THE LIST

Dear Mabel pointed me to Wayne Grudem's article on "What women should do in church?", check it out here.  He listed 83 church ministries and categorized them into three lists:

List 1 includes ministries that involve governing authority;
List 2 includes ministries that involve Bible teaching; and
List 3 includes ministries that involve public visibility and recognition.

I realize that you can go to the link and read the list yourself....and please do read the entire article.  However, I can not seem to pass up the most wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the forming process of a Pharisee.  It is not every day that one can have a living and modern day example of the good old Pharisee who have developed 39 categories of activities prohibited on Sabbath, yet so completely missed the true meaning of Sabbath.

List 1: Areas of Governing Authority: 

Areas of greater governing authority to areas of lesser authority

1. President of a denomination
2. Member of the governing board of a denomination
3. Regional governing authority (such as bishop in some denominations, district superintendent or similar office in others)
4. Member of regional governing board
5. Senior pastor in local church
6. Member of governing board with authority over whole church (for example, elder in many churches, deacon or board member or church council member in others)
7. Presiding over a baptism or communion service (but see List 3 for serving communion or performing a baptism)
8. Giving spoken judgment on a prophecy given to the congregation (I think this is what Paul forbids in 1 Cor. 14:33-36)
9. Permanent leader of a fellowship group meeting in a home (both men and women members)
10. Committee chairman (or "chairperson") (explanation: this item and the following two have some kind of authority in the church, but it is less than the authority over the whole congregation which Paul has in mind in 1 Cor. 14:33-36, 1 Tim. 2:12, 1 Tim. 3, and Titus 1)
11. Director of Christian Education
12. Sunday School Superintendent
13. Missionary responsibilities: many administrative and organizational responsibilities in missionary work in other countries
14. Moderating a Bible discussion in a home Bible study group
15. Choir director
16. Leading singing on Sunday morning (note: this could be listed between 8 and 9 above, depending on how a church understands the degree of authority over the assembled congregation that is involved)
17. Deacon (in churches where this does not involve governing authority over the entire congregation)
18. Administrative assistant to senior pastor
19. Church treasurer
20. Church secretary
21. Member of advisory council to regional governing authority
22. Meeting periodically with church governing board to give counsel and advice
23. Regular conversations between elders and their wives over matters coming before the elder board (with understanding that confidentiality is preserved)
24. *Professional counselor (one woman counseling one man)
25. *Professional counselor (one woman counseling a couple together)
26. *Professional counselor (one woman counseling another woman)
27. Speaking in congregational business meetings
28. Voting in congregational business meetings (Explanation: each person voting has some influence over the whole congregation, but it is significantly less than the governing authority held personally by elders or a senior pastor, and does not seem to be what Paul has in view in 1 Tim. 2. By analogy, an 18-year old American can vote for the President of the United States, but cannot be President of the United States, and the authority residing in the office of President far exceeds the authority of any individual voter.)

List 2: Areas of Bible Teaching

Areas of greater teaching responsibility and influence on the beliefs of the church to areas of lesser teaching responsibility and lesser influence on the beliefs of the church.

1. Teaching Bible or theology in a theological seminary
2. Teaching Bible or theology in a Christian college
3. Preaching (teaching the Bible) at a nationwide denominational meeting
4. Preaching (teaching the Bible) at a regional meeting of churches
5. Preaching (teaching the Bible) regularly to the whole church on Sunday mornings
6. Occasional preaching (teaching the Bible) to the whole church on Sunday mornings
7. Occasional Bible teaching at less formal meetings of the whole church (such as Sunday evening or at a mid-week service)
8. Bible teaching to an adult Sunday school class (both men and women members)
9. Bible teaching at a home Bible study (both men and women members)
10. Bible teaching to a college age Sunday school class
11. Bible teaching to a high school Sunday school class
12. Writing a book on Bible doctrines (Explanation: I have put four examples of writing activities here on the list because the author of a book has some kind of teaching authority, but it is different from the teaching authority over the assembled congregation that Paul prohibits in 1 Tim. 2. The teaching relationship of an author to a reader is much more like the one-to-one kind of teaching that Priscilla and Aquila did when they explained the way of God more accurately to Apollos in Acts 18:26. In fact, with a book the element of direct personal interaction is almost entirely absent. Moreover, the book comes not only from the author but also with input from the editors and publisher.)
13. Writing or editing a study Bible
14. Writing a commentary on a book of the Bible
15. Writing notes in a study Bible
16. Writing or editing a study Bible intended primarily for women
17. Bible teaching to a women's Sunday school class
18. Bible teaching to a women's Bible study group during the week
19. Bible teaching to a junior high Sunday school class
20. Teaching as a Bible professor on a secular university campus. (Explanation: I have put this here on the list because I see this task as essentially a combination of evangelism and teaching about the Bible as literature, mainly to non-Christians. Even though there may be Christians in some classes, the professor has no church-authorized authority or doctrinal endorsement, as there would be with a Bible teacher in a church or a professor in a Christian college or seminary.)
21. Evangelistic speaking to large groups of non-Christians (for example, an evangelistic rally on a college campus)
22. Working as an evangelistic missionary in other cultures
23. Moderating a discussion in a small group Bible study (men and women members)
24. Reading Scripture aloud on Sunday morning
25. Reading Scripture to other, less formal meetings of the church
26. Giving a personal testimony before the congregation (a story of how God has worked in one's own or others' lives)
27. Participating in a discussion in a home Bible study (men and women members)
28. *Professional counseling (one woman counseling one man)
29. *Professional counseling (one woman counseling a married couple)
30. *Professional counseling (one woman counseling a woman)
31. Teaching children's Sunday school class
32. Teaching Vacation Bible School
33. Singing a solo on Sunday morning (a form of teaching, since it often has Biblical content and exhortation)
34. Singing to the congregation as a member of the choir
35. Singing hymns with the congregation (in this activity, sometimes we "teach" and exhort one another in some sense: Col. 3:16)

List 3: Areas of Public Visibility or Recognition

Areas of greater public recognition and visibility to areas of lesser visibility

1. Ordination as pastor (member of the clergy) in a denomination
2. Being licensed to perform some ministerial functions within a denomination
3. Paid member of pastoral staff (such as youth worker, music director, counselor, Christian Education director)
4. Paid member of administrative church staff (church secretary or treasurer, for example)
5. Performing a baptism (in churches where this is not exclusively the role of clergy or elders)
6. Helping to serve the Lord's Supper (in churches where this is not exclusively the role of clergy or elders)
7. Giving announcements at the Sunday morning service
8. Taking the offering
9. Public reading of Scripture
10. Public prayer
11. Prophesying in public (according to 1 Cor. 11:5 and 14:29, where this is not understood as having authority equal to scripture or Bible teaching)
12. Singing a solo on Sunday mornings
13. Giving a personal testimony in church
14. Giving a prayer request in church
15. Being a member of a "prayer team" that will pray for people individually after the service.
16. Welcoming people at the door (a greeter)
17. Editing church newsletter
18. Singing in the choir
19. Singing of hymns with congregation on Sunday morning
20. Participating in the responsive reading of Scripture on Sunday morning

The illogical and unbiblical nature of the lists and the problematic implications of them are simply too numerous to discuss here.  Let's just take these lists as a precautionary tale of how Christians can forget the redemption of Jesus Christ.

May the Lord have mercy on us all!