HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies
ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422
Page 1 of 10
Original Research
South African Presbyterian women in
leadership in ministry (1973–2018)
Author:
Graham A. Duncan1
Affiliation:
1
Department of Church
History and Church Polity,
Faculty of Theology and
Religion, University of
Pretoria, South Africa
Research Project Registration:
Project Leader: G.A. Duncan
Project Number: 02618958
Description:
This research is part of the
research project, ‘History
of Theological Education
in Africa’ directed by Prof.
Dr Graham Duncan of the
Department of Church
History and Church Polity
at the Faculty of Theology,
University of Pretoria.
Corresponding author:
Graham Duncan,
graham.duncan@up.ac.za
Dates:
Received: 12 July 2018
Accepted: 02 Nov. 2018
Published: 07 Feb. 2019
How to cite this article:
Duncan, G.A., 2019, ‘South
African Presbyterian women
in leadership in ministry
(1973–2018)’, HTS Teologiese
Studies/Theological Studies
75(1), a5180. https://doi.org/
10.4102/hts.v75i1.5180
Copyright:
© 2019. The Authors.
Licensee: AOSIS. This work
is licensed under the
Creative Commons
Attribution License.
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The issue of women in the ministry has been a vexed one historically. In many denominations,
the ordination of women has been represented by some form of struggle, which culminated
in the first ordinations of women during the second half of the 20th century. This article
investigates the process towards the ordination of women in two Southern African
Presbyterian denominations – the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (renamed the
‘Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa’ in 1979) and the Presbyterian Church of
South Africa (renamed the ‘Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa’ in 1958), prior to their
union in 1999 to form the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. This article
focusses on women in leadership in ministry, not exclusively on women ordained to the
ministry of ruling or teaching elder (minister). It begins with an historical overview
and proceeds to an investigation of developments in the two relevant denominations. The
terms ‘leadership’ and ‘ministry’ are used separately and together and are considered to
be synonymous. The article uses primary sources from the records of both denominations
considered and suggests that the process was gradual and progressive as the worth of
women in leadership was recognised following the general acceptance of the biblical and
theological arguments.
Introduction
There are certain issues that disturb the peace and equilibrium of denominations. Many are
not of the ‘substance of the faith’ for ‘God alone is Lord of the conscience’ (Westminster
Confession of Faith §XX 1645:31). They are adiaphora, inconsequential matters. However, they
have the potential to disturb the peace and unity of the church. In a way, this is strange
because, women have been integral in the faith community of the church, since the election of
God’s people and have, in many and various ways, exercised leadership (ministry), though
this has often been suppressed in a male-dominated patriarchal environment. While some
may consider the ordination of women contrary to scripture, the matter is somewhat outdated
and the biblical and theological argument has been won in women’s favour as in the case of
the denominations under review. It must be noted that ordination to the ministry in the
Presbyterian tradition includes the ordination of women to the function of ruling elder, in
addition to that of teaching elder (minister of word and sacrament). The main focus of this
article is on the teaching eldership, and ordination to the ruling eldership will be discussed
where appropriate. There is no attempt here to be exhaustive but to trace developments in a
broad sense.
The hermeneutical perspective
‘Leadership in the Christian church has taken different forms at various periods of history’ (Purvis
1995:vii) as the church has responded to threats, challenges and contextual circumstances. For
instance, during the Reformations, leadership styles changed radically from a hierarchical to a
more democratic style. Before there was clear evidence of ordination, the roles of men and women
in the life of the church appear to have been fluid. Even when theological and biblical objections
were overcome, there remained insuperable barriers to actual ordination (Purvis 1995:viii) as the
result of ‘white male privileged hegemony’ (Purvis 1995:xi). It is not possible to discuss the
leadership of women in ministry without taking account of the biblical and historical hermeneutics
of women’s lack of power and authority in terms of what might be described as conservative
evangelical or fundamentalistic hermeneutics, which, to varying degrees, promote the verbal
inerrancy of scripture.
Note: The collection entitled ‘Christina Landman Festschrift’, sub-edited by Wessel Bentley (University of South Africa) and Victor
S. Molobi (University of South Africa).
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The enemy here is Christian fundamentalism, which, in the
case of the struggle of women to be recognised as partners in
ministry, is well described by Purvis (1995) as:
… based on a narrow range of theological and ethical convictions
that are not to be subjected to intellectual interrogation from
other perspectives. It is the perception that when faith and
reason are at odds, which they often are, faith wins, even at the
cost of anti-intellectualism. It is the perception that lines of
human authority are clear, and ideas and convictions come
already interpreted and ready to be put into practice without
further reflection. It is the perception, at least, that Christian
fundamentalism is triumphalistic, inward-looking, intellectually
shallow, inappropriately emotive … (p. 52)
The issue is well articulated as a matter of the authority
of scripture by Bellis (1994:16–20). Presbyterian feminist
theologian Letty Russell (1985) expressed the dilemma when
it comes to interpreting the role of women both biblically and
historically:
… the Bible needs to be liberated from its captivity to one-sided
white, middle-class, male interpretation. It needs liberation
from privatized and spiritualized interpretations that avoid
God’s concern for justice, human wholeness and ecological
responsibility; it needs liberation from abstract doctrinal
interpretations that remove the biblical narrative from its
concrete social and political context in order to change it into a
timeless truth. (p. 12)
This is problematic for patriarchal fundamentalists, who:
… say that the preserve cannot be altered; it must be maintained
intact. ‘Scripture is fixed; you must not change the text. You
cannot make it say what it does not say’. This apodictic protest
initiates a second theological reflection. A fixed unchangeable
text is neither possible nor desirable. For better or worse, be it
conscious or unconscious the text is always being changed.
