“Women
should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must
be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something,
they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to
speak in the church.”
(1 Corinthians 14:34-35)
Saint
Paul Meets a Quaker Lady
In the fulness of personal time,
1992 to be exact, the Friends Church
recorded me as a minister of the gospel.
It recognized my call to public ministry,
and the gathered body affirmed me publicly.
I thanked them all, but what I didn’t tell them
was my sense that St. Paul himself
had joined us. He was standing in back,
on the left side of the meeting house
by the rack of theological pamphlets.
He was clapping.
He was grinning from ear to ear.
