by FAS Hornstra-Fuchs · 2010 · Cited by 1 — Verrassend genoeg blyk dit dat die interpretasie van die Bybel nie ‘n deurslaggewende rol hierin speel nie. Faktore wat ‘n rol speel is eerder kerklike.
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Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 589 Female leaders in an international eva ngelical mission organis ation: an empirical study of Youth With A Mission in Germany F.A.S. Hornstra -Fuchs & W.L. Hornstra 1 Department of Philosophy and Systematic Theology Univer sity of Sout h Africa PRETORIA and School of Biblical Studies University of the Nations HURLACH Germany E-mail: [email protected] Abstract Female leaders in an international evangelical mission organi sation: an empirical study of Youth With A Mission in Germany Evangelicals are frequently perceived as conservative, for in -stance in their perspective on women. There is indeed a wide -spread evangelical hierarchical or complementarian theological view which objects to women in church leadership. There is, however, a growing egalitarian counter position, sometimes al -so referred to as fievangelical feminism fl, which supports female leadership. This article concentrates on the international missionary organi – sation Youth With A Mission (YWAM), which clearly e ndorses female leaders in formal statements. In YWAM Germany, how -ever, women are under -represented in leadership positions. 1 The research on which this article is based was undertaken while F.A.S. Hornstra -Fuchs was registered as an M .Th. student in the then Department of Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics at the University of South Africa.
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Female leaders in an international evangelical mission organisation 590 Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 The article seeks to explain this under -representation, especial -ly in terms of the role played by Scripture. By means of interview s with leaders in YWAM Germany, possi -ble answers were explored. Surprising ly, for an evangelical organi sation, the interpretation of Scripture proved not to be a significant factor. Factors that do play a role are church back -ground, the lack of female ro le models, lower self -confidence of women, family responsibilities, and the role of incumbent lea -dership. The latter appears to be the most crucial factor, since the incumbent leaders, who mostly are men, select and appoint new leaders. It is likely that in this they are influenced by stereotypical conceptions of the leader as male and are inclined to appoint leaders similar to themselves. Opsomming Vroulike leiers in ™n int ernasionale evangeliese sending organisasie: ™n empiriese ondersoek in Youth With A Mission in Duitsland Evangeliese Christene word dikwels gesien as konserwatief, byvoorbeeld met betrekking tot hulle perspektief op vroue in die bediening. Daar bestaan inderdaad ™n breed aanvaarde hiërar -giese en komplimentêre evangeliese teologiese persp ektief wat probleme het met vroue se leierskap in die kerk. Daar is egter ook ™n groeiende egalitêre teenposisie wat die leierskap van vroue ondersteun. Hierdie artikel fokus op die internasionale sendingorganisasie Youth With A Mission (YWAM), wat die b eginsel van vroue in leierska psposisies duidelik in formel e uitsprake ondersteun. In YWAM Duitsland is vroue onderverteenwoordig in leiersposi -sies. Hierdie artikel poog om hierdie onderverteenwoordiging te verduidelik, veral met betrekking tot die rol wat die Bybel speel. Deur middel va n onderhoude met leiers in YWAM Duitsland word na moontlike antwoorde gesoek. Verrassend genoeg blyk dit dat die interpretasie van die Bybel nie ™n deurslaggewende rol hierin speel nie. Faktore wat ™n rol speel is eerder ke rklike agtergrond, ™n gebrek aan vroulike rolmodelle, minder selfver -troue by vroue, verantwoordelikhede in die gesin en die rol van bestaande leiers. Laasgenoemde blyk die mees deurslag -gewende fa ktor te wees, omdat die leiers wat nuwe leiers selekteer en aanstel tans meestal man s is . Dit is waarskynlik dat hulle hierin beïnvloed word deur ™n stereotip iese beeld van leierskap en voorkeur gee aan manlike leiers.
