Earlier this year, I was shown an encouraging personal testimony written by one of our faithful lady Church members. She wrote about what it was like coming into the Church before God had called her husband. I found her words very moving.
It was in no way a sermon, and while she was not “instructing” or exhorting in any way, I thought her experience could be very helpful to some others in the Church. So, I asked that her short article be published as a commentary on our Church Web sites.
Because of this item, some brethren have written in to ask questions or make comments about “women writing for the Church.” Should women write? If so, in what circumstances?
Here is the answer. Though God intended the woman’s role to be primarily as a “help meet” to her husband, the Bible clearly indicates that He has used many women to give advice—sometimes even inspired warnings—to leaders, ministers and society in general. Deborah the “prophetess” even temporarily led ancient Israel—and not only advised, but even had to sort of “mother” their military commander, Barak, and lead him into battle (Judges 4:1–10)!
After decades of turning away from God and His ways, the “Book of the Law” was discovered. The young king Josiah turned Judah back to God again, and ordered that the temple be repaired and cleansed. King Josiah was so moved by the warnings in this book that he sent Hilkiah the priest to seek the advice of “Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum” (2 Chronicles 34:22). Then, God used this female prophetess to give the king a powerful warning of impending calamity that would come because of Judah’s egregious sins (vv. 23–28).
Was Huldah out of line?
No! For God used her then—as He may use a number of our sons and daughters to prophesy even in these “last days.” God’s inspired word was recited by the Apostle Peter on the Day of Pentecost, “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy’” (Acts 2:16–18).
Yes, the Apostle Paul stated, “And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:12). But that same Apostle Paul was inspired to write, that “the older women” should be “teachers of good things—that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed” (Titus 2:3–5).
I want to remind all you brethren that, beginning even in the early years of the Work, when Mr. Armstrong was very much in charge, we had quite a number of young women who wrote articles for the Good News magazine and other publications. Isabell Kunkel—later Mrs. Herman Hoeh—wrote a number of articles in the Good News magazine on cooking and homemaking. Later, Mrs. Sydney Hegvold did the same. Also, younger women like Elva Russell—now Mrs. Richard Sedliacik—wrote encouraging and even instructive articles for women on women’s responsibilities and related issues. The same for a number of others, including Charlene Glover (later Mrs. Norman Smith), Jo Ann Felt (later Mrs. Charles Dorothy) and Elise Bernard (later Mrs. Kenneth Herrman).
So, you can see that—under the direction of Herbert W. Armstrong—women were not excluded from writing articles, if those articles were especially along the lines of women’s responsibilities, cooking, homemaking, etc. But we even see the biblical example that in an exceptional situation God may use a woman to “prophesy”—which is always used in this instance of giving a special revelation or divine warning directly from God.
Obviously, we do not want any misguided women—or men—to get up and start “prophesying” out of their own imagination, trying to show off, disrupting Church services, etc. But Mr. Armstrong set the pattern we are trying to follow. Women were not encouraged to write strong doctrinal or prophetic articles—which would tend to be like “preaching.” But articles along other lines were certainly acceptable and were very helpful and well received by the vast majority of the brethren.
So I want to take this opportunity to encourage all of you brethren—especially you “male macho” men out there—to realize that it is absolutely biblical for us to use the contributions of our wonderful female members in God’s Church to contribute articles from their point of view to our publications, along the lines described above. A woman’s perspective is often extremely helpful, and can give a sense of balance to our thinking and our practice in God’s Church. This is as it ought to be. And it ought to be that all of us men try to reach out and use the contributions of our wives, our daughters and our sisters in Christ as we make decisions in our businesses, our homes and our lives.
Every single one of us—whether male or female—is made “in the image of God.” We must never forget that! And we men must cherish the wonderful balance, wisdom and help that our female companions on this earth provide. So, let us go forward in this attitude and love one another, appreciate one another and use the contributions of each member of God’s Church in the way His word indicates. We will certainly be blessed if we do this—and do it in a genuinely loving and supportive attitude.