Feminists are masters of stratetgic incrementalism.
Sexual orthodoxy was repudiated about two decades ago in the Dutch Christian Reformed Church but some of the denomination's classes (presbyteries) still refuse to seat women who have been ordained. This causes CRC leaders to fulminate against this insult to their woman officers. In the midst of an in-house CRC discussion of the problem, one CRC leader commends Tim Keller's practice...
at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City:
In 2006 I visited Redeemer Presbyterian church in NYC and had the privilege of not only meeting with Tim Keller but also with his church staff. Redeemer is part of the PCA which does not permit women to be elders. I spent a day meeting with most of the heads of ministry groups in the church and to my surprise found that most of them were women. ...I was pleasantly surprised to see how much positional power, control and responsibility women had in their church.
Those outside the PCA have long recognized Redeemer's halfway covenant.
Beyond their woman-led ministries, the only step necessary for Redeemer to have a fully egalitarian elders board would be their granting the vote to all the women already present at the elders board's meetings. Those women already have voice.
But then maybe Redeemer would respond that their pastor is still a man, and he's the only one who really matters.
Watching Redeemer's pastor and the PCA reminds me of the poem "Lines and Squares" from A. A. Milne's book of children's poems, When We Were Very Young
And they try to pretend that nobody cares
Whether you walk on the lines or squares.
But only the sillies believe their talk;
It's ever so portant how you walk.
And it's ever so jolly to call out, "Bears,
Just watch me walking in all the squares!"
- from A. A. Milne's "Lines and Squares"
(TB)
