As if things couldn’t get any weirder, it seems that coronavirus is proving to be quite the surprise on-ramp for gender inclusion. Arguably the biggest life disrupter of the century, COVID-19 has thrown church leaders into a frenzy of problem solving as we strive to worship, connect, and serve while staying home. As a result, we rely on screens.

Pre-quarantine, many churches chose to make changes very slowly during the gender inclusion implementation process. Scaffolding is the term we use to describe how churches gradually implement different ways of including women in our worship gatherings, often starting with announcements, special events, or children’s activities. Screens, it seems, are providing an unprecedented escalation in female participation in our online worship gatherings.

South Baton Rouge Church of Christ began gender inclusion for the first time in January of 2020. They have two services every Sunday: instrumental and traditional. While scaffolding wasn’t utilized in the instrumental service, prior to the quarantine, SBRCC proceeded with thoughtful and careful scaffolding in the traditional service. However, with online worship, scaffolding isn’t necessary. Donna Ellis, SBRCC volunteer coordinator said, “On Easter Sunday, a married couple delivered communion thoughts together during the traditional service and did a beautiful job. I can’t imagine we would have been able to do that at the building, even in a year’s time.”

After talking to staff members from three different churches, there seem to be some common conclusions about why screens allow more female participation without the traditional objections.

1. Video has always drawn less criticism for items such as instrumental music, nontraditional worship elements like funny or even irreverent skits, and female participation. While churches rarely choose to use these as live elements of Sunday worship, using any of these on video during Sunday worship rarely raises notice or objection. Video just seems to be outside our traditional practices, yet somehow immune to objection.

2. Corona has disrupted absolutely everything about our church gatherings. So when we go to church in front of our screens, we don’t have a tradition that excludes women in that medium. Since nothing is normal, atypical isn’t so noticeable compared to the very same female actions in our buildings. To me this raises serious questions about how we may view our buildings as holier than our homes as well as how we view leadership and authority. I get it, but we love to say, “We don’t go to church; we are the church.” We have to acknowledge the inconsistency here and just admit it’s a comfort issue. We also have to honestly ask ourselves, “How much have we been influenced by church hierarchy and structure and the false idea that Christlike leadership is an office involving power and prestige?”

3. People are used to a sophisticated appetite of video production with no limitation on female voices. The prominence of video happened outside our faith practices. The very channel of video allows the viewer simply to listen to the content and connect rather than focus on gender. The speaker is probably at home, on her couch, so she is seen as a person with an interesting perspective and life story, rather than a female awkwardly trying to work her way into a man’s role during corporate worship.

4. It’s common, even in gender inclusive churches, for women to be reluctant when asked to participate. Since gender inclusion is often deeply controversial, women often decline because they don’t want to upset others, even when they are theologically aligned with the practice. Our buildings are where the conflicts take place. Being at home, however, seems to relieve the anxiety about upsetting others because they can avoid the face-to-face confrontation. Kera Hubbard, former Church of Christ student minister who now attends North Davis Church of Christ, said, “Women who have never spoken in public worship, who didn’t think they had anything to say, who didn’t think they had a voice, are willing to speak on video and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. People are missing each other right now and are willing to work harder to connect. While we’ve had to do careful scaffolding at church, those concerns just aren’t necessary with video. The content has been so good, our church is considering continuing the video segments once we are able to worship together again.”

5. Actually men decline to participate more than most realize because most men and women are quite nervous about any realm of public speaking. That cliché about fearing public speaking more than fearing death is true, not an urban legend. Right now, many churches are videoing segments in advance which allows a retake or editing if desired. Women have the chance to plan and practice. Since the live audience isn’t a factor, the whole thing is just more relaxed. They also receive concrete positive feedback in the form of comments and texts, which are so very gratifying for someone who is sharing her heart for God during this difficult, vulnerable, and isolating time. That tangible approval spurs others on to contribute as well.

6. Those planning and executing worship right now are working hard to connect people, to create a positive worship experience, and they know in order to do that, they need all voices. Due to the virus, we are all experiencing a strange forced unity that shoves down the unimportant differences and exposes our deepest desires to be comforted by our church family and, against all odds, we are actually doing that. Male and female voices reflect a God who is both mother and father.

Shepherds, if you are looking for a time to start including women’s voices with the least amount of resistance, this is it. Use this surprise gift that COVID-19 laid on your front steps. Even if your church has never included female voices on any level, your church members are seeing many other Church of Christ women speak publicly online, and this is significant progress as we try to get past the discomfort of hearing a female voice.

As always, I pray God’s greatest blessings on your leadership and encourage you to reach out at any point if I can be of service.

—

This article is part of an ongoing series for elders who are leading their churches through gender inclusion processes. Find the rest of the series here.