Women in Church Leadership
STATEMENT OF COMPLEMENTARIANISM
We believe that God created human beings, male and female, in His own image. He created them sinless, equal in value, dignity and worth, according to His purpose and design, to fulfill distinct but complementary roles in the contexts of marriage, family and the local church. (See: Genesis 1:26-28; Ephesians 5:22-32 & 6:1-4; 1 Timothy 2:8-15, 1 Timothy 3:1-15).
WE BELIEVE:
1) That upholding God’s design for men and women is of high theological, missional, familial, and societal importance.
2) The scriptures are in discord with the tenets of Egalitarianism in the notion that gender is an irrelevant distinction when determining who may serve in the senior leadership office(s) of the local church.
3) The scriptures are in discord with those who take a hyper-conservative position that women should not hold any position of leadership whatsoever and should never speak or pray or teach in mixed company under any circumstances.
THEOLOGICAL APPLICATION
The point of theological application of complementarianism is that we reserve the office(s) of Elder / Pastor leadership exclusively for biblically qualified male leaders (1 Timothy 3:1-7). In practice, this means that Pastors ordained by Reliance Church shall teach in regular rotation as the Doctrine-Setting, Governing, Overseeing, Church-Disciplining, Bible-Teaching Authority. Additionally, from time to time, persons other than our ordained Reliance Pastors may be invited to teach, including women as biblically appropriate, but in such instances, it will always be under the authority and supervision of our Pastors and in harmony with our Biblical doctrine.