Although translators and interpreters readily acknowledge
this truth at some levels, they resist its validity at others.
Nevertheless, theological warrant for changing the text lies at
the heart of scripture and faith – the name of the Holy One.
(Trible 1985:148)
Here the issue is the rigid non-negotiable fundamentalist
position, which only arose in 19th-century US (Wuthnow
2014:136–140), which was at odds with the teaching and
interpretative approach of the 16th-century Reformers who
based their interpretation on the hermeneutic of ‘let scripture
interpret scripture’1 (Driscoll 2013:1; Uniting Presbyterian
Church in Southern Africa [UPCSA] 2007:6:13).
Yet, Russell (1985) affirms inclusivity as integral to her
hermeneutic:
There is much to learn about paradigms of authority from
communities of oppressed people such as the Black community,
whose members listened to the Bible not for doctrinal propositions
but for ‘experiences which could inspire, convince and lighten’.
What is needed is … the development of new questions and
1.The Bible is a collection of divinely inspired writings written by a number of authors,
living in different geographical areas in some cases, and written over a long span of
history, yet it retains an amazing unity. Because the many voices of Scripture make
up God’s unified revelation, we want to let Scripture interpret Scripture. This
involves examining what the Bible has to say on a topic as a whole rather than just
picking stray verses here and there and coming to a conclusion (Driscoll 2013:1).
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
paradigms of authority, which are functional in the communities
of struggle wrestling with the biblical text. … liberation is an
ongoing process expressed in the already/not yet dynamic of God’s action
in the New Creation. (p. 17, [italics in original])
Historical overview
Long before biblical times, patriarchal society made women
different and scripture maintained these assumptions, which
are still operative in the Roman Catholic and other churches
today. However, in the Hebrew Bible, Deborah was a judge,
prophet (‘a channel of communication between the human
and the divine worlds’ [Bronner 1994:174]) and woman of
‘independent power’ in ancient Israel ‘teaching and leading
the people of Israel in a time of crisis’ (Bronner 1994:174) as
well as exercising legal, administrative and charismatic
military functions (Russell 1985:84). In the New Testament
we note the work of many women; the first witnesses of
the resurrection of Christ, Prisca (Ac 18:24–26), Lydia
(Ac 16:14–15), Phoebe (a deacon, Rm 16:1–2), Mary
(Lk 1:46–55), Mary Magdalene (Jn 20:18), Martha (Jn 11:27),
Joanna and Susanna (Lk 8:3), Junia, Tryphaena and Tryphosa
(Rm 16:121), Julia (Rm 16:13,15), Nympha (Col 4:15), Euodia
and Syntyche (Phil 4:2–3) and female prophets were leaders
in the New Testament church (1 Cor 11:5), and Philip had
four prophetess daughters (Ac 21:9). This despite Paul’s
injunction against women speaking in church meetings
(which was directed at promiscuous women disturbing the
worship of the redeemed community; Ac 1:12–14, 18:24–26,
21:7–9, Rm 16:1–16). Yet, Paul acknowledged the role of
female prophetesses in Corinth. A far more significant
innovation of Paul occurs in Galatians 3:27–28, which relates
to the equal status of women and men, all of whom have ‘put
on’ Christ (Corrington 1992:138) and live ‘in Christ’. Here
Paul broke loose from patriarchal mores as he forged a new
Christian paradigm. In the early church no distinctions were
drawn in the ordering of ministry. The only qualifications
required related to the possession of gifts (special charisms –
teaching, apostolicity, prophecy, evangelism, pastoral care
[Eph 4:11]). Women were elected as deacons (1 Tm 8–13), a
position from which they could exercise ‘the right to be
heard on matters of the Christian faith’ (1 Tm 3:13).
Women took up leadership positions in the Early church, for
example, Priscilla, Quintilla and Maximilla in the Montanist
movement (Corrington 1992:137, 144, 186; Encyclopædia
Britannica sa; Jensen 1996:14); many, like Perpetua and
Felicitas, were martyrs for their faith (Christian History sa;
Corrington 1992:24).
Then women played a largely unacknowledged role in the
Reformation, including Jane Grey, Katherina Von Bora,
Elizabeth I of England, Marie Dentière, Katharina Schutz
Zell and Ursula von Münsterberg (Holcomb 2014:1). Later
female leaders included the Methodist Selina, Countess of
Huntingdon (Cragg 1960:152). This was a natural outcome
of Luther’s concept of ‘the priesthood of all believers’.
Women (though not ordained) played a significant role in
the many ‘voluntary’ societies that took up the challenge of
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mission before their denominations saw the need to engage
in foreign missions. ‘[V]oluntary’ indicated non-alliance
with and non-allegiance to the institutional church for the
purpose of mission. For Walls (1996:225) it indicated ‘a
concept that does not inhibit their birth and a style of church
organization that is not embarrassed by their activity’. These
voluntary societies were free from institutional influence
and control. These societies came into being before
denominations took up the cause of world mission and
‘outflanked and subverted by this novel form of “Protestant
association”’ (Walls 1996:225), whose membership was open
and provided an opportunity for lay leadership including
‘women’s energies and gifts’ (Walls 1996:253). Significant in
Scottish mission history is the role played by the Glasgow
Missionary Society, which operated from the closing years of
the 18th century (Walls 2002:206).