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F.A.S. Hornstra -Fuchs & W.L. Hornstra Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 591 1. Introduction Although much has changed in relation to female leadership during the past hal f century, it still cannot be automatically assumed that women are eligible to be appointed to leadership positions. If it could , there would be no need to include a special chapter on wo -men in leadership handbooks (Neuberger, 2002:763 -827; Chemers, 1997: 140 -150), nor would there be a far larger number of publica -tions dealing with female leadership than with male leadership Πsuch as this article. One repeated topic in such publications is the under -representation of women in leadership positions. This ar ticle is based on a M .Th. research dissertation that was successfully completed at the Univer -sity of South Africa (Hornstra -Fuchs, 2009). It investigated explana -tions for the under -representation of women leaders within the evan -gelical missionary organi sation Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in the German context. After a brief discussion of evangelical views on women in leadership and the potentially positive role that evangelical theology could play, this article will introduce the evangelical organi sation in question and present a summary of the actual research and its results. 2. Evangelicals and female leadership Change relating to female leadership has also come to the evange Рlical movement, sparking passionate and controversial debate. This section con centrates on the situation in North America, but exact ly the same debate, in part based on American sources, has entered the German scene, as indicated below (for Germany, see especially Schmalenbach , 2007; for a more extensive overview than presented belo w, see Hornstra -Fuchs, 2009:62 -82). There is a stereotypical perception of evangelicalism as conserva Рtive. Although this stereotype does exist, as exemplified by the fiChristian Right fl in America, it is far from the whole story. David Gushee (2008) has arg ued that an evangelical centre is emerging in American politics (implying that there is even an Πalbeit small Πevangelical left , epitomised since the 1970s by Jim Wallis and the Sojourners ). These evangelicals take surprising positions Πsurpris -ing, tha t is, if one only knows the right -wing caricature Πon issues like climate change, mild forms of torture, poverty, and injustice, to mention some of the more important ones.
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Female leaders in an international evangelical mission organisation 592 Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 Similarly, substantial diversity exists among evangelical views about women in le adership. There is of course the widespread comple Рmentarian view as represented by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW). Proponents of this view often consider it the traditional Christian position, although many of them have softened the harshness of a consistently hierarchical view of gender. To them, the Bible plainly teaches that women and men have been created for different roles and thus complement each other . Leadership, at least in church and family, and for some , leadership in gene ral, is male. This view is upheld in numerous works both of a popular nature and of a more scholarly bent. A broad academic defence of this position was published by Piper and Grudem (1991). The key word here is defence; it is a reaction to a growing count er movement referred to in the subtitle as fievangelical feminismfl Πa clever choice of words, as pointed out by Gallagher (2004), because of the negative connotation that the term feminism has for many evangelicals. Evangelical feminists are, however, more likely to describe them -selves as fiegalitarians fl. Their main organi sation is Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE), founded , like the CBMW , in 1987. They argue that the Bible, properly understood, supports the full equality of men and women; this implies that no office or ministry is closed to women simply on the basis of gender. 2 The fundamental issue here is not just exegesis, but rather hermeneutics. What in Scripture is universal, and what is cultural and contextual? Does one begin with the creation n arratives or with passages like 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2? And what weight does one give to the specific his -torical setting of a passage? Does it explain the apparent exclusion of women as a directive limited to this setting or as a misunder -standi ng of the real intent, or does the passage establish a general rule in spite of its historical particulars? Although the complementarian view is alive and well both in North America and in Germany, it is not uncontested. Due i n part to this controversy, th ere has been an increasing stream of evangelical academic publications dealing with relevant biblical interpretation and historical background studies (Mickelsen, 1986; Piper & Gru Р2 As may be quickly surmised from the CBE website, www.cbeinternational.org. See also the foundational collection of essays in Mickelsen (1986).
