GENDER AND

DEVELOPMENT IN
THE CHURCH
QUESTION:

WHY DO YOU THINK THE

CHURCH BECOMES AN AGENT
OF GENDER SOCIALIZATION?

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Church as social institution

✔ Within religious institutions, people learn about

correct values, the right way to live and how they fit
into the society. The church, the synagogue or the
temple also provides comfort to people in times of
distress and hope when life presents its inevitable
challenges.
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Gender Role Perspectives in the
Church

✔ Some of the church’s historical teaching, particularly

around sex and gender roles, has been significant in
enhancing the status of women.
✔ historical recognition of women as fully-fledged human
beings came from the biblical doctrine of the Imago Dei (
Genesis 1:26-28) which affirms the intrinsic dignity of all
people regardless of gender or social status.
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In the earliest Book of the Bible
✔ In Genesis, ‘woman’ shares the same substance and
nature as ‘man’, and is equal to and distinct from him
(Genesis 2:18, 23). Through the creation account and
the wisdom and prophetic literature in the Bible,
women are highly valued representatives of life,
wisdom, sustenance and strength
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In the first century Roman
world
✔ Women were seen as the property of men – ideally
subservient daughters and wives, and certainly not
suited for public life. In this context, Jesus’
interactions with women showed respect and value
that was radically counter-cultural.

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Gender-Based Egalitarian
Position in the Church
2 Views
✔ Complementarianism stresses that although men and women
are equal in personhood, they are created for different roles.
✔ Egalitarianism also agrees that men and women are equal in
personhood but holds that there are no gender-based limitations
on the roles of men and women

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Gender-Based Egalitarian
Position in the Church
✔ This position is explicit in the scriptures where God
created male and female as equal in all respects. 
Gen. 1:26-27 makes no distinction between woman
and man insofar as both are equally made in His
image and both are given the responsibility to rule
over His creation
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Biblical Support for
Complementarianism
1. The complementarian case goes back to the
Garden of Eden, where God says of Adam, “It is
not good for the man to be alone. I will make a
helper suitable for him”

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Biblical Support for
Complementarianism
✔ In matters relating to marriage
“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the
Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head
of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the
church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their
husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ
loved the church and gave himself up for her”
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Biblical Support for
Complementarianism
✔ In the realm of church leadership,
✔ Paul instructs Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:11-13, “A
woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I
do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority
over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed
first, then Eve.”
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Church Role in
Promoting Gender
Equality
Church Role in Promoting
Gender Equality
✔ ‘The Church has the duty to contribute to the recognition and
liberation of women, ...Giving women opportunities to make
their voice heard and to express their talents through initiatives
which reinforce their worth, their self-esteem and their
uniqueness would enable them to occupy a place in society
equal to that of men...Bishops should encourage and promote
the formation of women so that they may assume ‘their proper
share of responsibility and participation in the community life 17
Church Role in Promoting
Gender Equality
✔ This challenges all members to preach the Gospel that leads
people to recognize and accept God’s value, irrespective of sex,
religion and culture. If people can understand this value, then
their actions will also value the lives of others.
✔ This means that, the church members should promote with
other individuals to address existing Gender inequality concerns
and initiate interventions to address this concern.
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Gender-Based Inequality in the
Church
✔ Admitting the complexity of the issues, some religious norms
and traditions can contribute to the formation of gender
inequalities and to subordinate the role of women in society.
✔ This can be defined as culturally and socially created
differences between men and women when both sexes do not
have the same share in the decision making in the church

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Gender bias in
churches and
Christian
organizations
Gender bias in churches and
Christian organizations
✔ Women are expected to serve in the nurturing roles of
children’s ministry; rarely do we see or expect men to volunteer
in children’s ministry.

✔ Women are often expected to take on the scribe or

administrative roles on church task forces and committees, but
men are rarely asked to do the same.
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Gender bias in churches and
Christian organizations
✔ Women are absent as speakers at church and national
conferences, or are present only as psalmists or singers.

✔ Women who do the same work as men are given different titles.
Women are also often paid less or nothing compared to men in
comparable roles or capacities.

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Gender bias in churches and
Christian organizations
✔ Sermon illustrations position women as temptresses or victims
and rarely as agents. Most churches spend far more time
highlighting the men of the Bible as sources of wisdom and
instruction.

✔ Women aren’t expected to lead even when they feel called. As

one prominent radio minister put it, “God only calls women
into leadership when men are not in their rightful places.” 23
The Roman Catholic Church does
not allow women priests.
✔ This is based on the belief that all priests are
successors of Jesus’ apostles and as he only appointed
men, this role is not open to women.

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Protestant Churches accept the
equality of both sexes
✔ They have had women priests for a long time (for
example, Baptists, Methodist)

✔ This acceptance is based on the Bible, which states

that male and female were both created in God’s
image. They cite too Jesus’ own treatment of women –
that of dignity and respect. 25