The Leadership of the Azusa Street Revival

Some Pentecostals are proud to say that Pentecostals affirm women in ministry. They might point to the leadership of the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles (one of the most influential centers of early North American Pentecostalism), where about half of the leaders were women.

As Pentecostal denominations formed, some churches continued to give prominent place to women leaders. The Pentecostal Holiness Church and the Open Standard Bible Churches have always given women full clergy rights. The same is true of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, started by Ammie Semple McPherson, and today around 40% of their credential holders are women.

Institutional Restrictions 

Most Pentecostal denominations, however, placed restrictions on women’s ministry and leadership in some form.

The Assemblies of God (USA), which began in 1914, has ordained women since 1935. The Church of God (Cleveland, TN), in contrast, still does not grant women their highest level of clergy credentials (they call it “ordained bishop”). As a result, women are restricted from the highest leadership roles in that denomination.

Canada

My friend, Carmen Kampman, at her recent ordination ceremony

In my own Pentecostal denomination, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC), in 1984, after a full decade of discussion and debate, we finally voted to ordain women. Nevertheless, as of 1986, only 25% percent of ministers thought that women should be elected to leadership roles (as Presbyters, to be specific).

As a result, it wasn’t until General Conference in 1998 that the PAOC finally removed all restrictions to women in leadership. At that event we voted to “provide for gender inclusivity in all matters relating to the credentialing process and qualifications of candidates for the elected offices of District and General Executives” (1998 Conference Minutes, page 16).

Current Ambiguity

My own research shows that even now only 83% percent of PAOC clergy consistently affirm women in leadership (again, specifically in the role of presbyter), with another 8% undecided regarding the issue. Furthermore, less than 6% of lead pastors in the PAOC are women, even though about 27% of all credential holders are women (PAOC Fellowship Stats, 2017)

“ Less than 6% of lead pastors in the PAOC are women, even though about 27% of all credential holders are women.

Women ministers still face obstacles. Patti Miller, lead pastor of a large Pentecostal church in Montreal, pointed out to me that young women, especially staff pastors, often get questioned by people in their church about their leadership roles as women. These questions sometimes even come from their colleagues. Furthermore, some male pastors have stated that in this metoo# environment, they are afraid to hire female pastors onto their staff.

Recent Developments  

At the PAOC’s General Conference in May 2018, the General Superintendent, Dave Wells, reminded those in attendance that we affirm women in ministry because Acts reminds us that Jesus pours out the Spirit on both the sons and the daughters.

Patti Miller then presented a summary of the new “PAOC Statement of Affirmation Regarding Gender Equality in Leadership.” Rather than only affirming women in ministry, the statement ends with a number of commitments to intentional action.

This document was prepared by a committee of female and male PAOC leaders over the last 9 months. Going forward the committee hopes to guide churches and leaders in how they can further integrate women into leadership roles in the Church.

Click here to read the “PAOC Statement of Affirmation Regarding Gender Equality in Leadership.”

You might also be interested in these posts:

• #MeToo and the Church: #PentecostalSistersToo
• How are Canadian Pentecostal Clergy Changing?
• Updating the PAOC Statement of Faith: Gender and Language

Andrew K. Gabriel, Ph.D., is the author of Simply Spirit-Filled: Experiencing God in the Presence and Power of the Holy Spirit (forthcoming) as well as three academic books, including The Lord is the Spirit. He is a theology professor at Horizon College and Seminary and serves on the Theological Study Commission for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. You can follow him on Facebook or on Twitter.

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