14

“CALLING” TRUMPS

SCRIPTURE

Some evangelical feminists put a subjective sense

of “calling” above the Bible

Another liberal tendency to reject the authority of Scripture is seen

when egalitarians claim that, if a woman has a genuine call from God
for pastoral ministry, we have no right to oppose that call, and that call
takes priority over any opposing argument that people might raise from
Scripture. This argument is often made by women who believe that God
has called them to become pastors.
Millicent Hunter, whom Charisma magazine identifies as “pastor of
3,000-member Baptist Worship Center in Philadelphia,” says that the
current generation of women ministers is emerging with more boldness.
“They are coming out of the woodwork with an ‘I don’t care what you
think; this is what God called me to do’ type of attitude.”^1
Sarah Sumner insists that God called her to be a theology professor:

I didn’t ask God to grant me the grace to enter seminary and com-

plete my doctoral work. That was his idea. He designed the plan; he’s

the one who saw me through.^2

(^1) Millicent Hunter, as quoted in Charisma, May 2003, 40.
(^2) Sarah Sumner, Men and Women in the Church (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press,
2003), 27.