COLUMBIA, Mo. (ABP) – A state Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is offering cash incentives for churches searching for a pastor to consider a female candidate as part of the process.

The CBF of Missouri offered Sept. 17 to pay interview, travel and other expenses incurred by search committees willing to "include a woman candidate in the process ... treating her as a top candidate even if she isn't actually one of the top candidates," CBFMO Associate Coordinator Jeff Langford explained in a handout distributed at a Coordinating Council meeting at Memorial Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo.

Langford acknowledged that Baptist churches cannot be told what to do, but he said the incentive plan would encourage them to consider hiring a woman as senior pastor either in their current search or "somewhere down the line."

"Even if the church isn't ready, the search committee may discover a remarkable candidate along the way that changes their perspective, either for the current search or for a future one," he said.

The concept grew out of a discussion on Aug. 1 called by Central Baptist Theological Seminary President Molly Marshall about how to enhance the role of women in ministry in the Midwest. Participants at that meeting came up with nine possibilities, including congregational education, church internships and preaching opportunities -- and the financial proposal.

The incentive would "reduce the risk" to the church, Langford pointed out at the Sept. 17 council meeting, because it would cover costs related to considering a female candidate that the search committee wouldn't otherwise incur.

Langford noted the incentive also would provide an opportunity for women to be educated about the selection process. "If nothing else, this program would give women pastor candidates some valuable interview experiences," he said.

Kathy Pickett

But Kathy Pickett, moderator-elect for the state body, voiced concern that female candidates – particularly young women -- “are not hurt and damaged" in the process.

Pickett, pastor of congregational life at Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, said in an interview that she appreciates that CBF of Missouri is trying to think creatively, but asking women to step into that situation “makes them a guinea pig on both sides."

She wonders how a woman might feel when she realizes a church accepted the incentive to consider her, and then finds out that the committee doesn't really consider her as a viable candidate. She said idealistic young women coming out of seminary may be particularly vulnerable.

"The young women may believe that something good is going to happen,” Pickett said. “There is a hopefulness that something is going to change when it likely isn't going to.”

Pickett believes that sending out resumes, dealing with churches and just engaging in conversations about women's roles is part of her calling. But, she added, young women coming out of seminary often leave Baptist life altogether because there is no place for them in churches in the Midwest.

Despite her concerns, Pickett said she recognizes the potential educational benefit of the program for both churches and young women in the ministry, but there needs to be a “real honesty” on the part of churches that are not ready to call a woman pastor but include a female in the selection process “as a learning thing.”

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Vicki Brown is associate editor of Word and Way.

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