A Couple Questions.

Here's a couple questions for you guys ... just thought about it while I was in the shower. God always meets me there, and speaks to me about certain things! Based on biblical standards, is it okay for women to teach co-ed Sunday School? At my former church home, I had not seen a woman teach co-ed Sunday School. There have been guest speakers who would teach or facilitate discussions with their wives present, but as for a woman actually teaching Sunday School, I have not seen. At my church now (The Lamb's), I have been there for when Alan and Bosede teach (great job, guys)! I know this depends on the discretion of the governing body of each individual church, so besides asking if it is okay for a woman to teach co-ed Sunday School, I wanted to ask how your churches implement Christian Education into the order of services. To switch gears a little bit, I know that teaching is also considered a type of authority. In academic institutions of higher learner, there are women who teach, who hold the position and title of professor, specifically on the subject of Bible, OT/NT history, Pastoral Care, ministry preparation classes, etc. Though the Bible (where Paul talks about the prohibition of a woman having authority over the man), Paul is speaking in reference to the church context, and so does that prohibition still apply because a woman is teaching the Bible to a co-ed group of students? I know of a Bible professor at Nyack upstate (a Christian college, my alma mater) who was given some trouble by male students in her class because of the fact that she was teaching the Bible to a group of students which included men/young men.

Then, a couple years ago, while I was sitting in my undergraduate Introduction to Homiletics class (a class that teaches you on the structure of preaching and how to actually do it), I went through a pretty deep internal struggle about preaching in front of my classmates because it was a co-ed classroom. The thing is, I needed to take this class for my Pastoral Ministry minor. My professor (Prof. Velez) explained to me that it was being done in a classroom context, and that we were being trained in how to preach, and practicing how to actually preach, how to effectively write a sermon, etc. I had thought about dropping the class because I thought,'what if this is wrong in God's eyes? ... I'm a sinner, and I'm going to Hell!' (okay, I'm partially joking at that last part), but at the time, I was fearful of being displeasing to God, if I actually took the class. Though I ended up staying and learning a lot (I aced the class with an A) =P, that question which came with my experience has not gone away. By the way, just a bit of a side note, a sermon is not a speech. For those of you who think it is, it's not. I used to think it was some guy going up on a podium to give a speech. Boy, was I wrong! After that Homiletics class, and then sitting in Advanced Homiletics class (and having dropped it mid-semester), I gained an even greater appreciation and respect for any pastors (and professors) who teach in that subject area. There is such a great accountability for those who do that! For those of us who learned how to preach and prepare sermons effectively, that same accountability goes for us too!

To those who say it is not biblical, could we then have separate Sunday Schools (Women & Mens, where the women teach the women and the men teach the men), either every Sunday, or come up with a format where co-ed Sunday School is once or twice a month, or vice versa & then have those special Sunday School lessons be on a special topic, whether it's co-ed or "gender-specific"). If I was ever a part of a church plant where this was one of the things being discussed, I would offer that suggestion.

Feedback on any or all of the questions (thoughts, reflections, experiences, biblical research/support) is welcomed and appreciated. One thing I do ask is to please refrain from turning responses into debates, we're all mature adults here (I assume) and we can have dialogue with each other in a professional and appropriate manner. Thanks!