puddles Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Just wondered what folks thought about this article that is in the Adventist Review: </font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr /> Baptist Church Removes Woman From Teaching Sunday School BY KAT GLASS ©2006 Religion News Service A Baptist church in Watertown, N.Y., has dismissed an 81-year-old female adult Sunday school teacher, citing a biblical passage that prohibits women from teaching men. Rev. Timothy LaBouf, pastor of First Baptist Church, said in a statement that "based on the consistent teaching of Scripture," both men and women have roles within the church, but women are barred from teaching men. The church's board of deacons mailed a letter Aug. 9 announcing the decision to Mary Lambert, 81, who had taught an adult Sunday school class for 11 years. The letter quoted the New Testament book of 1 Timothy: "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent." LaBouf said in an interview that the decision to remove Lambert was "multifaceted" and did not solely rest on the male-female designations in the Bible. He cited a lawsuit that Lambert had threatened in May. According to LaBouf, the lawsuit, which was later dismissed, said that each new member should be scrutinized before joining the church. The church's membership has skyrocketed from 18 to 200 members since LaBouf was hired as pastor two years ago. But, LaBouf said, a legal counsel recommended that the deacons board stick to arguments with an ecclesiastical basis rather than other issues with Lambert, to avoid slander. Lambert, who has been a church member for 54 years, was not available for comment. LaBouf, who is also a member on the Watertown City Council, countered criticisms that the church's decision could carry over to his political role. "I believe that God has a special role for both men and women within the church setting," he said in the interview. "I don't believe that those special roles make one more inferior than the other. ... And I believe that that ends at the church." The church has classes for children, men only, women only and both men and women. Lambert was teaching a co-ed class of about four men and women. <hr /></blockquote><font class="post"> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted August 31, 2006 Moderators Share Posted August 31, 2006 Religious Liberty: We would not want a civil court telling us who we had to have teach a SS class. It is their right to do as thy chose. Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Naomi Posted August 31, 2006 Administrators Share Posted August 31, 2006 <img src="/adventist/images/graemlins/amen2.gif" alt="" /> Quote If your dreams are not big enough to scare you, they are not big enough for God Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicodema Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 What about the religious liberty of the Bible teacher affected personally by this??? If the COURT grants "religious liberty" by keeping out of it, who will ensure that this self-appointed body of rulers in this church will grant religious liberty to individual members thereof, or at least see that they are treated fairly and justly by said body??? Quote "After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shane Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 Religious liberty allows this women to start her own church that allows women to teach Sunday school or join an existing church that allows such. It is not the role of the civil government to intrepret the Bible and decide if women should be allowed to teach men or not. Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted August 31, 2006 Members Share Posted August 31, 2006 So I suppose they have never read or study timothy before!!! pkrause Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted September 1, 2006 Moderators Share Posted September 1, 2006 Nico, she does not have the right to come into my home and practice her liberty against my wishes. However, she may go to your home and practice her religious liberty if that is what you wish her to do. Frankly, as many may suspect, I support women in spiritual leadership roles. But, a group of people who believe that women should have no role in spiritual leadership must have the right to gather together in an association that prohibits women from those roles of spiritual leadership. In this case, that group of people must have the right to say "no" to her. It is the same way, in my opinion, in the SDA Church. I support women clergy. But, the fact that I support such does not mean that I beleive that a specific SDA congregation should be forced, against its will, to have a female pastor. I do not think that a SDA congregation in Iran, should be forced against its will to have such. However, the converse of that is that we in North America should be allowed to have such, regardless of what the SDA church in Quatar thinks about it. Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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