Women serving at the table...

[crawfish]

So my dad, in a subtle attempt to curb my "liberal" ways, gave me a subscription to the Gospel Advocate a few months ago. I got an edition yesterday. After my initial indignation, where in an article they referred to my minister as a "change agent" and compared him indirectly to a destructive earthquake, anti-war Democrats and Al Queda, I noted that the author also railed against women serving communion (my church doesn't do this, probably because they're picking their fights and that's not a big one).

Do any of you more conservative members have any scripture to justify such a stance? I see verses on women being silent in church, and not holding authority over a man, but serving at the table is neither.

p.s. Please don't turn this into an argument over the roles of women in church. That certainly warrants its own thread. I'm just looking for the simple answer to this question.

 

[cremi]

I have attended two churches where women served the communion. They also gave the communion thoughts/devotional/reflections. I was extremely uncomfortable in both situations.

As far as women serving the communion, I have come to the conclusion that my own comfort level is breached on this, but I can't find scriptural backing for the practice. After all, women do pass the trays back and forth while sitting in the pews don't they? What is the difference between passing the trays side to side versus passing the trays forward or backward?

As far as women giving the communion talk, I am mixed on this. Technically, they aren't preaching or teaching--in most cases--simply sharing their thoughts. However, for me it's such a close line to "leading" that I always struggled with the practice. In part, this is what lead us to look for another place to worship.

Hope that didn't delve too much into women's roles. Just shairng an opinion.

 

[JDIBe]

Just in case you were wondering ladies.....

It's really not all it's cracked up to be. You stand up there fidgeting thinking that everyone is staring at you, hoping your pants are zipped, and that you don't drop something. Then you walk out and pass the plates trying to keep an eye on them all so you don't end up with someone at the end of a pew hanging it out there for 30 seconds with an annoyed look on there face. And worst of all, it's hard to concentrate on what you should be thinking about during that time anyway. Trust me, there are more important things on which to make a stand....

 

[HisLittleHazelnut]

I grew up in a very small CofC (30 people, 16 of which were children) and as a result, women were allowed to do more than typical for a CofC. Women never preached or led songs (I wish I could have led songs, because my gift is in music) but we did serve at the table although we never gave the table talk. We were also allowed to lead the congregation in prayer if asked to by a man. We weren't to do anything without the authority of a man but if a man said we could, we were able to.

Does this make sense?

 

[crawfish]

I grew up in a very small CofC (30 people, 16 of which were children) and as a result, women were allowed to do more than typical for a CofC. Women never preached or led songs (I wish I could have led songs, because my gift is in music) but we did serve at the table although we never gave the table talk. We were also allowed to lead the congregation in prayer if asked to by a man. We weren't to do anything without the authority of a man but if a man said we could, we were able to.

Does this make sense?

Perfect sense!

I guess there are no scripture objections, then, since nobody has weighed in with any.

 

[bling]

I was reading in about the early church history in some Catholic literature. It seems that one of the really difficult practices of worship the Pope had a hard time rolling out was the priest controlling the Lord’s super. In many parts of the early church world women served the communion. It was sometimes part of a meal the women prepared. The priest that were sent out to take control of churches complained about taking this power away from Christian women. The Pope finally put his foot down and stopped women from serving communion.
Does anyone know how far back the practice of women serving communion and a meal as part of the communion goes back?
Are we following more the “practice” dictated by the Pope, more then the early church “practice”?

 

[JDIBe]

I was reading in about the early church history in some Catholic literature. It seems that one of the really difficult practices of worship the Pope had a hard time rolling out was the priest controlling the Lord’s super. In many parts of the early church world women served the communion. It was sometimes part of a meal the women prepared. The priest that were sent out to take control of churches complained about taking this power away from Christian women. The Pope finally put his foot down and stopped women from serving communion.
Does anyone know how far back the practice of women serving communion and a meal as part of the communion goes back?
Are we following more the “practice” dictated by the Pope, more then the early church “practice”?

Depends on what you mean by "early church".

There is some evidence that women deacons helped serve the chalace from the Bishop from possibly the late 4th Century or so. Is this early enough?

I don't know of any evidence of NT Christians adopting this practice.

 

[crawfish]

I have not read anything about this in the ancient church, but it does make a kind of sense...when the meetings were in homes, more informal, it would seem more likely that the women would distribute the food and drink.

I still don't see a scriptural basis for not allowing them to serve, however.

 

[ParsonJefferson]

Perfect sense!

I guess there are no scripture objections, then, since nobody has weighed in with any.

You're right - there is nothing in Scripture that prohibits women passing communion. In fact, there's nothing in Scripture that says anything about communion being passed, or about a devotion or prayer being offered beforehand.

My only objection to women leading in this way is that men SHOULD be leading, making it unnecessary for women to do so. This isn't an anti-woman tirade, but an appeal to men to step it up and lead spiritually.

In the church I'm currently unprivileged to pastor, there are men leading EVERYWHERE - and it's GREAT! There are also women involved, and leading, everywhere. But men are called to be the spiritual leaders & vanguards of the family - and the Church is a family.