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F.A.S. Hornstra -Fuchs & W.L. Hornstra Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 593 dem, 1991; Clark Kroeger & Clark Kroeger, 1998; Smith, 2000 ;3 Winter , 2001 ; 2003), as well as with women in church history (Tuck -er & Liefeld, 1987; Tucker, 1988; Conrad, 1998; Eulenhoefer -Mann, 2003). In the German context , one work that deserves special men -tion , because of its comprehensive and balanced treatment of the releva nt issues , is Schmalenbach (2007). However, there are surpri -singly few studies of an empirical nature, looking at how women actually fare in leadership (Brown Zikmund et al ., 1998; Moreton & Newsom, 2004a ; 2004b). There are of course many denominations an d organi sations that continue to refuse women access to offices of leadership and teaching. 4 But how do women fare in evangelical structures that endorse their involvement? What are factors that hinder their advancement? 3. Evangelicals and the gospel of t he kingdom Because of the importance of the Bible to evangelicals, one would expect biblical interpretation with a conservative bent to be a key factor hindering women from obtaining leadership positions, even in settings that are in principle egalitarian. Obviously, the Bible can be used to argue for a hierarchical or a complementarian view of wo – men™s roles in church, family, and society. However, this is not the only way the Bible can be read, even from an evangelical perspec -tive, and a significant numb er of evangelicals read it differently. Before moving on to the empirical part of this article, it is important to make this point: although evangelical tradition and theology can indeed be drawn on to justify placing various restrictions on women, when re ad different ly, they can also be seen to support an egali -tarian view. 3 This volume, which supports fem ale leadership, is particularly significant, since it was commissioned by the World Evangelical Fellowship and has also been translated into German (Smith & Kern, 2000). 4 The ESV Study Bible, for instance, published in 2008, includes no women among the 95 contributors to its study notes and articles. In South Africa, one of the smaller r eformed churches in South Africa (the fiGereformeerdefl church; GKSA) continue s to exclude women from the offices of elder and minister . In 2003, women were allowed to be dea cons, but this decision was reversed in 2006 (Van Deventer, 2005:686). In 2009, this reversion was reversed (GKSA, 2009:680 ff.), so wom en can now be appointed deacons. In the other reformed churches (e.g. the Dutch Reformed Church ;DRC), the Netherdutch Re formed Œ fiHervormdefl Œ Church of Africa ; NRCA) , and the Uniting Reformed Ch urch of South Africa ; URCSA ), women can be deacons, elders and ministers.
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Female leaders in an international evangelical mission organisation 594 Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 For this to happen, the exegesis of individual passages needs to be re-evaluated and the broader essence and implications of the gospel need to be recogni sed and applied. As a growing number of evangelicals reali se, the gospel is not just about individual salvation; this is only one of its dimensions. It is after all the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14) . This kingdom is not so much a realm as it is the reign of God . Its a uthoritative claim, coming from God as King and Christ as Lord, applies to individuals, but also to the communities in which they live Œ including their practices of leadership and their view and treatment of women. It has impli -cations for their world, th eir social environment, and even for their natural environment (creation), since the scope of salvation and of God™s reign is cosmic and universal, not limited to the heart and inner life of believers. One counterpart of this truth about God is that being a Christian brings with it social responsibility, something that has not always been recognised by western evangelicals because of their reaction to the social gospel in the late nineteen th century. The Lausanne Covenant, the foundational statement coming out of the first International Congress on World Evangelisation at Lau sanne in 1974, includes an entire section on this responsibility (art . 5) with a clear commitment and an acknowledgement of the failure of the past. It is not a different social gospel at all, but something that is inherent and integrated in the gospel as Jesus preached it ( cf. Isa . 61:1; Luk. 4:16 -19; figood news to the poorfl). This dynamic understanding of the kingdom leads to a third key term: transformation . The gospel of the kingdom is not or not just about right belief; it is not stagnant information. It is a story that is restorative and transformational in its thrust. This gospel is a dynamic force : the power of God (Rom. 1:16). It s aim is the trans -formation of individuals, of the broader reality, the context, in which these individuals live, and ultimately of all creation. Transformation has been a part of the evangelical vision from the beginning; the Puritans and Pietists looked forward to better conditions, fi einen besseren Zust and fl (Philipp Jakob Spener in Pia Desideria ),5 in the church and to the latter -day glory promised by the Old Testament prophets. In the twentieth century, this vision remained rather vague and general, or it was largely limited to certain aspects of church life. The Lausanne Covenant indicates a turn toward a more specific, deliberate, and systematic approach to transformation Œ and with it, 5 This better future is the subject of chapter six (Spener, 1841:49 -61); the phrase appears in the title (p . 49).
