Women in Ministry - it's perplexing.
The first Palestinian woman was ordained as a pastor in Jerusalem this weekend.
Did you catch how many of those words, not typically threaded together, got to existence in the same sentence?!
Palestinian.
woman.
ordained.
pastor.
Middle East.
A few specific things about this move me and I’d love for you to pick one to marinate on yourself:
Sally Azar is now one of 5 ordained women in all of the Middle East. In America, the gender stats are already low, with only about 13% of lead pastors being female. Sally is now one of 5 in the Middle East. FIVE.
The Holy Land. Where this whole Jesus movement started. It feels intimate to see it happening there. It just feels right. When I think of the women who moved, lived, taught and ministered across that land, I picture them looking down on the ceremony from heaven, and I laugh. Because what a celebration it must’ve been. I Phoebe and Junia and Priscilla whooping and hollering with uncontainable joy. Feeling a sense of validation that “one of us” is finally getting the recognition she deserves, is finally getting the title for the work that women have been doing for centuries, is finally getting public permission to do the things Jesus and Paul gave women permission to do from the very beginning! I hope someone in heaven pulled out an iPhone. Because even more than watching Sally become ordained, I wish I could see that rejoicing and the way I just know they cheered her on with pride.
On the other hand, I’m perplexed. If this is where Jesus did his actual ministry, if this is where the Christian church started, why does it feel like they’re behind, trying to catch up? Shouldn’t this part of the world be leading the rest of us in equality for all people and the recognition of human value?
I know it’s not the case because the political system of the Middle East is still very oppressive. It’s much more complex than I can describe to you here because I don’t fully understand it. But I refuse to not try. Ignorance - as that’s truly all it is - can no longer be an excuse for white Americans who have the luxury of being removed and unphased. Follow @lisadaftari to learn about the ongoing mistreatment of Iranian women who are showing bravery that we will never have to demonstrate ourselves. Look into the hashtag #mahsaamini who was killed by the police for “improperly” wearing her hijab.
And then look at this picture:
A candid shot that Nadia Bolz-Weber, a powerful female Lutheran pastor, took while attending the ceremony. Sally’s beautifully curled hair. Her incredible power pumps. The femininity in this photo is strong. And it’s only a thousand miles or so from where the women in Iran are being brutalized for showing any bit of themselves outside of what has been dictated for them to wear. If you’re in the Charlotte area, that’s like driving to San Antonio, Texas. It’s really not that far away.
So many emotions.
Such an incredible thing to celebrate.
So much work yet to do.
If everything - or anything - in here was news to you, please broaden your intake. In your feed, your news, the voices that you listen to. There are other people in this world outside of our bubbles and their lives and cultures very much matter as much as ours do.
While you’re at it, look up Monterey Park and Lunar New Year and learn what the hashtag #AAPI means.
