Women in Ministry
I’m not sure if you have slowed down to notice, but UBC has no full time pastors that are women. Emily is a part time children’s pastor, which is not an atypical position for a woman to hold in church life, and Michelle is our office manager. With this information one might glean that UBC has a pretty standard view of woman in ministry for the Baptist south.
I think I sometimes feel defensive about this issue. When it comes up I’m quick to point out that when we hired two community pastors in 2010 two of the final six (out of about 50 applicants) were women. When we hired Emily, I intentionally advocated for her title to be changed from “minister” to “pastor” because I believe she is. I want people to know that despite our lack of a full-time female pastor on staff we are very much for women in ministry.
A few months ago I submitted an article to the Christian Century. The magazine called for submissions on the topic of mentoring. My story was about Michelle, a hall director at Bethel College in St. Paul, MN. In the article I shared about how I went to college with a complementarian view of women in the household and church. Looking back I don’t think those position came from deep thoughtfulness, but rather merged out of few opinions I’d heard and no real study on the issue.
My flimsy perspective on this issue was called into question my junior year by Michelle. Michelle is not a bra burning feminist nor did she ever bring up the issue of women in ministry. She just led. And she led me effectively. Her witness smacked my suppositions in the face. And let me be more specific because a few complementarians are already objecting that they do believe women can lead. OK you’re right, but I wasn’t just led by Michelle, Michelle grew me as a disciple, and so that there’s really no question … exercised a spiritual authority (and not the sort of authority that needs to let you know it is authority, but rather Jesus picking up a towel sort of authority) over me that resulted in my being closer to Jesus. I submitted to her spiritual leadership and was a better Christ follower as a result of it.
When my year as a resident assistant under Michelle was over, I realized that I had changed on this issue. I decided that women belong in ministry.
You might have also gleaned from UBC that we allow space for diversity on issues. If isn’t explicit in the way we talk about an issue, then it’s explicit in the way we don’t talk about that issue. Part of that is simply diplomatic and a reflection of the ethos of the church, but part of that is that I just don’t think people’s opinions change via Facebook posts or through arguments. I think change, real change, happens most often over the course of year when you spend time learning to love someone different than you. Change happens in relationship when people take the time to love us through change.
That being said I should note that UBC does take a stand on one issue explicitly, namely, women in ministry. February is Martha Stearns Marshall women in ministry month. To join thousands of other Baptists in celebrating women who are or should be in ministry we will feature two female preachers. If you agree with UBC on this issue I hope you’ll come and be blessed. If you find yourself opposed to UBC on this issue, I hope you’ll come and be blessed.
A message from Tye:
I would like to say thanks to everyone for the generous amount of support that has been flowing in lately. It has been great having everyone back in town and singing loudly on Sundays. (And how about the Tri Delt choir last week!)
The Gladsome Light has been hard at work recording many of the songs that we sing here at Ubc on Sundays and it has been a very rewarding process. We hope that when the recording is finished it will be a meaningful contribution to you and your faith. Also, this season is a popular time for youth groups to have weekend retreats focusing on spiritual growth (aka D Nows). We have been fortunate to be invited to participate in several of these retreats this season, including one at my home church in Amarillo and FBC Tyler, the home church of our former pastor Kyle Lake. These weekends are a great way to connect with the larger body of Christ and continue to build on lasting relationships. If you would like to know more about the band and how we are working to embrace beauty and live missionally, you can follow us on Facebook, twitter and instagram.
This Sunday my good friend T.J. Ono will be leading us in worship. He has a solid heart and a desire to use music for the church. Be sure and thank T.J for stepping up and leading our community.
As always, if you have any comments or song suggestions, they are always welcomed. Feel free to call or email anytime. tye@ubcwaco
Peace,
Tye
Meet The Leadership Team
I would like to ask the church to be in prayer for our next leadership team meeting, which is January 22nd. If you have anything you would like the leadership team to consider please feel free to contact me (josh@ubcwaco.org) or any of our leadership team members.
Chair: Jana Parker jparkerslp@gmail.com
Kristin Dodson kschwebke@prodigy.net
Kaley Eggers kaley.eggers@gmail.com
David Wilhite david_wilhite@baylor.edu
Austin Tiffany Austin_Tiffany@baylor.edu
Byron Roldan Byron_Roldan@baylor.edu
Teri Walter terijan@gmail.com
Meet Byron Roldán
Vocation (could be your job or something you love doing that you believe you were made for): Intern for Baylor Intramural Sports
Favorite Movie: The Natural, For Love of the Game, Field of Dreams, Moneyball
Best Restaurant in Waco: Captain Billy Whizzbangs
Bible verse/chapter/book that is meaningful for you:
Verse: Isaiah 42:16
Chapter: 1 Corinthians 12
Book: James
Best Television Show: Breaking Bad, House, Sherlock, House of Cards
Favorite Holiday: Memorial Day
Something we might not know about you: I’ve worn a hat every day for over 5 years
Hobby: Hat collecting, baseball, drums
Beauty:
At UBC we have so many talented folks living out mission in the life of the larger Waco community.
This week I’d like to feature the talents of Arna Hemenway. Arna just may be the most professional artist among us. He graduated from the Iowa Writers Workshop, which if you know anything about that you know it's like the NBA of basketball. He was hired to pioneer the creative writing program at Baylor. I've read his forthcoming novella Elegy On Kinderklavier and can tell you this guy has a literary A game.
You can check out some of this stuff here or just google him because he's that big of a deal.
Work Is Worship
1-19-13
Coffee: Jon Harrison
Coffee Clean Up: Haines Family
Greeters: Emily Driscoll
Giving Statements
Giving statements for the 2013 tax year will be available Sunday. They will be located on the table on right of the foyer after church. Look for Michelle.
Announcements
- Sunday Sermon Text: John 1:35-42
- Love-Love Feast: February 16th at 6:00 P.M.
- Sunday School Classes will meet for the first time this Sunday, you should check one out!
- The "Christians In The Headlines" Sunday School class has posted an article on our website. Even if you don’t go to that class, Toph is encouraging folks to read the article and give feedback. Read it here. Comment on the Facebook thread on the UBC Facebook page.
Do you have an Emergency? Do you Need to talk to a Pastor?
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