Developments in the Church of Scotland were only a few
years in advance of events in South Africa. Recounted in
summary, this narrative is instructive:
On Wednesday 22 May 1968, the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland passed a deliverance that women should be
eligible for ordination to the Ministry of Word and Sacrament on
equal terms with men. The enacting legislation brought to an
end decades of campaigning and debate. It opened doors to new
opportunities and challenges for women, for congregations –
and for a ministry which had for centuries been exclusively
male. It changed the face of the national church. After the vote,
Mary Levison, who had been prominent in the final years of
‘wrestling with the church’ for recognition of women’s vocation
to ordained ministry, commented ‘the Church no longer regards
women as second class citizens. I hope this decision will have a
liberating effect right through the Church’. In 1970, Rev Dr Ian
Fraser, during a seminar on the ordination of women, asked
some still pertinent questions: ‘Add a few ordained women to an
unreformed ordained ministry and how much further forward
are you? … all that you have is a face-saving operation. You fail
to deal with that godly dissidence and frustration which belong,
to my mind, to the Holy Spirit’s pressure to reform radically
church institutions. It is when the question of the ordination of
women is seen in its total context of reinheriting the whole
people of God, and then seen as a dimension of the quest for the
reinheriting of the whole of humanity’. (CTPI 2018:1)
Reid is commenting on the recognition of women within their
new role rather than the acceptance of the Spirit’s challenge
to use it as a transforming dynamo within the traditional
church institution.
Within the African context, we note the contributions made
inter alia by Kimpa Vita (Donna Beatrice), Alice Lenshina,
Mai Chaza, Gaudencia Aoko and Mwilu Marie Kimbangu
(Daneel 1987:59). In South Africa similar contributions
were made by Ma Nku (Daneel 1987:59), Charlotte Maxeke
(Millard 1999:39–41) and Vehettge Magdalena Tikhuie
(Millard 1999:69–72). All of these aforementioned women
were people of independent spirit.
We now turn to the role of women in the South African
Presbyterian churches.
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Original Research
Dr Jane Waterston: Prototype
Presbyterian woman in leadership
Jane Waterston (1843–1932) is significant for this study as
she was a prototype leader in women’s ministry, though
never ordained. She arrived at Lovedale as a missionary of
the Free Church of Scotland in 1866, and in 1868 ‘opened a
girls’ boarding school with her own vigorous and original
personality’ (Shepherd 1971:28). This was the beginning of
her strong advocacy for the higher education of women
(Bean & Van Heyningen 1983:279–287). In 1880 after having
qualified as a medical doctor, she opened a medical
department at Lovedale Missionary Institution (Shepherd
1971:43) and ran both departments concurrently until 1883
(Shepherd 1971:28, 34, 107, 151,157). In 1879, Waterston went
to Livingstonia in Nyasaland (Malawi), but she soon
returned to Lovedale having failed to find the degree of
acceptance as a woman that would facilitate God’s
missionary purpose. From 1883, she practised medicine in
Cape Town, where she lived until her death in 1932. On
moving to Cape Town, she left the Scottish mission and
joined St Andrew’s congregation, which became the mother
church of the Presbyterian Church of South Africa (formed
in 1897). Hence, she bridged the gap between the two
Scottish branches of South African Presbyterianism. Van Zyl
(1985:6) has aptly described her as ‘a remarkable woman –
intelligent, courageous, determined, full of energy and
committed to serving the Lord’. Bean and van Heyningen
(1983:12) refer to her ‘competence [and] … strength of
character’ as well as her ‘rare determination, courage and
intelligence’ (Bean & van Heyningen 1983:11). Waterston
made an important contribution to feminist, medical and
social development. Together these are significant qualities
in the exercise of women’s leadership in ministry as they
empowered her to persevere in the face of obstacles.
Many other women, black and white, though less dynamic
in personality than Waterston, followed in her footsteps
and made significant contributions to God’s mission in
South Africa.
Bantu Presbyterian Church of South
Africa
One of the ecumenical issues raised by Murray (Presbyterian
Church of Southern Africa [PCSA] minister 1973:11) is that
‘the BPC (Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa)
would strongly oppose the ordination of women’. This was
patently untrue as subsequent events revealed, although
the ordination of women to the eldership is said, from the
perspective of 25 years later, to have occurred ‘only after a
heated debate’ (UPCSA 2001:119). From the perspective of
the later Gender Issues Committee of the UPCSA, Reformed
Presbyterian Church of South Africa (RPCSA) proposals for
equity in Presbytery were ‘in advance of anything proposed
in the PCSA. … Unfortunately, however, the rule has not
been carried over into the UPCSA, which has thus fallen
back from it’ (UPCSA 2001:119).
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Charity Majiza was the first woman to be ordained in the
Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa (BPCSA). She
was born in Burnshill but grew up in Zwelitsha, and while
she was a member at Semple Memorial Congregation in
the Presbytery of the Ciskei she applied to become a
candidate for the ministry. Her candidature was somewhat
of a test case as she went to the Federal Theological Seminary
of Southern Africa before any decision had been made or
was even considered regarding women’s ordination. She
graduated with a Diploma in Theology (with Greek) from
the Federal Theological Seminary. The Presbytery of the
Ciskei was censured by the General Assembly for proceeding
to promote her while there was no provision for the training
and ordination of women. Further, she was allowed to
remain in training while the General Assembly sent the
matter of the ordination of women down to presbyteries
under the Barrier Act (BPCSA 1975:43). The purpose of this
act (adopted from the Church of Scotland 1697; Cox 1976:385)
was to prevent the denomination from making hasty and/or
far-reaching changes to church law without due consideration
and consultation. In the same assembly, the ordination of
women as deacons was approved and that of women as
elders sent down to presbyteries under the Barrier Act for
discussion.
