"70 percent of American Catholics support the ordination of women. That nearly two in every three white evangelicals (63 percent) now agree that women should be eligible for ordination is extraordinary. Already there are small numbers of clergywomen serving evangelical Protestant churches, particularly in Pentecostal contexts such as the Assemblies of God.
What, then, accounts for PRRI’s finding that a sizable proportion of white evangelical Protestants—nearly as large as the proportion of Catholics who share the same view—now supports the ordination of women? A leading hypothesis is that younger evangelicals are driving growing acceptance of women as pastors.
We analyzed support for women’s ordination among white evangelicals using regression analysis controlling for age and a variety of other demographic controls and found that age was not a significant variable. Other demographic factors we included in our model, such as education, income, and gender were also not significant.
Instead, support for women’s ordination even among the most theologically conservative Americans appears to fit into a broader pattern we have observed in the American public concerning the growing acceptance of women in leadership roles. For example, studies show that virtually all Americans say they would now vote for a qualified woman to be president, compared to roughly half of Americans in the late 1960s. As women have entered the workforce in record numbers and now routinely outnumber men in college and most graduate programs, Americans have grown more comfortable seeing women in charge—even in traditionally male-dominated professions such as religious leadership. The notion of a woman pastor, rabbi, or priest is no longer an alien concept to the vast majority of Americans." PublicReligionResearchInstitute
So are we to let Polls shape Church doctrine-or is the attempt to bully the Church into changing its doctrine on women ordination simply the world creeping into the Church by those where truth lies fallen in the streets of their hearts?
What, then, accounts for PRRI’s finding that a sizable proportion of white evangelical Protestants—nearly as large as the proportion of Catholics who share the same view—now supports the ordination of women? A leading hypothesis is that younger evangelicals are driving growing acceptance of women as pastors.
We analyzed support for women’s ordination among white evangelicals using regression analysis controlling for age and a variety of other demographic controls and found that age was not a significant variable. Other demographic factors we included in our model, such as education, income, and gender were also not significant.
Instead, support for women’s ordination even among the most theologically conservative Americans appears to fit into a broader pattern we have observed in the American public concerning the growing acceptance of women in leadership roles. For example, studies show that virtually all Americans say they would now vote for a qualified woman to be president, compared to roughly half of Americans in the late 1960s. As women have entered the workforce in record numbers and now routinely outnumber men in college and most graduate programs, Americans have grown more comfortable seeing women in charge—even in traditionally male-dominated professions such as religious leadership. The notion of a woman pastor, rabbi, or priest is no longer an alien concept to the vast majority of Americans." PublicReligionResearchInstitute
So are we to let Polls shape Church doctrine-or is the attempt to bully the Church into changing its doctrine on women ordination simply the world creeping into the Church by those where truth lies fallen in the streets of their hearts?
Someone who doesn't go by the polls....
Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
and to day,
and for ever.
Hebrews 13:8
