Women's leadership

Women’s leadership in the church was a frequent theme at the Guatemala City gathering. On the one hand, a number of the Guatemalans talked about how the example North American partners had provided of women’s pastoral leadership had helped move change along in Guatemalan churches (including in the national church, the IENPG). And women were definitely conspicuous in the gathering—for example, as translators at many events (including the four different women who translated all of the partnership business discussions among Gerardo, Pablo, and me and both of our theological discussions) and as the worship leader, as well as the lead guitarist, in the final worship service in Central Presbyterian Church’s sanctuary.

On the other hand, we learned that this past fall, while Amanda Craft was in the United States, the Guatemalan version of the General Assembly had essentially told the national Guatemalan Presbyterian Women organization, when it held a national meeting in a presbytery that does not sanction women’s pastoral leadership, the organization should ask a male pastor to lead the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (when female pastors from other presbyteries were already there participating). And our partners engaged in a peculiar de facto struggle with the national PW leaders, who showed pictures that appeared to be of them and Amanda visiting Arca de Noe church, while both Gerardo and Pablo denied that any such visit had taken place.

-Perry