At the 1976 General Assembly, Majiza’s name was forwarded
to the Church Extension and Aid Committee for appointment
on successful completion of her qualification (BPCSA
1976:23). The matter of the ordination of women elders was
also raised at this time and the assembly failed to reach a
definitive position. Yet the matter of the training of women
as ministers was remitted to presbyteries along with a
Training for the Ministry Memorandum on the Admission of
Women into the Ministry. In 1977, the BPCSA General
Assembly took the momentous decision to ‘admit women
to the offices of elder and minister having the same status as
men’ (BPCSA 1977:28).
Majiza was licensed by the Presbytery of the Ciskei on
08 January 1978 (BPCSA 1978:17), was sent to do her
probationary period in Gooldville congregation in Venda and
was ordained on 13 May 1978 (BPCSA 1978:17). Venda was
often the destination of candidates for the ministry who had
challenged the system. However, she did particularly well
there in a brief but faithful ministry and was sent to Scotland
in September 1980 (RPCSA 1980:24). She completed the
Honours degree of Bachelor of Divinity in Practical Theology
in 1983 (RPCSA 1983:28, 39) and the Master of Theology
Degree in Missiology in 1984 (RPCSA 1979:20, 1980:24,2
1983:38). While there she, with another BPCSA minister, Rev.
Cliff Leeuw, was threatened by agents of the South African
Special Branch (RPCSA 1984:40) regarding statements made
at public church meetings. Subsequently, she moved to
Australia in 1984, apparently for security reasons, where she
pursued her ministry (RPCSA 1984:40, 1985:38–39). Leeuw
confirmed ‘Rev Majiza’s fear for her life and her family’s
safety’ (RPCSA 1984:40). The General Assembly investigated
2.The name of the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa was changed to the
Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa in 1979 (BPCSA 1978:22).
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Original Research
the circumstances of Rev. Majiza’a irregular (i.e. without
consultation with the RPCSA) departure to Australia but with
little immediate success. The source of the harassment was
clearly related to South Africa’s apartheid policy, against
which Scotland’s anti-apartheid movement and the Church of
Scotland had taken a clear stance. Missionaries on leave and
students from South Africa were expected to speak at meetings
on this issue and this included Majiza, who was clear in her
anti-apartheid position.
For a time, Majiza returned to South Africa with her husband,
Graeme McKinty, who initiated HIV/AIDS support groups
in a variety of churches that were sympathetic to those who
were living with the condition. She was appointed General
Secretary of the South Council of Churches in 1998 and was
the first ordained woman to hold this position. Concurrently,
she was reinstated as a minister of the RPCSA. In 2002, she
was appointed a minister in association at St Columba’s
Parkview (UPCSA 2002:22). Following this, they returned to
Australia where she has exercised a faithful ministry at Echuca
Moama Uniting Church, in Australia.
Majiza’s ordination facilitated the progress of women’s
ministry in the BPCSA. The next candidate, Snowy Maomosi,
graduated from Fedsem with a Diploma in Theology in 1979
(RPCSA 1980:170) but did not proceed to ministry.
The next two female candidates were Thokozani Mildred
Ngcongo and Nokhalipa Vivienne Nonjojo, who completed
their studies at Fedsem in 1988 and were placed in
congregations. Ngcongo served her entire ministry at Ugie
congregation in Unthatha Presbytery until her death in
2015. Nonjojo served at Maclay congregation in Transkei
Presbytery (RPCSA 1988:36) until her resignation in 1998
(RPCSA 1998:54). In 2004 she became a chaplain in the South
African Defence Force (UPCSA 2004:113), as have a number
of others since.
A problematic situation arose in 1995 as the result of the
presence of Rev. Sarah Holben from the Presbyterian Church
of the USA (PCUSA). Ms Holben had been recruited by Rev.
S.P. Xapile to assist in his HIV/AIDS project, during a trip to
the USA. Holben had been introduced into the Reformed
Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (RPC) irregularly as
an ‘assistant pastor’ (RPCSA 1995:17). A committee was
established to investigate the partnership that existed
between Xapile’s congregation (J.L. Zwane) and the PCUSA
(Presbyterian Church of the United States of America)
(RPCSA 1995:3). The remit of the committee was later
extended to include Holben’s husband, Mr Robert Schminkey,
who was recognised ‘as a representative of the PC [USA]’
(BPCSA 1995:65). In the following year, it was noted that
Holben’s term of office would expire at the end of the year
(RPCSA 1996:76). The growth of partnerships between
congregations of the RPCSA and US congregations was
formalised in 1997 when the General Assembly agreed ‘that
the Ecumenical Relations committee coordinate and oversees
all partnerships in our church’ (RPCSA 1997:53).
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The next application from a woman came in 1997 from
Ms Bulelwa Ngebulana (RPCSA 1997:44). In 1999, Mrs Seani
Mavhina (RPCSA 1999:20) was accepted as a candidate for
the ministry. Several other women were referred to the
Ministry Committee for consideration but none of them
proceeded any further.
A matter that was significant in the decision to ordain women
was ‘the crying need for candidates for the Ministry’ in 1976
(BPCSA 1976:18). At that time only 47 out of 78 congregations
had ministers (BPCSA 1976:2–9). Nonetheless, the decision to
ordain women was a courageous step for a conservative
black denomination with a strong patriarchal tradition. In a
sense, although the ordination of women resulted from an
attempt to hijack the system by the Presbytery of the Ciskei,
once the initial irritation was over, the acceptance of women
was easily integrated into the ecclesiastical system. Although
the growth of numbers of women in ministry was slow to
begin with, numbers have increased progressively and
women have become part of the accepted structure of the
ministry of the BPCSA.