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Female leaders in an international evangelical mission organisation 596 Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 tion with a focus on young adults. Under the motto, fiTo know God and to make Him known fl, YWAM operates in over 1 000 locations in more than 1 70 countries with close to 1 8 000 staff. Its activities, while widely divers e, are covered by three main categories: evange -lism, training, and mercy ministry (or humanitarian aid ; YWAM , s.a.a ).6 Its training branch includes the University of the Nations (UofN), which issues non -accredited Bachelor™s and Master™s de -grees in a num ber of disciplines. The formal stance of YWAM on women in leadership may be surmised from the following points. 4.1 A platform for women From the beginning, Loren Cunningham and his wife Darlene have given women a platform to teach or lead Œ perhaps not su rprising, considering that Loren Cunningham™s mother began preaching regu -larly at the age of 17 and was an ordained Assemblies of God pastor (Cunningham & Rogers, 1984:15, 21). The most influential female leader in YWAM is Darlene Cunningham herself, who has long been a popular speaker in YWAM schools and conferences. By regularly running a three month programme called Leadership Training School , she has impacted many of the organi sation™s leaders (YWAM , s.a. b). Her husband describes her as a co -founder an d co -leader, adding: fiMy wife – is a leader, a leader of leaders, and a trainer of leaders. I don™t know of a woman training more inter -national missionaries than Darlene .fl (Cunningham 2000:236.) Other women who have been significant early teachers and lea ders in -clude Jean Darnall, Corrie ten Boom, Joy Dawson (all influential speakers), Landa Cope (International Dean of the College of Communications at the UofN), and Judy Smith, who together with her husband oversees the more than 30 Schools of Biblical St udies within the UofN network, in which many women lead and teach Bible survey and exegesis. 4.2 Formal statements At an International Staff and L ead ership C onference in Manila, Philip pines, in August 1988, the Manila Covenant was presented by YWAM leader ship as a foundational statement for the mission (YWAM , s.a. c). This Covenant was confirmed by 1 500 YWAM staff participating in this conference. It lists twenty different allegiances; one of these is: fiWe affirm that God wants both young and old, male 6 The story of YWAM™s beginnings is told in Cunningham and Rogers (1984).
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F.A.S. Hornstra -Fuchs & W.L. Hornstra Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 597 and female, in positions of leadership and responsibility in our mission .fl (YWAM , s.a. c.) This formal position was solidified when YWAM™s Foundational Va -lues were officially accepted in 1992 (Green, 2004). Although this date is relatively late, most of these 21 values summari se what had been common practice from the beginning of the movement. They are frequently referred to and carry substantial weight in the organi sation. Value number twelve specifically refers to the issue of women: fiYWAM is called to value each individual. We believe all races, ages, cultures and individuals Œ male and female Œ have dis -tinctive contributions and callings.fl 7 In February 2004, a revised vers ion of YWAM™s Foundational Values was released (Green, 2004). In this revision the va lues were reformulated and the number was reduced to seventeen . The value concerning individuals, now number fourteen , was rephrased as: YWAM is called to value each individual. We believe in equal opportunity and justice for all – We are committed to hon oring God -given leadership and minis try gifts in both men and women. (YWAM , s.a.d.) None of the other values differentiate between male and female. All staff are to practice these values, even if some of them culturally and traditionally have often been a ssociated with either women or men ( eg. hospitality, leadership). Also relevant is a collection of statements adopted as a result of a consultation on mercy ministries in 1998 which dealt with the ques -tion of how to best care for people. In relation to g ender injustice it states: We have been particularly challenged by gender injustice throughout the world and specifically as it exists within our mission. We recognize that the image of God is carried by both men and women: both are required at all levels of the mission in order that YWAM more completely reflect that image . (UofN , 2005 b:343.) 7 The original version of YWAM™s Foundational Values is included at the beginning of the University of the Nations School Leader™s Reference Guide (UofN , 1995).
