Methodism And Female Clergy

For women in the church the ultimate sign of equality is ordination. Only when a woman has equal athority and opertunity can she be considered equal to men. While Wesley himself never endorsed ordination, and only officially sanctioned female preaching in 1787, he did hold women in high regard. (Chilote) They were integrally involved in early Methodism, and in many ways made the movement possible.

John Wesley’s work influenced many people and spurred many other movements. One such movement was the holiness movement founded by B.T. Roberts (1823–1893) a predecessor of Wesley. Roberts would come to disagree with Wesley on this issue, and would advocate for women’s ordination. However, like John himself, after his death the movement would be out of his control.

John Wesley received much of his early spiritual and academic training from his mother Susanna Wesley (1670-1742). Sus

The most prominent of these texts was 1 Cor. 14:34-35 which states, “Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for women to speak in church.” For Wesley this was evidence that women should not be aloud to preach or teach in church. As he writes in his notes on the New Testament, “Let your women be silent in the churches - Unless they are under an extraordinary impulse of the Spirit. For, in other cases, it is not permitted them to speak - By way of teaching in public assemblies. But to be in subjection - To the man whose proper office it is to lead and to instruct the congregation.”

After John Wesley's death in 1791, the attitude of Methodists towards the concept of a female preaching ministry changed from reluctant acceptance to positive discouragement. From 1803, women were effectively restricted to addressing their own sex and then only under strict conditions. However, some women ignored the obstacles placed in their way and continued to preach wherever they saw a need. They found refuge in brake away church groups like the Primitive Methodists and Bible Christians (established in 1811 and 1815 respectively). (Jrulm Team)

It is here where Roberts and Wesley disagree. Roberts claims that this passage is not to be taken literally. Otherwise women would not be allowed to pray in church, testify, teach Sunday School, or even write religious books, because all of these things would require her to speak or teach. Furthermore, Paul is not commanding women not to speak in church, only to regulate it. He states earlier in the book, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head; for that is even all one as if she were shaven.” (1 Cor. 11:5) . Obviously a woman must speak in order to prophesy or pray, therefore, St. Paul’s intent was not to keep women completely silent, forbidden form all teaching and speaking, but only to organize a disorderly church.

Wesley’s favorable view of women was not shared by most of his contemporaries. He was attacked from inside and outside of Methodism for his actions. In London, for example, some of Wesley's followers tried to exclude women from a number of the society's activities. Their actions infuriated Wesley, who told them that he did "exceedingly disapprove" of excluding women when the society met to pray, sing, and read the Scriptures. A clergyman accused Wesley of keeping women in Bristol so busy that they were not giving their families proper attention. "William Fleetwood dismissed the Methodists, or 'Perfectionists,' as he called them, as a group of 'silly Women.'... Such attacks were unfounded but the response of women to Wesley's liberating message was overwhelming indeed.

Roberts argues that there is no biblical justification to believe that women are inferior to men. However, passages from the bible that seem to advocate this position are simply the result of a mistranslation of the text, or a misinterpretation. One such text comes from the creation account in Genesis chapter one. The fact that woman was created last shows her inferiority. But, if this proves anything, it proves her superiority. For the work of creation proceeded in regular gradation from lower to the higher. First God created heavens, then light, ect… building upon his creation making it more spectacular then the day before.

So it seems that Wesley started a movement that would take many years to come into being. Even in the church women could not find their God given equality until recent times, and still most denominations of our day do not recogni

Some topics in this essay:
Isha She-, Roberts Wesley, Free Methodist, Roberts Roberts, Women Wesley’s, Susanna Wesley, John Wesley1709-1791, Team Wesley’s, BT Roberts, Sarah Crosby, methodist church, john wesley, bt roberts, free methodist church, ordaining women, main line, free methodist, women ministry, book ordaining women, line methodist, reason believe, favorable view women, movement john, main line methodist, line methodist church,