Dear church,
This Sunday, March 20, I am excited to share that we will begin a new sermon series entitled, Women in the Kingdom. In this 6-10 week series we will study God’s perfect plan for men and women as experienced pre-fall and as will be experienced after the second coming, the post-fall (historical and current) condition of women in the church, and God’s heart towards women as seen through the arc of Scripture. We will also dive into several of the difficult Scriptures dealing with women in ministry and wrestle with them together.
The elders want to be very clear that our intentions for this process are two-fold. We want to study all aspects of Scripture and work together to develop a well-thought out, Biblical basis for our theology regardless of what conclusions are reached or if there are a variety of beliefs held within the congregation as there may be on this issue. Like many issues, the issue of women’s roles in church and family is one that has multiple views within the bounds of historical, orthodox Christianity. Second, after the conclusion of the series, we want to examine the church By-Laws and Constitution to see if as a church we want to amend, append, or clarify any portions therein.
Cornerstone’s Bylaws and Constitution currently prohibit women from serving on the elder board or as pastor. Conversely, they allow women to serve as deacons. However, they are mostly silent on everything else. We would like to fill in the silence so that the women of Cornerstone (current and future) will be clear as to what we believe as a church and so that the “unwritten rules” do not waver with each passing elder board. In addition, as a church plant from Immanuel, we did not have the freedom to consider allowing women as pastors or elders; we think it makes sense seven years later to have that discussion regardless of the outcome. We are excited to have these discussions together. Perhaps, we will put together a small committee to explore, and there will likely be church-wide discussions. If any changes are proposed, they would be voted on at a business meeting.
Last Mother’s Day, we had four women share what was the sermon on that day. I was thankful for each of the four messages. This Easter, Monica has graciously agreed to preach at the request of the elders. Easter Sunday falls in the middle of this sermon series, and we are super excited for Monica to be able to share her gifting with the church.
As always, if you have any questions before, during, or after the series, please do not hesitate to reach out to Pastor Jonathan or me directly.
In Christ,
Andy Bradshaw, Elder Chair