by Kelly Pelton (written 19 Sept 2020)

The big church in a college town made a declaration:
No women in leadership as per what is "biblical."
We'd hoped 2020 would be a year of clear vision, 
but pushbacks to feminism remain illogical.

The students were stunned, both male and female, in the awkward
silence that followed in the wake of the announcement,
women sitting woodenly in the pews enduring 
their lifelong humiliation of female denouncement.

The churches with "grace" in their names may be compensating
for a distinct lack of it, their grasp of God's mighty reign
contaminated by human notions of hierarchy,
though they give lip service to servanthood while power they gain.

Let's make a fresh declaration fueled by humility
and Spirit-led desire for God-honoring equity,
that godly love means putting aside carnal power plays
to lift up those who have been trampled by church polity.

The tramplers mean well, thinking they follow God's holy law,
forgetting the spirit that underlies regulations;
if they'd discern the rationale behind rules for the time,
they'd discover principles, not all-time prohibitions.

To love is the fulfillment of all biblical law
and by love should we interpret the Bible's instruction;
rejecting our sisters from full church participation
is anti-new covenant religious corruption.