CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 15 Buy online at www.cfrt.org or call 910-323-4233 April 17-May 4 Alfred Hitchcock Meets Monty Python March 6-23 A Story of Family, Survival, & Soul Cape Fear Regional Theatre presents... WALKER WORTH AGENCY 3821 RAMSEY ST, SUITE 120 Fayetteville, NC 28311 - 910.488.5056 ©2006 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Affiliated Companies. Nationwide Life Insurance Company. Home office: Columbus, Ohio 43215-2220. Nationwide, the Nationwide Framemark and On Your Side are federally registered service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Not available in all states. Get professional advice when insuring the largest purchases you've ever made. Great coverage, rates and insurance advice from Nationwide®. Walker Y Worth, III worthw@nationwide.com is is not the story of how one wom- an entered a male-dominated profession, although that is the way an outsider may view it. Rather, this is the story of how one woman experienced the powerful call to preach the gospel to the whole cre- ation (Mark 16: 15) and found her way to a community of faith who affirmed that call and then put her to work! While there are certainly individuals and church groups with strong objec- tions to women in ordained ministry based upon their theology, those who support and li up women as pastors have a different understanding of the way God is at work in the Church and the world that is rooted in their un- derstanding of scripture. is has been the position of the United Methodist Church since the merger of the Method- ist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren in 1968 and by at least two of its predecessor bodies long before that, but it has really been part of our "spir- itual DNA" from the beginning. Yes, from THE beginning! In Gen- esis, both men and women are created in the divine image and commissioned by God to care for creation in partner- ship. Later, in the Old Testament, signif- icant ministries are exercised by women as prophets and even judges (Miriam, Deborah, Huldah). Even more compel- lingly, Jesus included women in his band of itinerant disciples, encouraging Mary to sit at his feet to learn from him and appearing first to Mary Magdalene aer the resurrection. In the earliest days of the Church, Joel's prophecy is fulfilled, including God's promise to "pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy (Acts 2:17)." e New Testament speaks of other women exercising authority, referring to Phillip's daughters as prophets (Acts 21:9) and Paul calls Phoebe (Romans 16: 1), Priscilla (Romans 16: 5) and Ju- nia (Romans 16: 7) deacons or apostles. Despite some confusion over whether or not women should cover their heads when speaking in church (1 Corinthi- ans 11) and the statement that women should not teach, but instead keep silent (1 Timothy 1:12), Paul's overall message supports the ministry of all Christians. He even calls upon the people of God to be clothed with Christ as part of the new creation where "there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)." Building on scripture and on John Wesley's inclusion of women in the preaching ministry, in the United Meth- odist Church, we believe that all are equal in the sight of God, as noted in our Social Principles: "We affirm with Scripture the common humanity of male and female, both having equal worth in the eyes of God." Further, all baptized Christians are ministers of the gospel and there- fore women and men alike are called to witness to Jesus Christ. As a result, the UMC supports and advocates for the full inclusion of women at all levels in the Church and our first woman bishop, Marjorie Swank, was elected in 1980. By 2013, over half of all students in United Methodist seminaries were women. is is not to suggest that we have reached full parity of opportunity in the UMC, for that is a reality for which we still pray and work. But it is to cel- ebrate that this is one place in the com- munity of faith where our sisters and mothers and daughters will hear that the God who creates them in the divine image, calls them to minister in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will sustain and strengthen them and give them the grace to serve wherever they may go. at has been my experience over 22 years of ordained ministry and a myriad of other experiences that have included the deeply affirming as well as the un- speakably painful. I pray that we will all continue to work and to hope for the day when God's will is done here on earth as in heaven, testifying with the Apostle Paul that "hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Romans 5: 5)." CV e reverend Dr. Fowler-Marchant is the Minister of Pastoral Care at First Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville

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