VOX Mini - Navigating Theological Tension in Church Leadership: Can Complementarians and Egalitarians Co-Pastor?

Voxology

Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2019

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Can a complementarian and an egalitarian co-lead a church without compromising their convictions or church polity? That’s the central question driving this special mini-episode of Voxology. Mike, Tim, and Bonnie revisit a recent conversation sparked by their dialogue with Allan Frow, unpacking listener questions about unity in leadership, theological diversity, and the positive biblical basis for women in ministry.

With real-life scenarios, pastoral insight, and honest evaluation of both complementarian and egalitarian frameworks, this episode offers valuable guidance for anyone discerning their place in church leadership—or working to build a faith community rooted in inclusion and conviction.

Key Takeaways:
• Unity in Diversity? – The complexities of co-leading a church when leaders hold opposing beliefs on women in ministry roles, and the challenges it raises for church governance and decision-making.
• Honoring Women’s Gifting – Why flexibility matters, and how lack of clarity in theology and modeling can perpetuate confusion and exclusion, especially for women seeking freedom in their calling.
• The Positive Case for Women in Ministry – A biblical framework starting from Genesis 1-2, with examples from the Old Testament, Jesus’s ministry, and Paul’s writings, including key figures like Phoebe, Junia, and Priscilla.
• Reading the Fruit – Encouragement from Bonnie to consider the impact and outcomes of different theological interpretations in practice, not just in theory.
• The Role of Theological Disagreement – Why some dialogues may work better in open forums than in the shared leadership of a church body.

Resources Mentioned:
• Upcoming “Heated” Event Recording – A two-hour teaching and Q&A session with Mike and Bonnie on women in leadership (coming soon!).
• Romans 16 – Paul’s commendation of women ministry leaders.
• 1 Corinthians 11, Ephesians 5 – Scriptural passages addressing women in the context of early church participation.
• Episode 18 – “Is the Bible Anti-Women?” with Bonnie Lewis
• Episode 46 – “Women in Leadership” with Bonnie Lewis

Have you wrestled with this question in your own church context? We’d love to hear from you. Send your thoughts and feedback to [email protected] and join the conversation online.

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Music by Timothy John Stafford – timothyjohnstafford.com | IG & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

As always, we encourage and would love discussion as we pursue. Feel free to email in questions to [email protected], and to engage the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.

We're on YouTube (if you're into that kinda thing): VOXOLOGY TV.

Our Merch Store! ETSY

Learn more about the Voxology Podcast

Subscribe on iTunes or Spotify

Support the Voxology Podcast on Patreon

The Voxology Spotify channel can be found here: Voxology Radio

Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeerre

Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford

Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everybody, Mike, Tim, Bonnie here today.
0:10.2	We're so excited to be with you.
0:11.7	Welcome to the Vox podcast.
0:13.7	And just quick hair updates.
0:15.5	Tim is shaggy and beautiful.
0:17.5	Bonnie's hair is up, but it's got little, what do we call those, little wispy things that are...
0:23.6	That's the technical term.
0:25.6	They're not behaving like the rest of the hair.
0:30.2	That's the beauty of it.
0:32.0	And so most of it's up, I would say 90% is up.
0:36.7	This is what Chip calls it the bird nest. And then some is sideways.
0:42.4	Some is down. And then, all right. But anyway, I'm just fascinated. Fascinated by the whole
0:48.7	thing. Fascinated. That's got to be, that's got to be so good to have in cold climates, you know, just like you're a built-in scarf.
0:57.4	That's right.
0:58.3	Yeah.
0:58.4	Amazing.
0:58.9	Yeah.
1:00.3	Yes.
1:00.8	So, we're doing some many episodes and we got some great questions slash feedback about the conversation we had about women in church leadership with
1:13.6	Alan Frow. We did an episode on John MacArthur's comments, and then that led us to have a
1:20.9	conversation with somebody holds a different view, but articulates it very intelligently and winsomely.
1:28.4	And so that was a great conversation.
	...

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