond: An Account of American
Pentecostal Women in Ministry ............................................................17
2.1. Th e Emergence of Classical Pentecostalism in the United
States .................................................................................................19
2.2. Th e Church of God .........................................................................23
2.3. Th e Church of God in Christ ........................................................34
2.4. Th e Assemblies of God ..................................................................41
2.5. Th e International Church of the Foursquare Gospel:
Aimee Semple McPherson ............................................................49
2.6. Conclusion .......................................................................................56
Chapter Th ree Looking Back, Going Forward: Contemporary
Works on American Pentecostal Women in Ministry .......................59
3.1. Looking Back: Descriptive Accounts ...........................................60
3.2. Going Forward: Constructive Proposals .....................................71
3.3. Conclusion .......................................................................................83
PART II
DISMANTLING THE DUALISM OF THEOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY: MALE AND FEMALE
Chapter Four Pentecostal Interpretations of Lukan Pneumatology:
Retrospect and Prospect.........................................................................89
4.1. Th e Problem of Dominant Pentecostal Interpretations
of Lukan Pneumatology .................................................................91
4.2. An Alternative Account of Lukan Pneumatology:
Th e Isaianic New Exodus ...............................................................99
4.3. Conclusion .....................................................................................113
viii contents
Chapter Five Th e Spirit Poured Out on All Flesh:
A Feminist-Pneumatological Anthropology .....................................115
5.1. Creation: Imago Dei ......................................................................117
5.2. New Creation: Imago Christi and Imago Spiritus .....................123
5.3. Conclusion .....................................................................................135
PART III
DISMANTLING THE DUALISM OF ECCLESIOLOGY:
THE PEOPLE OF GOD
Chapter Six Contributions to Feminist Ecclesiologies:
Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Rosemary Radford
Ruether, and Letty Russell ....................................................................139
6.1. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza: Th e Ekklesia As a
Discipleship of Equals ..................................................................140
6.2. Rosemary Radford Ruether: Th e Church As a Community
of Liberation from Patriarchy .....................................................152
6.3. Letty Russell: Th e Church As a Sign of God’s Household of
Freedom .........................................................................................159
6.4. Conclusion .....................................................................................165
Chapter Seven Th e Spiritual Community: A Feminist-
Pneumatological Ecclesiology .............................................................167
7.1. Th e Pentecostal Church As a Discipleship of Equals ...............167
7.2. Th e Pentecostal Church As an Exodus Community
from Patriarchy .............................................................................174
7.3. Th e Pentecostal Church As a Household of Freedom .............181
7.4. Th e Pentecostal Church and the Ekklesia of Women ...............187
7.5. Conclusion .....................................................................................189
Chapter Eight Conclusion.....................................................................191
8.1. Embodying a Feminist-Pneumatological Anthropology
and Ecclesiology ...........................................................................192
8.2. Th e Future ......................................................................................194
Bibliography ...............................................................................................197
Index ...........................................................................................................209
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Th ere are many people to which I need to extend thanks. Since the initial
impetus and form of this book began as a Ph.D. dissertation, I owe a debt
of gratitude to the friends and faculty at Marquette University. I thank
my dissertation committee for their helpful and insightful comments on
aspects of this work, especially my director D. Lyle Dabney who fi rst
caused me to consider what import pneumatology should have on the
issue of women in ministry. I also thank the generous support of
Marquette University’s Graduate School, specifi cally in the means of the
Smith Family Fellowship, which allowed me to visit various Pentecostal
archives without which I could not have written Chapter Two.
Several librarians and archivists were especially helpful for portions of
the research. I am extremely grateful to Darrin Rodgers and his staff at
the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center, Harold Hunter and his staff at
the International Pentecostal Holiness Center, and David Roebuck and
his staff at the Hal Bernard Dixon, Jr., Pentecostal Research Center.
Without their aid, the research process would certainly have taken
longer than it did, and it is quite probable that I would have overlooked
an obscure but noteworthy piece of history. Special appreciation also
goes to David Roebuck, who read a portion of the manuscript and pro-
vided invaluable feedback.
I would like to thank the administration at Lee University who helped
to lighten my teaching load through various means when I was writing
the dissertation. It enabled me to fi nish the dissertation as swift ly as
possible, which then allowed me to complete the book. I also wish to
thank my friends at Lee University and the Pentecostal Th eological
Seminary who have endeavored with me to change the culture within
Pentecostalism—especially the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee)—
toward women.
I must express my indebtedness to my family who has supported my
calling and academic endeavors unconditionally. To my husband
Christopher Stephenson, thank you for your patience, support,
t heological input, and editorial skills. You are an invaluable partner, and
I am so fortunate to have you in my life. To both of my parents Paul and
Pam Palagyi and my sister Laurie Palagyi, thank you for your love,
prayers, and encouragement, which have been expressed in many diff erent
x acknowledgements
ways over the past few years. To my mother especially, thank you for
your own perseverance and example as a woman in ministry. May doors
continue to be open for you.
Finally, thanks to Andrew Davies and William Kay at Brill for seeing
the promise of this work and including it in the series, and to Maarten
Frieswijk—Brill’s Editor of Religious Studies—who has been a great help
in the preparation of the manuscript.
Earlier versions of portions of this work have been published else-
where as “Religious Symbols and Ecclesial Practices: Women’s Full
Humanity and Th eir Status Within the Church,” Pax Pneuma 5, no. 2
(Fall 2009): 48–53; and “Imaging God, Embodying Christ: A Pentecostal
Contribution to a ‘New’-matological Argument for Women in Ministry,”
in Raising Women Leaders: Perspectives on Liberating Women in
Pentecostal and Charismatic Contexts, ed. Shane Clift on and Jacqui Grey
(Sydney, Australia: Australasian Pentecostal Studies, 2009), 175–90.
chapter one
INTRODUCTION
Th e fl oor of the arena was full of ordained bishops waiting for the next
item on the agenda. It had been a long week already, and the following
topic was sure to generate a controversy: women on the Church and
Pastor’s Council. Th e motion put forward was to recommend that when
a local church deemed it practical to have a Church and Pastor’s Council,
both male and female members of the church be eligible to serve on it.
Up to this point, all members on the Council were required to be male.
Once the Secretary General read the measure, discussion was open for
those who wanted to speak to the issue. People jumped out of their seats
from all positions on the fl oor and lines began to form behind the sta-
tioned microphones. One aft er another, persons took turns addressing
the crowd, off ering reasons to vote for or against this motion. Several
were in favor of passing such a change, but unfortunately, many were
against it. Th e opposing ministers cited scriptures, referenced theological
issues, and feared a cultural compromise and an ousting of male spirit-
ual leaders. Worse still were the truly creative remarks by a few that
women spend money poorly and thus would use the church’s fi nances
frivolously, or that they may withhold sex from their spouses if they
did not get their way. Finally, the General Overseer silenced the deroga-
tory remarks and took the vote. Although not a landslide, the ordained
bishops rejected the motion. Women would not be eligible for the
Church and Pastor’s Council. And of course, the ones who decided this
fate were all men because only ordained bishops had the privilege of vot-
ing at the General Council, and women were certainly not allowed to be
ordained bishops!1
Refl ecting on the past is not always easy or comfortable, especially when
one is recounting gross injustices or negligence toward others. Th e event
described above is illustrative of this type of history. Th e truly unfortunate
part, though, is that this history is rather recent. It occurred in 2008 at
the International General Assembly of the Church of God (Cleveland,
1 Th ese accounts are based on notes that I took while attending the event.