Presbyterian Church of South Africa
The PCSA first approved the ordination of women to the
ruling eldership in 1966–1967 ‘only after a heated debate’
(UPCSA 2001:119) and to the ministry (teaching eldership) in
1975 (Bax 1997:19). ‘However, a minority of ministers and
elders from the old PCSA still oppose women being elected
as elders’ (UPCSA 2001:119). This matter originated in an
overture from the Presbytery of the Transvaal. The Ministry
Committee examined the matter and ‘felt in no way under
pressure from current “Women’s Liberation” thinking’
(PCSA 1972:78; cf. Murray 1973:1). This would suggest that
either there was some suggestion of pressure from feminists
or that this was a concession to the theologically conservative
element in the denomination. Three papers had been
commissioned from Mrs P. Tittlestad (University of South
Africa [UNISA]) and the Revs. John Hawkridge and Duncan
Murray (only Murray’s paper was available to the author). It
is noteworthy that no black person was requested to submit
a paper considering differences in culture. All ministers and
a number of elders received the documents for consideration.
Then the committee consulted a number of women who had
made their mark in their own fields in South African society.
Rev. Frances McLellan, former president of the United
Church of Canada, was also consulted. Several points of
interest emerged. There was no shortage of ministers that
caused pressure to ordain women. The predominant feeling
was that the call of women should be subjected to the same
process of discernment as that of men. Family commitment
was not determinative. McLellan’s view was substantive:
To men, I can only say that to deny women the right to answer this
call, if it comes, is surely to deny our whole Christian teaching
about the value of persons in God’s sight. (PCSA 1973:vii.1:78)
As with the issue of feminism, Murray’s paper is suggestive
of existing tensions in the PCSA at the time. A conclusion he
reached was as follows (Murray 1973):
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Original Research
We must not refuse to ordain women to the ministry for the
sake of a particular principle of interpreting Scripture – thinking
here of principles of interpretation that lean towards the literal
side. (p. 5)
Whatever reasons might be promoted against the ordination,
the General Assembly was clear:
The Assembly finds no biblical or theological reason for denying
women ordination to the Holy Ministry, and rules that women
be eligible for ordination. (PCSA 1973:133)
The matter was remitted to presbyteries for responses to
be submitted by 30 April 1975. In 1975, following receipt of
returns from Presbyteries an amended proposal was agreed
that:
The Assembly approves the ordination of women to the Holy
Ministry but only ordains on receipt of a call by a congregation
at the conclusion of the Post Academic Training period. (PCSA
1975:123)
There were 10 expressions of dissent but the decision was
decisive.
The Ministry Committee had earlier noted that:
Mrs E[thnie] Fourie completes her final BD at the end of this year
and, if Assembly decided to admit women to the Ministry, has
indicated her intention to seek Ordination. (PCSA 1975:40)
She was ordained on 30 January 1976. Ethnie Fourie
exercised a remarkable ministry in the 10-year period before
her death in 1986. In the Kroonstad congregation from 1977
she concentrated on early childhood and prison ministry in
addition to her congregational responsibilities, which she
executed with ‘fervour and dedication’ (PCSA 1987:C6).
Also, in 1975, it was noted that Mrs Margaret Donaldson
(a minister’s wife) had been appointed a junior lecturer in the
Department of Ecclesiastical History in the Faculty of
Divinity at Rhodes University (PCSA 1975:40; Donaldson
1990:7). Though not a minister herself, she made a substantial
contribution to the training of ministers.
However, matters did not end there, for a Committee in the
Role of Women in the Church was formed to continue
discussions on the topic. It made its final report in 1983 (PCSA
1983:115–122, 210, 246) on the theme:
The woman’s cause is man’s; they rise or sink
Together, dwarf’d or god-like, bond or free.
(The Princess, Alfred Tennyson, 1847)
Valerie Thomson, wife of Rev. Ian Thomson, studied for the
Diploma in Theology at the Federal Theological Seminary
(as did Sandra Duncan, wife of Rev. Graham Duncan, of
the RPCSA). Both studied during the 1970s and 1980s and
both graduated with distinction. Neither chose to offer
for ordination. In 1980, Diane Vorster, a trained and
experienced nurse, was placed on probation at St Andrew’s,
Benoni having completed her BD degree successfully at
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Edinburgh University. Jean Carr was the second woman
minister in the PCSA. After training for the ministry in her
late forties, she was ordained and served congregations
including Parktown North, Klerksdorp, from 1991 to 1998,
then at Eshowe. She died in 2009 (UPCSA 2010:10).
Rev. Pat Baxter was trained as a candidate of the PCSA and
was seconded to the PCUSA in 1984 to pursue further studies
(MA and DMin) in the fields of Christian education, pastoral
care and spirituality (PCSA 1999:43). She also worked at
St Columba’s, Parkview, beginning in 1987 (PCSA 1987:C5;
Editor 1987:6) and again from 01 January 1990 (PCSA
1990:C9), and later at St Columba’s, Pretoria (PCSA 1990:C10).
She finally returned to South Africa in 2010. After serving
briefly in two congregations, she was called to be Ministry
Secretary of the UPCSA and the first woman to hold a senior
executive post in the denomination.
Rev. Jane Nyirongo was the first Zambian and the first
woman from the transnational presbyteries in Zambia and
Zimbabwe to be ordained in 1991 (PCSA 1991:C7). In 2004,
she was seconded ‘to the Cheshire, Flint and Denbigh
Presbytery of the Presbyterian church in Wales as Mission
Advisor for 3 years’ (UPCSA 2004:415). Nyirongo was
followed a year later by Sulani Kabala (PCSA 1992:C8),
whose husband, Petson, was also ordained a minister in
Zambia. Jennifer Mutemi (husband, Rev. Charles Mutemi),
later Jennifer Handitye, was the first woman minister to be
ordained in Zimbabwe (PCSA 1999:229). She died in 2015
(UPCSA 2016:22).
