Women in the Middle East Claim Their Place in the Pulpit

FOR YEARS, WOMEN called to leadership in the church in the Middle East have faced a stained-glass ceiling of limitations imposed by the surrounding patriarchal culture and theological presuppositions about the role of women in the church. But while some interpretations of Paul’s instructions to the early church (such as Timothy 2:12) are used as a rationale for limiting the role of women, long-standing cultural traditions regarding women’s roles in religion and society have played a more prominent, and more difficult, role.

“Although religion bears major responsibility for the inferior status of women, it cannot be solely blamed for the gender problem in the Middle East,” according to a report on “Women in the Middle East” published by the Institute for Policy Studies. “In reality, the role of culture has been even more prominent in perpetuating the oppression of women.”

Most denominations in the Middle East (other than Orthodox communions and the Catholic Church) do not prevent the ordination of women for theological reasons. And many Protestant communions, such as the Lutherans and Presbyterians—which have been present in the Middle East since 19th century missionary encounters—ordain women in churches around the world. While Orthodox churches do not have women in positions of clerical leadership, Father George Massouh, then-head of the Center for Christian-Muslim Studies at the University of Balamand in Lebanon, explained in 2017 that the reason is not because of “theological hindrance.” Rather, Massouh said, the absence of ordained women in Eastern churches “was due to social customs”—the Orthodox church, he said, “has no such tradition, whether in Lebanon or anywhere else in the world.”

Middle Eastern society places profound expectations on women in family life, obliging them to prepare meals, serve male family members, and take care of children. Some of these expectations come from the influence of conservative Islam. In places such as Saudi Arabia, restrictions are extreme, at times segregating women from men, preventing women from driving and attending social functions and public events, forcing female genital mutilation, and expecting women to veil or cover their bodies. While not as extreme in other countries in the region, women must continuously prove their abilities and competencies in the workplace, especially within the church where their roles are often relegated to the care of children and hospitality ministries.

Yet, in recent years, women have begun to claim their place in the pulpit, challenging not only established views of who gets to preach but also who gets to follow their calling in the broader society.

What has changed to allow these women to pursue the pulpit? Low birth rates, emigration, and regional conflicts have resulted in a decrease in church attendance, and great need has begun to open doors not only to service in ministry but also to preaching and receiving the mantle of authority that comes with ordination. Now, women who answer the call have the support of a small but growing network of courageous women stepping into positions of authority in the church in the Middle East.

‘Many people are in waiting’

GROWING UP IN the Lutheran church in Jerusalem, Sally Azar always wanted to be involved in ministry. From a young age, she engaged in youth programs and activities and felt a stirring in her heart, calling her toward leadership. Her father, Sani Ibrahim Azar, served at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem. He connected his daughter with Munib Younan, a Palestinian who was then bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land. Younan mentored Azar and encouraged her to pursue theological education. In 2018, Azar graduated from the Near East School of Theology in Beirut. Now 25, Azar is completing her pastoral internship with a Lutheran church in Berlin. Upon her return home to Jerusalem, Azar will be ordained at Jerusalem’s Church of the Redeemer. She will be the first Arab woman pastor to serve in Palestine and the fourth Arab woman to serve in pastoral ministry and church leadership in the Middle East.

According to Sani Azar, who is now bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, it will be difficult for Sally Azar to find a full pastoral position in Palestine that includes baptizing, preaching, serving communion, and performing the sacraments. She will experience resistance from locals who believe women should not be pastors. But according to her father, “Many people are waiting for her [ordination] and are eager to support her. Her becoming a pastor gives us hope for our society, that things can change.”

Sally Azar’s journey is unique because much of her practical ministry experience has taken place in Europe, and the churches she will serve in Palestine are in cities that tend to be more open to women leaders. She works hard to relate to the people in her church by engaging in ministry that is accessible and relevant. For example, she preaches in ammiya (the language of the people) rather than fusha (formal, literary Arabic). While Azar knows there will be some resistance in traditional communities such as Beit Jala, a neighboring village to Bethlehem, she said she’s willing to try. While some people have told her they won’t come to church if a woman preaches, she said others have been more supportive, telling her, “We want to have more preachers like you.”

The first three Arab women ordained and in ministry in the region all serve in Lebanon. Many identify Rev. Rola Sleiman as the first Arab female pastor there. Since 2017, Sleiman has served as pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Tripoli and is the first woman to serve as a Minister of Word and Sacrament through her ordination by the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon. Sleiman was followed in her ordination by Rima Nasrallah, ordained by the National Evangelical Church of Beirut, who now serves as the assistant professor of practical theology at the Near East School of Theology (NEST). Nasrallah taught theology to Azar and encouraged her and other students to include women’s perspectives in their studies and thinking. The significance of Nasrallah’s current role—as an academic theologian in Beirut teaching young people to understand the need for all people to be free to use their gifts in the church—cannot be overstated. The future of women in the church in the Middle East will be greatly influenced by what young theological students are taught in seminary about the role of women in ministry.

