Mapuranga, ... The Politics of Pentecostalism and Women’s Ministries in Zimbabweothers...’(Luke 8:1-5). Even though, one could still ask, did these women
preach?
Memory Dete approves and appreciates the space for women leadership
in the church. She says:
Some women have become leaders of large corporate companies, while oth-
ers head the government, health and other institutions. It is pleasing that
also in the Kingdom of God, women have taken an admirable lead by grasp-
ing Christian leadership positions, which is evidence that God is working
through them in amazing spiritual ways. These women have demonstrated
that if a woman is equipped by God to lead, she possesses the same qualities
of Christian leadership that a Christian man possesses. After all, God does
not call the equipped but he equips the called. It is clearly evident that God
has equipped women to take up Christian leadership in Zimbabwe and that
Pentecostalism has given them admirable lead. In recent years, there has
been a sharp rise in the number of Christian women who have taken up the
mantle in God’s ministry (Dete 2011: D5).
There is need to interpret the scriptures in more redemptive ways that
promote social justice and the full emancipation of women. Rose N.
Uchem, a Catholic nun from Nigeria, puts it across forcefully:
Thus, there is need for Christians to translate into practice what they say in
theory about the equal human dignity of women and men. For instance, if
we agree in principle that women are human, then women should not be
restricted in roles in the family, Church and community. Roles should be
assigned or regulated according to individual giftedness of women and men
and not according to sex. If we say that women and men are equal in hu-
manity and dignity, then women must be allowed equal opportunities and
must be seen ministering in the Christian assembly without restrictions
(Uchem 2001: 242-243).
From feminist politics, one would critically question the authority of the
bible when it disregards the authority of women as preachers. One could
ask, ‘by what physical or biological differences can men preach and
women cannot? Is there anything that men possess that is used for
preaching that women do not possess? Is it not through inspiration,
ability and capacity that one can preach, and is any of these a preserve
for men only? Only can preaching be done through penises and scro-
tums that women would be declared incapable of preaching, because
these, they do not possess!