A further innovation occurred in 1992 when Pauline Sparks
trained for the ministry and worked alongside her husband,
Terry, both in Upper Umgeni in South Africa and the United
Kingdom at Twickenham and Hampton Hill congregation
of the United Reformed Church (Editor 1992a:5; UPCSA
2005:168).
During this entire period, the growth of women as ruling
elders has been exponential in both denominations while
admission to the ministry has seen a far slower process of
growth.
Uniting Presbyterian Church in
Southern Africa
When the union that led to the formation of the UPCSA took
place in 1999, both uniting denominations had been
ordaining women for over 20 years. A further step in securing
and promoting the place of women was taken in 1994, which
was engrossed in the Manual of Faith and Order (UPCSA
2007:25), which stated explicitly that no one may be barred
from any office in the church on the grounds of race, youth
or gender: ‘God calls both men and women to every office in
the Church’ (UPCSA 2007:25). This was an updating of a
PCSA General Assembly decision of 1980 motivated by Rev.
Ethnie Fourie in the report of the Committee on Women in
the Church:
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
The General Assembly instructs all Sessions that it is contrary to
the will of this Church to discriminate against any persons on
grounds of sex (colour etc.) and reminds Sessions that suitably
qualified women and not only men be sought out and instructed
in the work of eldership and policy of the Church. (PCSA 1980:193)
The Confession of Faith (UPCSA 2007:2.4–2.37) was explicit in
its view that:
[t]he church is the family of God. All people born of the spirit are
children of the one Father and so brothers and sisters of Christ
and of one another. (UPCSA 2007:2.23)
and ‘[n]o member of the body can reject any other; for God
has accepted us all in the beloved Son and bound us together
in one spirit, as members who need one another for the body
to function properly in its work and witness to the world’
(UPCSA 2007:2.23).
Rev. Diane Vorster (BD, MTh) was the second person and the
first Presbyterian woman to be elected moderator of the
General Assembly of any Presbyterian Church in Southern
Africa in 2000 (PCSA 1999:15), following the union of the
PCSA and the RPCSA in 1999 to form the UPCSA. She was
described as a ‘person of strong convictions and deep
spirituality’ with ‘an evangelical and ecumenical heart. …
gentleness and strength’ (PCSA 1999:15).
Rev. Glynnis Goynes, whose first charge was as minister at
Saints congregation in the Presbytery of Tshwane, retired in
2017 after being seconded to a parachurch organisation,
South African Faith Communities Environment Institute, as
operations manager in 2011 (Minutes, Presbytery of Tshwane,
14 May 2011:3, 8–9, 15–16).
General Assembly committee convenerships were opened to
women, all of whom happened to be laypersons: Valerie
Thomson (Life Concerns), Nomthandazo Mbo (Gender
Issues) and Mavis Dewar (Congregational Integration).
Gender in the Uniting Presbyterian
Church in Southern Africa
A Gender Issues committee was established by the inaugural
General Assembly of the UPCSA in 1999 (PCSA 1999:40).
Despite the advances made in recognition of the role of
women in leadership in the South African Presbyterian
tradition, there was still resistance to the recognition and
promotion of women within the new uniting denomination.
This was, however, a universal issue related to the goals and
tasks of the committee. The historic fact was stated by the
Council for World Mission:
Although women form the majority of membership in most of
our churches, they are poorly represented in leadership positions.
They are often discriminated against and their voice is rarely
heard. (CWM 1999:11; UPCSA 2000:138)
The committee’s proposals related to the definitive
representation of women, youth and all regardless of
race (UPCSA 2002:361). ‘Women Leaders in the Church’,
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Page 7 of 10
a document produced by the Gender Issues Committee in
2000 (UPCSA 2000:140–152), provided a helpful appendix to
the committee’s report to the General Assembly in 2000
(UPCSA 2000:140–152). This was an indication that despite
the advances made in the role of women in leadership within
the church, there still existed a body of opinion that opposed
women in ministry. This was largely related to a group within
the denomination who pursued a conservative evangelical,
literalist or fundamentalist hermeneutic of scripture. This has
been a recurrent issue in the UPCSA, where issues (earlier
described as adiophora) are raised when the substantive issue
common to all is the authority of scripture. The UPCSA stands
firmly within the Reforming tradition and its Confession of
Faith. The ordination vows for ministers are clear:
I accept the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as inspired
by the Holy Spirit to be the uniquely authoritative and sufficient
witness to Jesus Christ and as such the Word of God and the final
rule of faith and life. (UPCSA 2007:2:34)
The General Assembly has never imposed a particular
hermeneutic on its ministers or members. Following the
Westminster Confession of Faith (Church of Scotland 1969:31)
where it is declared: ‘God alone is Lord of the conscience’, ‘the
Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa … maintains
liberty of conscience and of worship, within the rule of
Scripture, of all members of the one holy catholic Church’
(UPCSA 2007:1.1).
