100. 75. 50. Three great numbers. Three great celebrations of the ordination of women: as deacons, as elders, and as ministers of Word and Sacrament.
At 100 years, we would love to claim to have been the first, but the Cumberland Presbyterians ordained Louisa Woosley in 1889. Then again, we don’t need to claim originality to celebrate our role in promoting gender equality. John Calvin didn’t launch the Reformation, he just organized and systematized it. Similarly, we Presbyterians have contributed critical leadership that has theologically validated and organizationally formulated the practice of women’s ordination. Hearing of the three anniversaries, 100, 75, 50, might we imagine that something important could have happened 25 years ago, too? Well, as a matter of fact, one big thing did happen. One of our ecumenical organizations, the National Council of Churches, directed its Bible translation team, led by Bruce Metzger, to update the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, with an eye toward making it more gender inclusive. Soon after publication in 1989, the New RSV was being read in most Presbyterian pulpits every Sunday.
Also around 25 years ago, the two major branches of Presbyterianism were nearing completion of a plan for reunion that included the writing of a new confession. The resulting Brief Statement of Faith elevated to status confessionis our conviction that “The same Spirit … calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.”
Our efforts were noticed in the larger culture. Political correctness in speech, at first, became a favorite target for stand up comedians–do you remember the comic strip, “PC Man, er uh, Person”? In spite of the dismissive humor, the generic use of “man” and “men” quickly gave way to “person” and “people.”
Other churches followed our lead. One of the country’s largest and most influential megachurches, Willowcreek Community near Chicago, actually ordained a woman associate pastor.
Most remarkably, the conservative publishing behemoth, Zondervan, and its partner, the International Bible Society, threw caution to the wind by directing their translation committee to revise their best selling New International Version Bible, in order to make it “gender accurate.”
When the publishers announced its publication they were overwhelmed with withering criticism. They stopped the presses. But they kept working, doing cautious test marketing. Finally, tentatively, the TNIV made its way into print.
Through these 25, 50, 75, 100 years, many a pioneer, most of them women, threw caution to the wind. They changed the world.
We all need to take up their mantle and carry the cause forward. The Episcopalians are threatening to split, in part over the consecration of a woman as presiding bishop. The Southern Baptists have been hardening their opposition to women ministers. And the number of female pastors in some historically inclusive denominations, like the Nazarenes and the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, is shrinking of late. They need to find heroic role models that, perhaps, we Presbyterians can provide.
In this spirit, we share in this fall book issue the little known story of the translation of the TNIV Bible. We hope that its story may not only be read widely, but that the story of its publication might inspire other pioneers to take a stand for the kind of faith that says, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28 TNIV).
That verse says it, no matter which translation we use. And it’s been around for a lot longer than 100 years.
