Thursday 8th March marked International Women’s Day, an event observed in countries around the world. It is a celebration of the progress made in the quest for gender equality for women in all areas of political, social and economic life.
We should all expect the Church to be a model of liberation whilst inspiring a hope-filled community. However, a recent report indicates the church remains a place where women are still experiencing sexism. The Minding the Gap report, published by the Sophia Network revealed that 62% of women have experienced sexism in UK Churches and that institutional sexism was also seen as the number one barrier for women in church leadership in the UK. This was stated by 53% of respondents in the survey whilst 42% said a lack of theological understanding of women and men working together for the gospel was a barrier to women in leadership in the Church.
The report surveyed more than 1,200 women on their experiences within church communities to obtain a comprehensive view of what it was like to be a woman in the Church in UK & Ireland. To further support the argument that sexism existed within our Churches, an artist created a piece of art entitled Eva’s Call. It is largely composed of remarks made to women during their pursuit of ordained ministry, phrases such as “daughter of Satan” comes to mind. Other quotations from the display were read out in the House of Lords on Thursday, at the launch of the report.
Fortunately, the vast majority of churchgoers are not sexist; sexism in churches is often times institutional. Prejudice against women is sometimes labelled as legitimate theological differences and not sexism, thus laying the blame for such unethical practices on the Bible.
This is a distortion of the radical equality we find in the gospel of Christ. In Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
The church of all institutions should not compromise justice and equality. It should be a firm and just representation of the consistent message of equality as preached and practiced in the gospel. Any deviation of thought or action from that belief and practice are contradictions to what we as Christians know to be right and have pledged to uphold.
In a world filled with hate and injustice, we as Christian women should be able to view the church as a place of refuge from these unfortunate issues. It is time for the church in general to make a stand. If absolute fairness and equality are to be found anywhere in this world, it is expected to be in the church. It is an expectation that we serve as a shining guide in these matters.
Let us lead by example.