A Sociological Perspective on Women, Ordination and Church Polity: Empowerment or Gender Apartheid?
Issue: Vol. 1. No. 2 / October 2008
Abstract
Women have always been an essential part of the life and ministry of the Pentecostal movement but gaining equal status with men in ministry and church polity has been a struggle. In the initial stages of the movement, women were seen as co-laborers with men but this equality was diminished as a system was put in place that relegated women to a second and third tier status compared to men, with restrictions on ministry roles. This study uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore this phenomenon from a sociological perspective, giving attention to relevant historical and theological corollaries.
