I struggled with this issue for years and years in the R.C. Church. A lot of people think nuns are Catholic clergy, but they are not. They're lay people who make special vows of Christian service.

I was involved with Christian feminist sprituality for a very long time, even published an article on the topic in a Franciscan journal--up until I left the RC Church in 1993. After that, my feminist standpoint became seriously radicalized. Looking back on that period of my life (1995-2000), I see it largely as a reaction to 15 years' submission under the heavy-handed patriarchy of Catholic clergy and the suffocating atmosphere of my loveless marriage to a German Catholic. I'm only six years out of my "men are stupid, who needs them" phase, and I've only begun to make peace with my identity as a Christian since coming to the exer boards about three years ago.

My own practice of Christian feminist spirituality gradually lead me away from desiring position, power and prestige within the faith community as a preacher. I've been strongly influenced by the medieval mystics, like Julian of Norwich and Clare of Assisi. What I most desire is a hidden life of contemplative prayer and service to others outside of organized religion. So I'm actually very traditional in my current role assumption.

I do know how it feels, however, to hear a call to minister in a role that is reserved by many churches solely to men. Why would God put such a desire in my heart if I cannot follow His call?

There's quite a lot of scripture study and early church scholarship available on the role of women in the first through third centuries. From what I've read, Jesus' ministry was quite open and liberating in the teaching/preaching roles that women took. After three centuries of struggle for control over the very diverse Christian movement spawned by Jesus and his disciples (including John the Beloved, Mary & Martha, Mary of Magdala, and Mary of Nazareth), the patriarchal traditionalists like Paul finally won out.

I don't think the revelation of faith given us through scripture means we have to accept social and cultural conditions as they existed in the first century any more than we accept medical practices or the technology that existed in the first century. God did not ordain the submission of women to men for time immortal. If you think that is the case, then you need to think seriously about giving up your right to get an education, own property, live independently, choose your own religious faith, and vote. Heck, no one except the Roman elites had the right to vote in Jesus' time, yet today we firmly believe it is a God-given right.

Of all the television evangelists, I get the most out of listening to Joyce Meyer. I don't think she's the be-all, end-all of evangelical preachers, but I find her the most uplifting & inspiring.