The paper ‘Women Leaders in the Church’ focussed on the
gender of God (UPCSA 2000:140–141) and women leaders
in the Bible (UPCSA 2000:141–152). The evidence for the
leadership of women in ministry in both the Old and New
Testaments is substantial: ‘… the Bible does provide for
female leaders in both the political and religious community’
(UPCSA 2000:141). The traditional arguments against the
role of women (Christ was male and chose only males) are
challenged strongly (UPCSA 2000:142–152). The report
quotes Schrage (1988):
Paul … speaks of women as fellow workers and companions
(Rom 16:3; Phil 4:3), even acknowledging women who hold the
office of apostle (Rom 16:7). Above all, Paul refuses to forbid
women to prophesy, as 1Cor 11:5 clearly shows. (p. 223)
A further boost is given to the equality of women in
consideration of the Galatians 3:26–29 text, ‘the first
occurrence of a doctrine openly propagating the abolition of
sex distinctions’ (Betz 1979:190, 195, 197). Interestingly,
conservative evangelicals underemphasise the universalistic
nature of Paul’s teaching here and miss the point that ‘[n]
owhere … does he subordinate women to men’ (UPCSA
2000:149).
Original Research
The occasion for the 2002 report, following on the extensive
2000 report, was in part the failure of the assembly to pass
two proposals in the 2001 Assembly relating to the role of
women in leadership in the councils of the denomination.
It pleaded for:
gender democracy, if we genuinely want to implement the
biblical principle that there is no distinction in spiritual privilege
or status between Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and
female. (Gl 3:26–28)
This report focussed on the devaluation of women in an
appendix, ‘The War against Women’ (UPCSA 2002:263–272).
It argued from a biblical, theological and historical perspective
that women had been discriminated against politically,
legally, economically and domestically in all of the religions
of the book – Judaism, Christianity and Islam (UPCSA
2002:363–364). Following sections on the gender of God, the
role of the Fall, the understanding of God as a matrix and the
culpability of Eve, the paper ends with a section on Jesus
who never made a negative statement regarding women,
did not marginalise women, treated them with dignity and
respect and ‘brought to an end the inferior status of women’
(Schrage 1988:91):
But quite contrary to rabbinic custom, he included women in his
travelling entourage as female disciples and unashamedly
depended on the financial generosity of women to fund his
mission. (Mk 15:40f.; Lk 8:1–3)
In relation to the gender of God and our faith, the conclusion
of the report offers guidance for a way forward:
The Christian faith and life is not a matter of believing ideas so
much as it is living in this intimate relationship with God that
is best described in the metaphor of God’s being Father and
Mother to us ‘as a father has compassion for his children, so the
LORD has compassion’ (Ps 103:13). ‘As a mother comforts her
child so I will comfort you (says the LORD)’ (Isa 66:13).
If Christianity is not to be sexist, its preachers and theologians
must emphasize both sides of this parental metaphor. They
must oppose sexism clearly and emphatically in others and
in themselves, including the way they use words for God.
(UPCSA 2002:373)
The General Assembly received these reports and commended
them for study in presbyteries and congregations.
In sum, ‘Women Leaders in the Church’ concludes, inter alia,
that Jesus ‘attitude to women was revolutionary’ and notes
that:
The first female minister to enter academic life in South
Africa is Rev. Fundiswa Kobo, who studied at the universities
of Forth Hare and Pretoria, where she is presently studying
for her doctorate. She is on the staff of the Department of
Church History, Christian Spirituality and Missiology at
UNISA. She is associated with the ministry at St Andrew’s,
Pretoria. She has made her position absolutely clear on
her ministerial identity from a womanist perspective
(Kobo 2018a:1):
… as the Resurrected Lord he revealed himself to his women
disciples first and sent them to tell the news to the other disciples,
so that the women were the first ‘apostles’ to be ‘sent’ with the
‘gospel of the resurrection’. (UPCSA 2000:152)
I am not a female or a woman minister, nor am I a minister’s
wife (mme moruti or mam ruti, mama mfundisi, mfundisikazi).
I am an ordained minister!!! Mfundisi, umlomo ugcwale! Siyevana
bantase. (Fundiswa Kobo, Facebook post, 23 August 2018b)
http://www.hts.org.za
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Her (Kobo 2018a) own recent experience is instructive:
I was sent by the UPCSA as one of the delegates to a consultation
of Reformed churches in the Southern Africa Region whose aim
was to establish themselves as a subregion of the Africa
Communion of Reformed Churches, an African region of the
World Communion of Reformed Churches. It was held in Emseni
Conference Centre, in Benoni, from 22 to 24 March 2018. The
delegation was comprised of moderators and general secretaries
of these churches, who were all men, except for a few women
who were requested to be ‘administrators’. I was also requested
to be one and refused as a form of protest. (p. 6)
However, it would be true to say that, at the time of writing,
the issue of gender remains an issue. This became apparent at
the General Assembly of 2018, when a paper was submitted
from the Women’s Consultation at the 13th General Assembly
of the UPCSA – July 2018. This arose out of a consultation on
women in ministry held at Lumko in March 2015. It
highlighted a number of issues:
• few women in the upper leadership roles of the
denomination
• we are not ‘female ministers or elders’, but ministers who
are women and elders who are women
• many women still stuck in traditional or cultural mindsets.
This led to the formation of a vision statement: We are ‘a
united body of Christ that is repentant, reconciled, respectful
and discerning of the will of God – whilst actively addressing
gender equality at all levels’ (Women’s Consultation 2018).
Kobo interrogates assumptions that there are spaces where
women exercise their own autonomy. This is the place
where the iimanyano [women’s association] meets: ‘These are
supposedly women’s spaces because it is only women who
gather together with the agenda supposedly formulated by
“them”. Some practices, nonetheless, contradict this’ (Kobo
2018a:4–5). She believes that even in these spaces women are
captive to patriarchal values.
A further problematic development took place in 2018 when
the General Secretary sent a letter to the women ministers in
the UPCSA requesting their participation in a celebration of
40 years of women in the ministry:
This was received with mixed emotions by women themselves
as we engaged through text messages, phone calls and emails.