Rev. Najla Kassab, also a graduate of NEST and Princeton Theological Seminary, became the third woman to be ordained in the Middle East when she was awarded full pastoral ordination in March 2017. Kassab had served in the church for decades; she had received her preaching license almost 30 years earlier, in 1993. Kassab is now president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches and director of the Christian Education Department of the Synod of Syria and Lebanon.

Kassab said her journey has only been possible because she knows she’s not alone and trusts that she has been called and ordained by God. When she received her preaching license, men threatened to leave the church, and she said she worried she was “causing trouble.” But over time, she came to believe women in leadership in the church are essential, and she knows the Holy Spirit was leading her. “The journey of changing minds and attitudes remains a daily struggle,” Kassab said. “Women have to challenge patriarchal thinking, presenting a new model of leadership where authority is shared ... [but] emphasizing the role of women in the church is at the heart of the gospel.”

Some feel, Kassab said, that the elevation of women in leadership in the church represents the undue influence of the West or a “human rights invasion” that is not biblically justified. While many Protestant churches in Lebanon have their roots tied to Western missionary involvement, these church communities still maintain cultural mandates and expectations present in the Middle East that continue to limit the role of women. “Women have to continually prove their abilities to be accepted at the time when men are accepted with easier requirements and limited reservations,” Kassab said.

When asked how she stays strong amid such significant resistance, Kassab spoke of the solidarity found in partnership with other women going through similar struggles. She said she seeks to focus on the ministry at hand and not succumb to “negative attitudes” that drain her energy. Kassab encouraged women in ministry not to fall into “competition traps or comparison attitudes,” but rather to be encouraging of one another. In addition, she said, the “younger generation of male leaders” have a lot of work to do in reducing the pressure on women and working for change.

‘This wall must come down’

THE LIBERATION OF women benefits not only the individual women who are elevated; it ultimately serves the needs of the entire church and broader community. As scripture puts it, the church cannot thrive if any part of the body suffers (1 Corinthians). When women are limited in their ability to use their gifts, the church misses out. The church cannot function in full capacity and flourishing unless all its components work together in harmony. Ultimately, the churches that have the greatest impact in society are the ones where the entire community engages together, side by side, in active mobilization in response to community needs.

Consider the circumstances of Sleiman’s ordination. Sleiman stepped into leadership during the July 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon. George Bitar, the male senior pastor of her church, could not return home because of the conflict, so Sleiman led the church for six months. Bitar later moved to the United States with his family. Sleiman remained the church’s pastor, holding it together amid war and conflict. Sleiman told Al-Jazeera that she just “fell into the role” of being pastor of the church, because she was needed. She responded to the needs of her church community, she said, because “I felt there was something that I had to do here, in my hometown ... I just felt that I had to go.” Pastor Sleiman’s acceptance into the community was gradual, ultimately coming to fruition in her call to ordination through a secret vote in 2017.

Sally Azar credits much of the success of her own journey to the women who broke through the stained-glass ceiling before her. She spoke of Sleiman’s ordination process with awe, citing what an inspiration it was to see Sleiman acknowledged and called to leadership. “Knowing Revs. Sleiman, Kassab, and Nasrallah strengthens me and is a big privilege,” she said. “They as well have a strong and supportive community and church around them. They deal with the pushbacks in a very calm and loving way, which leads the people to respect them and accept them.”

Palestinian theologian Grace Al-Zoughbi longs for the church in the Middle East to fully include women in theological education and leadership. Before Azar’s ordination, Al-Zoughbi pointed to the (slowly) increasing number of ordained women in the region as an opportunity for real change. Most of the people who attend churches in the Middle East are women. And while their attendance has implications, their potential ordination harbors even more. When more women become educated theologically, then patriarchal systems, ideologies, and structures are challenged and, ultimately, shift toward inclusivity.

During the 2018 Christ at the Checkpoint conference in Bethlehem, Shireen Awwad Hilal, director of Bethlehem Bible College’s Community and Development Outreach, called for an end to the exclusion of women from leadership in the church. “When my Palestinian community denies us a chance to speak equally, when the international community is not interested in actively supporting Palestinian women ... this results in creating a big wall, exactly like the segregation wall we have around the West Bank,” she said. “This wall divides our community, it divides men and women, it keeps women from being able to use their gifts in the context of church and society, and this wall must come down.”

Sally Azar’s rise into ministry in the church represents a part of that dividing wall coming down. Carrie Ballenger, pastor of the English-speaking congregation of Church of the Redeemer in Jerusalem, said, “The next step is for our church to encourage other young women to enter the ministry so Sally will not be alone in her work.”

Whispers of other women pursuing ordination, such as a young woman in Syria, emphasize the growing trend of women in the Middle East seeing more opportunities. As more and more women are empowered to use their gifts in the church, cracks appear in the stained-glass ceiling.