Listen to the women – Baptist News Global

One week after election day 2024, I found myself in another room where I had to cast my vote.

As messenger for the 2024 annual meeting of the Baptist Convention of Texas, I would be required to vote on a motion for the BGCT to affirm the Baptist faith and Message of 2000.

For those unfamiliar with the nuances of the various Baptist groups in Texas, the Baptist General Convention of Texas is one of the few Baptist state conventions that refrained from adopting the 2000 Baptist faith and message when it was first introduced by the Southern Baptist Convention.

Among many, one of the reasons When the BGCT did not adopt the revised statement, a line was added in the 2000 version: “Although both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by the Bible.”

Contrary to the 2000 statement, the BGCT has maintained that the way women serve in ministry is a matter of the autonomy of the local church and not a matter of doctrinal alignment necessary for collaboration.

So when it came time to debate the motion to affirm this statement, I couldn’t be the only one who noticed that everyone who stood up and lined up to speak for and against the motion was male.

While both men and women would be affected, the lives of women called by God to serve among Texas Baptists would be most affected if the statement were confirmed. Yet not a single woman stood up to speak.

The male speakers against the Affirmation of the Baptist Faith and the 2000 Message spoke eloquently and persuasively, and I am deeply grateful for the way women’s callings were specifically affirmed.

But after one of the male speakers on the other side started ridiculing women, our calling, and our ability to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, I decided to get up and line up for the microphone, so that women were at least visually represented.

Fortunately, the motion was not passed and the declaration was not accepted. But the fact that women felt like their voices wouldn’t be valued, or that it wouldn’t be safe to speak, is significant.

After the business session concluded, a special panel was planned where the BGCT would represent different perspectives on women in ministry. The room was full.

For this special event, seven people stood on stage: six men and only one woman. A few male panelists spoke with words of affirmation and support, while the other male panelists expressed views that were painfully limiting to women. Amid this inhospitable environment, the only female panelist on stage represented women in ministry with boldness, thoughtfulness and generosity of spirit to her fellow panelists.

“It was striking that only one woman was asked to participate in a panel on women.”

Like the absence of women at the microphones for a critical debate, it was striking that only one woman was asked to participate in a panel on women.

I will be one of the first to loudly proclaim that we need to hear from men about how women serve in ministry, but we also need to hear from at least as many women as men on this topic.

Unity and continued collaboration were celebrated by several male panelists as the most desirable conclusion to the discussion. But it is much easier to speak about unity on this issue as male pastors and professors.

When unity comes at the expense of women to be constantly devalued, diminished, disrespected, and rejected is nothing like the gospel unity embodied by Jesus. But it is difficult to appreciate the price of unity when the voices of those who must sacrifice the most are not heard.

A week ago, on Election Day, I put on my “Listen to Women” T-shirt as I headed to the nearest polling place to my house. After I cast my vote, I placed my “I Voted” sticker on my shirt, took a photo and posted it to social media with the following caption:

I feel like this shirt sums up a lot about 2024 for me.
When women say they are called by God to be ministers of the gospel, listen to women.
When women preach the gospel, listen to women.
When women say they have been sexually assaulted (even if they are accusing someone with enormous power or influence), listen to women.
When women say they experience harassment or discrimination in church or anywhere else, listen to women.
When decisions are made about women, or when discussions take place about women’s rights or what women need, listen to women.
When women say they should be able to vote freely, secretly and independently, listen to women.
When women say they fear for their lives because of the loss of access to reproductive health care, listen to women.
In the documentary Midwives of a movement Lynda Weaver-Williams says, “The presence of women’s stories and women’s lives will change the world.”
Let’s listen to women and change the world.

A week later, this is still my theme song.

In these moments my thoughts keep returning to the resurrection stories in the Gospels. When the women discovered the empty tomb, the divine messengers (Matthew 28:7; Mark 16:7) or Jesus himself (John 20:17) instructed the women to go and tell the news of the resurrection.

Where would we be if the other followers of Jesus had not listened to the women when they delivered this news?

But they did listen.

When Jesus’ followers listened to the women that first Easter morning: they could receive the hope of the resurrection of Jesus and know that the living Christ would continue to redeem the world through them.

When they listened to women, it changed the world.

It’s not too late yet. If we listen to women, we can change the world too.

Meredith Stone serves as executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry. She lives in Waco, Texas.