Wood Shares His View on Women Filling Pastoral Roles
In a 20-minute video, Wood addressed how the Saddleback Church elders came to the decision to allow women not only to carry the title of pastor but also to preach during worship services.
“This conversation in particular is going to be geared towards helping the people of Saddleback understand this decision that our church, our elders, have made to empower women to teach and preach in our local church,” Wood said.
Wood pointed out that when the Bible appears to contradict itself, that perception is based on our own perspective, rather than the Scriptures being in direct opposition to themselves.
“God will often give us something where there seemingly is a tension,” Wood said. “But from God’s point of view, there’s not a tension. It’s very clear to God, but he’ll allow us to step into a place of ambiguity. And whenever there’s a tension, where there are seemingly two things that are true, we have to hold them together to gain deeper understanding and acknowledge…although the Bible is authoritative, although the Bible is inerrant, our interpretation of it is not.”
“So we hold our interpretation through the lens of our humanity,” Wood continued. “We are humans that are flawed. We’re doing our very best to understand the Bible.”
Saddleback Church’s pastor clarified that the elders aren’t caving to culture in their interpretation of the Scriptures. Rather, the church is “trying to get back to God’s design.”
Wood asked, “In the New Testament, were there both men and women who had the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the shepherd and teacher gifting described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:11-13?”
“What we would say to that is, all throughout the New Testament, both in Paul’s teaching, and in Jesus’ teaching, we see apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers” who are women, Wood went on to say.
In Romans 16:7, Wood said the Apostle Paul introduced Junia as an apostle. Philip also had four daughters who were prophets, as described in Acts 21:9. Further, in John 20:16-18, “the first evangelists after the resurrection are women,” Wood said.
Continuing, Wood said that the Apostle Paul mentions Priscilla and Aquila in 1 Corinthians 16:19 as shepherds in the local church. In Romans 16:1-2, Paul calls Phoebe a teacher.
“So this is important for us to recognize from a descriptive angle. The New Testament shows us women in apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd and teacher roles,” Wood explained.
