Since the particular roles open to women differ from one denomination to another, Kristen explores ways that women from all kinds of churches can walk in obedience to God's call to participate in his mission. In her book, she says, "I want people, especially women, to understand that receiving this kind of call does not mean that they must hold a church office -- the role of a pastor, elder, or deacon, for example. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to the people of God, and these gifts can be exercised outside of a particular office in the church" (13). Her approach makes this book suitable for women from churches across the theological spectrum.
What inspired you to write this book? I was inspired to write this
book for several reasons. First, I wrote this book because I saw a need for it.
When I was a young woman sensing a call to vocational ministry, I had no one
and no resource to guide me through the discernment process, the questions
pertaining to being a woman in ministry, and next steps. As I say in my book, I
felt like I was in a dark room with my arms outstretched trying to find my way to
the door. By the time I was in seminary and had conversations with other women
my age or younger called to ministry, I realized my story was not unique—it was
the story of many women called to ministry. Thus, God put the idea and passion
for this book in my heart, and ten years later it finally came to fruition.
Second, I wrote this book out of a deeply held biblical conviction that God
calls women to gospel ministry and that the Church of Jesus Christ needs women who
are called by God to engage in gospel ministry in the church and world. I
wanted to write a book that would encourage and aid these women in the journeys
of discernment for the purpose of equipping future generations of female
ministers of the gospel.
What was the most difficult aspect of
the project? The
most difficult aspect of writing was perhaps the most obvious one: writing
a chapter on 1 Timothy 2:11-15. As many know, this passage has been used to
silence and forbid women from many avenues of gospel ministry. It is the
battleground where most of the fighting regarding women in ministry takes
place. In my mind, I could not write a book for women called to ministry without addressing this passage of Scripture. However, I wanted to demonstrate a fidelity to the authority of Scripture and a
humble and generous interpretative posture and tone. I also wanted to address
head-on problematic and false interpretations that have held many women from
pursuing ministry, namely that the female gender is by nature more easily
deceived and that a certain “creation order” is a fail-proof guard against false
teaching.
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| Author Kristen Padilla |
Your book occupies the unpopular
middle ground between the debate over women in ministry–not progressive enough
to satisfy those who ordain women and too progressive for those who don't. What
was your heart behind writing for those in this middle space? This is a great question. One
of the first responses I received from the book was told to a friend of mine,
“I wasn’t sure if she was complementarian or egalitarian.” A compliment or a
criticism? I made the decision early on to write a book from that neither-complementarian-nor-egalitarian
space or the in-between space for
two reasons. First, I wanted the book to meet women in churches
and traditions on both sides of this interpretive divide. My goal is to address the beginning of one’s call to vocational ministry—to lay
the groundwork, if you will. Therefore, secondly, I did not see the need to
talk from a strictly complementarian or egalitarian perspective, whatever that
means today, since my goal wasn’t to talk about ordination or roles per se.
I believe these two approaches have more in common than is often acknowledged.
Most women in these so-called camps are tired of the debate and want to focus
on the question: does God call women like me to serve him in ministry? I
actually believe that this “in-between” space includes many women. This does
not mean I do not have a particular interpretation of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 nor
does it mean I am somehow theologically neutral when it comes to the roles of
women in ministry. However, I did not believe it would be helpful to advocate
from one perspective or another given the purpose of this book. Some will “blacklist” books if they are written from the
other “side.” Even though I tried to stay in that middle space, I knew that for
some my book would not be complementarian or egalitarian enough and would therefore be censored. This is indeed what has happened.
In spite of this, I strongly believe that there is a strong middle and
ecumenical ground where conversations about women in ministry can and should
take place. I pray the posture and position I take in the book draws people together rather than exclude them.
In the year since your book has
released, you've undoubtedly heard from many readers. What would you like to
say to those who haven't read it yet? Or what would you want to add to what
you've said in the book? Yes, I have been very fortunate and blessed to have heard
from readers around the world, namely women for whom the book came at a time in
their life when they needed biblical encouragement and guidance concerning the
next steps in ministry. Hearing personal testimonies from readers is an author’s
great reward. To those who haven’t read the book yet, I would of course say,
“Read it!” On a more serious note, I try to bring out from Scripture stories of
women called by God to proclaim the word of God for the people of God. There
are many examples of women in Scripture doing just that—proclaiming a message
from God to edify people in their day, and, by God’s design as Holy Scripture,
edifying us today! In my book, I put the stories of these women next to stories
of well-known men in Scripture to show a common pattern in how he calls and
uses both men and women for his purposes. It would be a shame if the discussion
about women’s place in God’s kingdom was limited to a few verses from the New
Testament and did not take into account all of Scripture. If I could revise the
book today, I would add more examples of women God uses in Scripture whose
words are included for our edification today, such as the wise woman of 2
Samuel 20 and the Queen of Sheba. I want to continue to shine a light on the
ways in which God is using women in his kingdom, which is why I am glad to say
that I am writing a second book with Dr. Timothy George on women of the
Reformation. My prayer is that the Church would be filled with God-called,
theologically trained spiritual mothers who, alongside spiritual fathers, are
equipping the saints for the work of ministry.
Thanks,
Kristen, for writing this book and giving us a glimpse of your journey!
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