Posted on 08/24/2006 10:02:06 AM PDT by presidio9
A U.S. Baptist preacher has publicly defended himself for firing a female Sunday School teacher after more than 50 years on the job because he believes the Bible bans women from teaching men.
Watertown First Baptist Church Pastor Tim LaBouf, also a city council member in Watertown, N.Y., said women could fulfill any role or responsibility they wanted to -- outside the church.
"My belief is that the qualifications for both men and women teaching spiritual matters in a church setting end at the church door, period," LaBouf said in a statement on the church Web site (http://www.nnyinfo.com/firstbaptist).
LaBouf and the church board fired Mary Lambert, 81, earlier this month in a letter that cited the scriptural qualifications for Sunday School teachers, Lambert said.
"They quote First Timothy Two, 11-14: A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, she must be silent," Lambert said, reading from the letter.
"I was astonished," she said. "I would not go back and teach as long as this is their thinking."
Watertown is 250 miles northwest of New York City.
William Carlsen, executive minister for American Baptist Churches of New York State, said U.S. Baptist Churches are autonomous and that there would not be many other Baptist Churches that share LaBouf's view.
"A considerable number if not a majority of American Baptist Churches have been quite aggressive in affirming the place of women's leadership roles within the church," Carlsen said.
The board of the Watertown First Baptist Church said in a statement on its Web site that the scripture rules concerning women teaching men in a church setting had only played a small part in Lambert's sacking.
"Christian courtesy motivates us to refrain from making any public accusations against her," the board said.
"Educate myself?"
yes, educate yourself
"Let's start with the basics: The Taliban do not allow women to teach."
They also don't allow women to go to school or be seen by a male doctor. They also kill rape victims for adultry. Are Christian's similiar in that way too?
This idiot does not (want to) allow women to teach."
No, he says women should not teach men. And that it was part of the reason they asked her to step down. Thats biblically supported. He does not say women have no value, cannot teach period or any of the other head trash people assume when they read the headline.
" Get your brain in gear."
I'm far from perfect but keep trying. This is one subject I've research quite well. Another thread on this same subject will provide some background.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1687650/posts?q=1&&page=1#1
You said it better than I did: #16. My father taught Sunday School for decades. Toward the end of his life, his mind and body began to go. Instead of "celebrating the years of his service" as you suggest, the pastor just said he was done. He rarely went to church after that. Not out of spite, but he wasn't feeling well and that helped take the life out of him. He should have resigned before then, I admit, but how you do something is very important.
I also wonder why and how the media got ahold of this. If the teacher herself is responsible, then her actions are proof she shouldn't be teaching. This is an internal church matter, not a public media one.
Men are not as teachable as women. Anyone will tell you that.
Men are about finding out for themselves, sometimes taking the hard way.
BTW some of the worst church politics I have ever seen were generated by those "sweet" old ladies. Her being old and a woman does not make her right or innocent.
They should have avoided the whole issue by promoting her to a different position. Perhaps they tried and it didn't work. We only know part of the story.
No joke. If someone doesn't like the Baptists following the Bible, I'm sure the Unitarians would be happy to talk to them.
My experience is that the sweet old ladies tend to be the most vocal at meetings and tend to argue about the color of the carpet.
Anyone who gets liberal panties in a wad is a hero to me.
It's not him. Paul said it.
Take it up with Paul.
I am comparing this gentlemen, who claims biblical authority for his position, with the Taliban . . . who claim Koranic authority for the same. Pointing out that this gentlemen still allows women to drive is irrelevant. Besides, give him time.
Plenty of men drivers in my city, holding phones to their ears, totally oblivious to traffic. So, there you have it for men's driving "superior" skills. A guy totalled the neighbor's brick mail box not long ago, he said it's the third time and each instance was a man. Etceteras.
Frankly women have always taught the children, men and women because the men were out making war, killing deer, chopping firewood, building ships, etc.
Religion has rules. if you want to be in a religion, follow the rules. The bible clearly states that woman are not supposed to teach men in church. You may obviously choose to interpret that as a cultural or time-sensitive thing, or say that the bible gets things wrong, but it is not unreasonable for a man of God who believes in the literal bible to take the admonition seriously.
After all, it shouldn't be impossible to find enough men to teach the men that we are FORCED to have women teaching them. This isn't some onerous burden.
And yes, my church will not have a woman teach men. They can teach children, but not men. And our entire denomination doesn't allow female pastors, elders, or deacons (although I think some churches have female deacons).
"Educate me on the difference please.....And also, try not to stray off the subject."
Educate you on the difference between Christians and Taliban? Despite your 'command' to knot stray off the subject I really don't know if I wanna take this one on. If you can't see the difference than you may not be teachable.
How many beheadings are Christians responsible for?
How many rape victims are executed for adultry in Christian counties?
How many 2000 year old statues have Christians destroyed recently?
How many honor killings have been completed by Christians in the last year?
What a doofus. People like him give our faith a bad name.
'My experience is that the sweet old ladies tend to be the most vocal at meetings and tend to argue about the color of the carpet."
best one I heard was "you'll grow this church over my dead body"
Maybe not driving, but what about putting?
That's why they win about 99.9% of the Darwin Awards. :)
So rejecting the notion that women cannot or should not teach men makes me a Unitarian? These religion threads are hilarious, if one can get past the sound of brains slamming shut.
Hard to argue with him given the domination of female teachers in public schools and their sorry record.
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