ABSTRACT IDENTIFYING GENDER WORLDVIEW ROADBLOCKS TO THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN: A CASE STUDY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN NIGERIA by Stephen Nalde Yarkum Perhaps the most significant ambiguity, frustration, and vulnerability women face in their work in churches today is their refusal of the ordained ministry. While women have found personal spiritual inspiration in contributing to mission work in Nigeria and a good number of women are today enrolled at seminaries for theological education, women have often found themselves struggling with the issue of gender disparity imposed by church tradition and they have become casualties of church doctrinal struggles. In the religious climate of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, the impetus toward greater equality of women and men in ordained ministry in many respects is stalled. The concept of the division of labor between sexes and the notion of women’s subordination to men affect virtually women in all spheres of endeavor. The findings of this project revealed that women are regarded as acquired property, second-class citizens, and experience lack of economic and leadership opportunity comparable to men. In this study, I examined the ecclesiological problems surrounding the ordination of women into pastoral ministry and claim that the issue of excluding women from the ordained ministry is a sociological contrivance that oppresses women and blocks their opportunity from articulating their spiritual gifting and ministry conviction in the Church of Christ in Nigeria. DISSERTATION APPROVAL This is to certify that the dissertation entitled IDENTIFYING GENDER WORLDVIEW ROADBLOCKS TO THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN: A CASE STUDY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN NIGERIA presented by Stephen Nalde Yarkum has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for the DOCTOR OF MINISTRY degree at Asbury Theological Seminary December 2, 2008 Mentor Date December 2, 2008 Internal Reader Date December 2, 2008 Representative, Doctor of Ministry Program Date December 2, 2008 Dean, Doctor of Ministry Program Date IDENTIFYING GENDER WORLDVIEW ROADBLOACKS TO THE ORDINATION OF WOMEN: A CASE STUDY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST IN NIGERIA A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Asbury Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Ministry by Stephen Nalde Yarkum December 2008 © 2008 Stephen Nalde Yarkum ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. ix LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM...........................................................................................................................1 Context of the Study ............................................................................................................4 Precolonial Era: A Brief History..........................................................................................5 Location and Geography................................................................................................. 5 Demography.................................................................................................................... 6 Women’s Role in Nigeria before the British Colonization............................................. 7 Church of Christ in Nigeria................................................................................................15 Growth and Expansion.................................................................................................. 16 Women’s Fellowship .................................................................................................... 18 Nigerian Constitution and Women’s Rights................................................................. 19 Global Context.............................................................................................................. 20 Purpose of the Study ..........................................................................................................22 Research Questions............................................................................................................22 Research Question 1 ..................................................................................................... 22 Research Question 2 ..................................................................................................... 22 Definition of Terms............................................................................................................23 Church........................................................................................................................... 23 iii Colonialism................................................................................................................... 24 Mainstreaming...............................................................................................................24 Ordination ..................................................................................................................... 25 Methodology......................................................................................................................26 Pretest............................................................................................................................ 27 Instrumentation ............................................................................................................. 27 Participants.................................................................................................................... 29 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 29 Delimitation .................................................................................................................. 29 Variables ....................................................................................................................... 30 Significance of the Study.............................................................................................. 30 Inculturation and Its Implication to Nigerian Women.......................................................32 Dialogue........................................................................................................................ 33 Inculturation and Justice ............................................................................................... 34 Theological Framework.....................................................................................................34 Overview............................................................................................................................38 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE...................................................................................................................39 Argument against Women’s Leadership in the Church.................................................... 39 Genesis 1:26: Created in God’s Image ............................................................................. 41 Genesis 1:27-28: Authority to Co-Rule ............................................................................ 42 Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8: Consecration of the Priests................................................... 47 Female Authority in the Old Testament............................................................................ 47 iv Ministry of Women in the New Testament....................................................................... 56 1 Corinthians 11:3 and 14: 34-35: Paul’s Commands ...................................................... 58 1 Corinthians 14:34-35: Women Silent in the Church...................................................... 60 1 Timothy 2:1-15 (Context).............................................................................................. 63 Christological Argument................................................................................................... 67 Some Church Fathers’ Worldview of a Woman............................................................... 68 Women and Spiritual Gifts ............................................................................................... 71 Christ’s Promise of the Holy Spirit................................................................................... 74 Ordination in Church History ........................................................................................... 75 Monasteries .................................................................................................................. 76 Resource Control.......................................................................................................... 77 Inculturation of the Gospel ........................................................................................... 78 Global Experience of Women in Ministry.........................................................................81 The Church of the Nazarene ..............................................................................................82 The Changing Role of Women in Nigeria .........................................................................83 The Changing Role of Women in the Church of Christ in Nigeria ...................................85 Conclusion