Members of the Church of God Doctrine and Polity Committee have released the follow up to a recently released paper in the series entitled, “Headship and Women in Leadership.”
The paper is the latest of 17 papers submitted in the Doctrine and Polity series, and is published by Dr. Terry Cross, a professor at the School of Religion at Lee University. Cross, who has contributed several papers on various topics, tackles this relevant issue within the Church of God today, that of women in leadership within the Church.
Entitled, “A Study on the Created Order of Male-Female Relationships,” Cross turns to foundational issues related to the creation of man and woman and what these mean for today’s culture. He presents two scholarly views that have presented over the past 50 years and attempts to provide clear and concise views surrounding each of them. A direct link to the paper is provided here. [1]
This paper is presented as part of the Church of God Doctrine and Polity series and addresses Women in Church Leadership. For the purpose of comparison, the author has attempted to address the topic from a theological perspective with scripture references pertinent to both sides of the issue. Neither paper (part 2 to be published later), from either perspective, is intended to be regarded as a position paper by the International Executive Committee or the denomination.
The paper can be accessed in its entirety by visiting churchofgod.org and clicking on the Beliefs tab/Doctrine and Polity. The paper is also available in Spanish.
Past Doctrine and Polity paper topics have included such issues as defense of the denomination’s stance on total abstinence from strong drink, speaking in tongues, church and civil government, observance of the Sabbath Day, spiritual gifts, human cremation, Spirit-filled worship, same-sex marriage, and the Hyper-Grace movement. All are available in English and Spanish.
The Doctrine and Polity Committee exists to routinely examine the belief statements, doctrines, and polity in place within the structure of the denomination. The group considers amendments reflective of modern culture and offers recommendations for modifications employing extensive biblical research.
The Doctrine and Polity Committee is a group of ministers, scholars and academicians. They include professors at the Pentecostal Theological Seminary Dr. French Arrington (chair), Dr. David Sang-Ehil Han, Dr. Lee Roy Martin, and Dr. Miriam Figueroa, and Lee Professors Dr. Jerald Daffe and Dr. Terry Cross. Second Assistant General Overseer Dr. J. David Stephens serves as executive liaison.