A few more friends of Christ: The ordination of women in the Pentecostal church

A covenantal community whose relationship includes reciprocal love and mutual respect can make revolutionary changes that will impact generations far beyond its own. My organization, the Church of God In Christ, has functioning characteristics of such a community, and the chance to enhance those characteristics has presented itself via the opportunity to ordain women. Some women have been ordained within my organization, but a unilateral decision to ordain women has not been fully embraced, sanctioned, and included in our polity. My project joins this enormous discussion at a jurisdictional level.;This paper records the methodological and theological basis for my project. Methodologically, I submitted information to enhance the current curriculum of our mandatory, nine month female licensing class. My Lay Committee helped me to gather and submit information that emphasized the women's effective work, untapped potential, and ability to share additional ministerial loads if ordained. The material was submitted to the Jurisdictional Supervisor of Women.;My Lay Advisory Committee and I also distributed questionnaires on the issue to help raise the level of curiosity and provoke conscious theological thought and response. Theologically, the material was an attempt to highlight, awaken, encourage, and increase the awareness of our current degree of covenantal community as friends of Christ and one another. In the submission, we consulted scripture, which governs my organization's doctrine. We also referenced the uninhibited relationship displayed within the Trinity that all friends of Christ endeavor to reflect, regardless of gender. Together, we attempted to highlight my organization's opportunity to review ordaining women as a continued response to our covenantal responsibility in the areas of reciprocal love, mutual respect and shared communal power. All of these items enhance our combined reconciliatory ministry to all.;Driven by our Trinitarian doctrine and the outstanding local and global contributions made by our non-ordained women, I believe that we can continue to progressively reflect the Trinity's image of shared power by sanctioning the ordination of women in the ministry.