Some of the questions raised by different women are: who is
inviting? Who is being invited? Who said we want to celebrate?
Why we were not consulted? Why do they speak on our behalf?
Why do they invite us to celebrate when we have congregations
that will never call ordained women to be their ministers? Why
must we celebrate in a church that clearly does not want us?
(Kobo 2018a:5)
Rev. Charity Majiza was invited to be the guest speaker on
this occasion and Kobo (2018a:6) trenchantly commented:
‘her invitation however is an illustration of the co-optation of
women in the agenda that is not theirs’. However, Majiza
was under no illusion regarding the role of women. She saw
her purpose as:
http://www.hts.org.za
Original Research
to celebrate the good that has happened, to lament and confess
our failures, to receive forgiveness, to heal and to be reconciled to
one another before God, in order to be able to move forward
together with confidence in the mission to which God has called
us, both women and men in the Church. (p. 6)
Majiza (2018:4) raised a number of significant points:
• The UPCSA is not where it had hoped to be on this 40th
anniversary of the women in the ordained ministry.
• While some women have succeeded and flourished in the
ministry in spite of challenges, with the help of those
around them, the same cannot be said of others.
• Other women ministers have experienced lots of hurt,
lack of support, disrespect and not seen as equals with
their male colleagues at various points during these
40 years.
• There is a gap between the leadership’s commitment to
promoting the ministry of women and the practice some
women ministers experience at the local churches and
within the church structures, which has hindered their
advancement in the ordained ministry.
• The current status perpetuates injustice against women
and deprives the church of their unique gifts and quality
of leadership.
• This, in a subtle way, thwarts the vision and efforts of
the church to promote women into senior leadership
positions.
This was an insightful comment for someone who had not
participated in the life of the UPCSA for a number of years.
Towards the close of her address, Majiza (2018) postulated a
vision for the UPCSA:
First, the aspirations of the Church for, ‘equity and justice in the
ministry and women being considered for senior leadership positions in
the Church’ can be realized.
Second, the Church can be empowered to speak with authority
and credibility to the society on issues of disrespect, injustice,
inequality, dehumanization, domestic abuse and on violence
against women outside the home.
Third, the Church can become an instrument of healing
and reconciliation and her commitment to work towards
the ‘fullness of life’ for all, will be there for all to see in the
community. (p. 7)
This was a prophetic address that was a source of
encouragement for all in the UPCSA to work towards
becoming a fully inclusive church, ‘a priesthood of all
believers’. It was an authentic statement of the present,
yet not fully present, status of women in the ministry of
the UPCSA.
Evaluation
Zikmund competently expresses the experience of most
church members regarding ordained women ministers in
the US that women appear to integrate seamlessly into
the existing discourse without disrupting it, yet they
unobtrusively promote their cause by the excellence of their
commitment and service.
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Original Research
These women pastors do what people expect them to do as
women and as pastors. They do not deny the conventional
expectations people have of them as women, and they do
not disrupt conventional wisdom about the power and
authority of effective pastoral leadership. They live
comfortably with both, even though a ‘feminine female is
supposed to be commensurate with, if not oppositional to,
strong organisational and political leadership abilities. By
embodying roles our social scripts say cannot be played
by one person and roles that involve socialization processes
that may be contradictory’ (referring to Jacquet 1978, 1989),
they actually profoundly challenge unexamined assumptions
about both women and clergy. In short, they are the best
‘men’ for the job and they are women (Zikmund 1995:xi–xii).
all levels of the denominations involved. Now women are
rarely referred to separately in terms of leadership in ministry.
This has been a story of progressive integration as leadership
was expanded and developed to all aspects of the
denomination’s lives despite some resistance and outdated
patriarchal attitudes and actions. An integrated ministry
has served the church well and will continue to do so into
the future despite the challenges that are still prevalent. The
experience of women in the UPCSA, as opposed to the
experience of the denomination and its members, which is
generally positive, is mixed with some having serious
reservations regarding the authenticity and integrity of their
role. For them a luta continua!
However, Zikmund’s assessment rings true also within the
South African Presbyterian system:
Competing interests
… their leadership styles cannot be characterized along the
lines of gender expectations, and yet, what they exceptionally
are is conventional. They transgress neither vocational roles not
gender; they fulfil both. The combination is transgressive.
(Purvis 1995:85)
This combination crosses boundaries. By and large, the
leadership of women ministers is not based on gender
expectations. It is exceptionally conventional. The experience
of having women in leadership in South African
Presbyterianism is a positive one. The excellence of their
faithfulness, responsibility and service is unchallenged.
Once the ordination issue was resolved, they have simply got
on with the job and pursued their calling, and by the quality
of their service they have demonstrated the wisdom of the
General Assembly in permitting them to be ordained.
The fear, expressed in Murray’s (1973:10) paper, that women
would ‘take over and completely feminise the institution’ has
not happened in the SA context, nor in any other case globally.
However, we may concur with Purvis (1995) assessment as
a future prospective in the South African context regarding
the embodiment by female pastors of traditional roles in
ways that challenge tradition and are transgressive of gender
expectations who:
are part of a quiet revolution. They are not espousing or
practicing radical social change; … On the other hand, selfconsciously or no, … women … are not simply reinscribing
patriarchal power and control. The transgressive role of
traditional roles here is a subtle and effective agent of change.
The ability … to live in the midst of incommensurate discourses
and to continue to function so effectively in all of them, hold
forth the promise of new discourses, even with some of the same
old vocabulary. (pp. 96–97)
While this may be true for the most part, it is not universally
held truth.
Acknowledgements
The author declares that he has no financial or personal
relationships that may have inappropriately influenced him
in writing this article.
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