Consider this statement, given my Ms Cunningham, photo above.

“LUCSA has over the years been seriously concerned about gender inequalities in church and society,” said Cunningham. “Regretfully, almost all member churches within LUCSA have to date not restructured themselves in a manner that promotes gender equality.” She noted that “no serious effort” had been made to achieve the agreed 40 percent female representation that would eventually lead to equal status. “Dioceses and local parishes in Southern Africa lag behind most of their local governments who have established gender commissions or ministries to address issues of gender inequalities,”

The woman is a leveller. She wants, like most feminists, there to be a certain equality: of numbers of people in roles. She does not understand that God equips people for roles. Some of us are designed for leadership, and some are not.

There is a structure and model in the Church. Paul talks about this in some detail…

I Corinthians 12:12-26

12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

14Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

via Daily Lectionary Readings — Devotions and Readings — Mission and Ministry — GAMC.

Paul, not I, Paul states that the feminist levellers, like the Diggers, have missed that we cannot all be up the front. There is a time and a place.

An illustration. When I was my son’s age, I played guitar in the worship team. I don’t now. I’m a better guitarist than I was then, and my son is better than I am. But our role in that church does not include playing music. We have roles elsewhere. I am no longer the husband of one wife. I’m divorced, a solo Dad. I’m unqualified for leadership. I’m unqualified to be in the congregation. But for the mercy of God, I would be damned.

My main ministry is in the secular arm. For me, Church is about being encouraged to do good works. Not massaging my ego. Not about the accumulation of powers and honours. They are ephemeral.

The true equality we have is in our need before God. The rest is about being part of a team, not moving up some kind of ecclesiastical civil list. There are places of men, and there are places for women. We should not level. It’s un-biblical and against the spirit. And those qualities destroy faith and fellowship.