It seems to me that a growing number of (otherwise) biblical, confessional, Reformed churches are embracing a new ministry innovation. Correctly understanding that the Bible teaches that only called, qualified men are able to hold office in the Church (minister, elder, or deacon), but with a stated desire to better care for the women of the churches, they create what are often called "Shepherdesses". These are women with demonstrable wisdom, of good standing in the local church, who are appointed (not called or installed) to come alongside the pastor and elders to better oversee the spiritual wellbeing of the women in the church. From the outside this option appears as an attempted middle ground between the outright ordaining of women to authoritative church offices (which would clearly violate God's word), and the supposed ignoring of women's needs, who are instead forced to suffer under inattentive male leadership in the church without any female mediator between them.
What is apparently happening is that women, like the Greek-speaking widows of Acts, are being neglected in the daily distribution: not of food, but of spiritual care and oversight from their sessions. Because of the difficulties in communication and trust between men and women, Christian women in the churches need to be shepherded by their pastors and elders through the added medium of a female companion. So, let's say a wife in the church needs to bring a situation before the session. Are we really going to expect her to go sit alone before the tribunal of men and be truly heard and feel cared for? Of course not! Men aren't that good at listening, right? The wisdom then following says that what she needs is an advocate, a female mediator between her and the session who can (like Jesus) lay hands on both parties: she has the benefit of being female, therefore being better acquainted with female needs and desires; but she is also wise and able to understand the session's duty of care, oversight, and discipline. Thus, we get the shepherdess.
Let it be said that the Bible does have plenty of room in the church for wise female leaders who can help serve the needs of women. In Titus 2, Paul says these words about older men and women in the church, none of whom (in the context) are authoritative church officers, just wise older saints: "But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things--that they admonish the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed."
Clearly, when it comes to people pouring wisdom and direction into the lives of women in the church, Paul envisions more parties than simply the pastor and elders. Women can teach women. Women need to help in the discipleship of other women. Older women in particular must come alongside younger women in the church and advise them in life. Of course, it's very interesting that the older women are to exhort younger women to be loving wives and mothers, to be homemakers, and obey their husbands. I have a sneaking suspicion that many shepherdess teams don't have this enshrined as their mission statement!
So, Keith, what problem do you have with the idea of the "shepherdess"? Well, the problem isn't that women are being ordained to church offices (they aren't). And the problem isn't that women are being heard in the church! Women, as much as men, are Christians and have a right to the care and oversight of their sessions. They are not second-class Christians, nor are their concerns less deserving of consideration. The main problem I see with the shepherdess idea is that it introduces an unnecessary and biblically foreign concept into the functioning of the local church.
Let's think about just one implication of introducing the shepherdess into the churches, namely, that the session is no longer seen as fully capable and sufficient to handle the oversight of all church members. The men whom Christ has appointed in the Church to rule, oversee, and shepherd are not able to sufficiently do the job. Maybe we think that, because they are men, they cannot sufficiently oversee the souls of women without female mediation. Does that mean they also cannot sufficiently oversee the spiritual needs of children without a child mediator? Could a Hispanic elder truly shepherd a black man in the church without a black mediator? Where does the line fall, and why?
I wonder what we would think about Christ's relationship to His female followers. Jesus Christ came into the world as a man, a male. He remains a man. He is still male. Is Jesus able to care for women's souls? Or is His ability to understand them limited by His maleness? If you say, "Yes, but Keith, Jesus is sinless. He is able to perfectly care for His female disciples, in spite of His maleness, because He is without sin." Ok, so if that's the case then the problem is ultimately sin, women being asked to submit themselves under the leadership of sinful men. This issue is not resolved by putting shepherdesses in place, as those women would be just as sinful as any man.
Maybe we think about situations where women have been abused by men, spiritually, physically, or emotionally. Should those women really be subjected to the oversight of an all-male session without official female mediation? Again, I would point to the previous point about the male nature of Jesus Christ. If a woman who has suffered abuse cannot be entrusted to the care of the men Christ has chosen without female mediation, can she entrust herself to Jesus? Maybe the Romanists are on to something and women could find mediation with Jesus through Mary! After all, Jesus is a man, and you know what men are like! Furthermore, one of the chief qualifications for an elder in the church is the quality of gentleness (1 Tim 3:3). If a man is not gentle enough to biblically handle the spiritual needs of an abused woman, he is not gentle enough to be an elder. I would stress that word "biblically", though. Jesus Christ is the determiner of whether a session has handled something biblically, not the party involved. Just because a woman (or any man, for that matter) doesn't feel like she has been heard and cared for, doesn't mean that she hasn't been.
Much more could and should be said about this. I think the main point to come back to is the headship of Jesus Christ over His Church. He is the King and Head of the Church, and He is the one who raises up godly men into authoritative office to lead His people. When Jesus established His church and gave us the church's structure, He put three offices in place: ministers, elders, and deacons. It's clearly been shown that there is a place for strong women of faith to help serve the needs of other women in the church. I simply feel that the practice of official shepherdess teams, acting as mediators between the women of the church and the session, is unnecessary at best. In the worst case, it is a springboard for the unbiblical practice of ordaining female church officers and the further erosion of biblical practice in American churches.
Are elders perfect? Of course not. Pastors aren't perfect either. But Christ has ordained that all Christians, male and female alike, need the imperfect leadership of their pastors and elders. They need the unfiltered exhortation and conviction of God's word, given straight from the mouths of their leaders. Men need it, which we see every year around father's day, with biblical exhortations given from the pulpit. Men are soundly rebuked for their shortcomings and sins, and exhorted to pursue greater righteousness as men. I wonder how many mother's day sermons there were this year on the sinfulness and failure of women, exhorting women to repent and serve Christ better as wives, mothers, and sisters in Christ? Women, you need the unfiltered truth of Christ, straight from the mouths of those whom Jesus Himself has put over you, to care for your souls.
May Christ Himself be pleased to help us increasingly pursue this true and better life together, according to His instruction and desire, and to the good of our souls and the glory of His name.
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