The World Communion of Reformed Churches is particularly committed to gender justice and the just and full participation of women in all areas of church and society. The 2017 General Assembly adopted “The Declaration of Faith on the Ordination of Women” and pledged to journey with those members who do not yet ordain women. The ordination of women is not just about having more women in the ministry; rather it’s about recognizing that by including women in ministry and as equals in church leadership would create a powerful force for social and economic justice throughout the world. This is one in a series of articles on women in ministry highlighting these beliefs.
“Church should look beyond sexism and give equal space to women in ministry”
Rev. Priscilla Rawade believes that women should not underestimate themselves. Women are made in God’s image, she says, and God has blessed women with knowledge and wisdom; hence they need to free themselves from the chains of isolation.
“Our God is love, and Christianity talks about liberation, freedom and love. Liberation and freedom must spring from the church and church should look beyond sexism and give equal space to women in ministry. Just like the secular world, the religious sphere should give equal opportunities to women,” she says.
“I am glad to have a platform, my pulpit, where I can help people reflect through the lens of a woman,” said Rawade. “There are people who think I am wrong in my interpretation. Religious text is complex, and reasoning out the Scripture is something I focus on. Women are not encouraged to be pastors and ministers, but I think it is changing. Sometimes it is also about taking the first step and supporting other women along your journey. It is a gradual process.”
Rawade, an ordained minister of the Church of North India, Kolhapur Diocese, also teaches at Bishop’s College in Calcutta, India. She shared her experience of ordination as a woman, something which is not well supported in her country.
For her personally the decision to become ordained wasn’t a struggle. “I always wanted to study theology. Though my mom had this thinking that women don’t belong to the pulpit, but after theological studies it made me question her perspective. Men and women are equal before God, so why not in ordination?” said Rawade.
Rawade’s research for her Masters of Theology was on homosexuality in the context of the “Holiness Code” found in the book of Leviticus, and her areas of interest include wisdom literature, feminist and womanist readings, human sexuality and gender.
She shared that feminist theology is very interesting because it deals with the understanding of God from women’s perspectives. It questions the role of patriarchal religions that discriminate and subjugate women in the name of God. In her church many people, both men and women, still feel that men alone should be pastors or ordained ministers.
“Women’s ordination is important because most of the Bible’s interpretation has been done by men, and we see the Bible through their perspective,” said Rawade. “Be it India or Pakistan religion plays an important role, and what we are being told by the person who stands in the pulpit shapes us. Hence the voice of women and their perspective should also get heard from that place as they bring enriching experiences and it empowers the church.”