Over in the Progressive Christian channel, Tony Jones has proposed a radical idea this week. He seems to think that the only way for the church to resolve the tensions surrounding the role of women in the church is for those in the egalitarian camp of the church to break off ties completely with those they disagree with. Tony states:

The time has come for a schism regarding the issue of women in the church. Those of us who know that women should be accorded full participation in every aspect of church life need to visibly and forcefully separate ourselves from those who do not. Their subjugation of women is anti-Christian, and it should be tolerated no longer. That means: – If you attend a church that does not let women preach or hold positions of ecclesial authority, you need to leave that church. – If you work for a ministry that does not affirm women in ecclesial leadership, you need to leave that ministry. – If you write for a publishing house that also prints books by “complementarians,” you need to take your books to another publishing house. – If you speak at conferences, you need to withdraw from all events that do not affirm women as speakers, teachers, and leaders. That is, we who believe in the full equality of women need to break fellowship with those who do not. The time for dialogue and debate has passed. The Spirit has spoken, and we have listened. It’s time to move forward with full force. via It’s Time for a Schism Regarding Women in the Church.

In principle I hate schism generally and, as a Catholic, this worries me more than a little. After all, Catholics are not generally heralded by those over in the progressive channel for being champions of egalitarianism, although our so called “complementarianism” is a bit different that what you find in neo-reform circles. One wonders if Tony means to do away with the us as well. I’m not sure, but I think his proposal raises a lot of questions.

So Tony, this is for you.

I here are a few of my own concerns with your project. I will take your idea proposal by proposal:

Proposal 1:“If you attend a church that does not let women preach or hold positions of ecclesial authority, you need to leave that church.”



A few years ago I read your book “The New Christians” in it you published the values and principles of Emergent Village, a movement you had no small part in forming and leading. If you recall you stated:

“We are committed to honor and serve the church in all its forms – Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, Anabaptist. We practice “deep ecclesiology” – rather than favoring some forms of the church and critiquing or rejecting others, we see that every form of the church has both weaknesses and strengths, both liabilities and potential.”

another principle stated:

In order to strengthen our shared faith and resolve, and in order to encourage and learn from one another in our diversity through respectful, sacred conversation, we value time and interaction with other friends who share this rule and its practices.

From where I’m standing it looks like you have turned your back on both of these principles with this move. To honor the Catholic Church is to honor it’s own way of change, which is very different than yours. I will admit we still have a lot of thinking and praying to do about how best to honor women in ministry in our church, but it does not look like we will be meeting your standards for inclusion any time soon. If you truly value learning through diversity why cut out the diverse opinions that you might be able to learn from?

Proposal 2: If you work for a ministry that does not affirm women in ecclesial leadership, you need to leave that ministry.