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Female leaders in an international evangelical mission organisation 598 Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 4.3 Instructions to University of the Nations course leaders The University of the Nations reference guide ( UofN , 2005a) pro -vides course leaders with an introduction to University of the Nation s™s regulations, standards, and principles. According to this guide, fiat least some of the teachers should be international – and [teachers] should include both men and womenfl ( UofN , 2005a:92). It also includes an article on the abuse of authority. This article states: fiWhen women are not given authority or are not recognized as equals to men through respect for their opinions, then authoritarian -ism is sure to follow .fl (McClung, 2005:160.) In order to facilitate this, the recomme ndation is made that fimore men and women – teach on women in ministry and women in leadershipfl ( UofN , 2005 b:343 ). A particular emphasis is put on men teaching on this issue by stating that there is a special need for men to speak on the topic of women in l eadership and gender issues, fiso that these are not just viewed as ‚women™s problems™fl ( UofN , 2005 b:346). 4.4 Why not women? In 2000, Loren Cunningham together with David Hamilton published the book , Why not women? A biblical study of women in missions, ministry, and leadership . The book rapidly became known in YWAM as Cunningham™s book on women in leadership, and it is widely read in the organi sation. It presents a clear egalitarian view. It should be pointed out how unusual it is for Cunningham or YWAM t o take such a clear stance on a controversial issue. In order to keep YWAM interdenominational, he has often held back his opinion on theo -logical issues for the sake of unity, giving him a reputation for reticence or even silence when it comes to controve rsial issues. Obviously, then, Cunningham considers the issue of women leading and teaching so crucial and foundational that no compromise can be made for the sake of unity. 4.5 Recent initiatives In September 2002 YWAM organi sed the first international Y WAM conference on global women™s issues in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, called Connexity 2002 (Anon., 2002). More than 400 YWAM staff from 53 nations participated in the four days of the conference (Tanashya & Buenting, 2002). The invitation to the conference s aid: fiIt is not an exclusive women™s event but is for everyone who desires to see a greater release of women within YWAM and beyond .fl (Anon., 2002.) In 2006, Paul and Susi Childers, long -term YWAM staff, brought out a booklet titled , A voice for the voicel ess:
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F.A.S. Hornstra -Fuchs & W.L. Hornstra Koers 7 5(3) 2010 :589-611 599 30 days of prayer for the voiceless . In its foreword, Loren Cunning -ham calls gender injustice one of the greatest global challenges of the 21 st century (Childers & Childers, 2006). The aim of this prayer guide was fito issue a call to prayer and actio nfl for women who experience injustice because of gender. The goal of Childers was to distribute 100 000 of these prayer guides to raise awareness of gender injustice and to mobili se as many people as possible inside and outside of YWAM to pray for the gend er issues described in the prayer guide, such as domestic violence, female genital mutilation, and honour killings. Initiatives and publications like these leave the impression that YWAM has increasingly taken an active stance on behalf of women; more is i nvolved than mere lip service. This makes YWAM a good place to study how women actually fare in terms of leadership roles in an evangelical organisation where female leadership is accepted in principle. For practical reasons, the scope of the research was limited to Germany, where both authors are involved in teaching and leadership. YWAM , Germany was founded at an early stage of the organi sation™s development (1972), and it has been a relatively large and influential part of the organi sation, which also ma kes it an appropriate choice. 5. Being a leader in YWAM Germany It quickly became clear that at least in YWAM Germany there re -mains a gap between theory and confession on the one hand and the reality of leadership on the other. There has never been a fema le national leader. In June 2007, when the following statistics were collected (Hornstra -Fuchs, 2009:42 -51) , each of the six existing training locations was being led by a leadership team, none of which had a woman as its main leader. Although approximatel y 60 % of YWAM Germany™s 206 staff were women, less than 30 % of these leadership teams were female. The National Board of Directors consisted of six men and one woman. Why is this the case? 5.1 Methodology Since the Bible is presumably the highest authority for evangelicals, considered binding in all matters of faith and practice, the initial hypothesis was that conservative and non -egalitarian interpretations of Scripture are at least one important reason for this under -representation of women in leadership positions. Because YWAM staff are drawn from a wide variety of church backgrounds, they may
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