Aside from leading women, teens and children’s fellowship, allowing women into the pastoral office and getting to the levels of being a Bishop or an Archbishop still feels more like an aberration or desecration to some folks, who believe the scripture does not support women overseeing men in churches. Recently, Rev. Funke Felix-Adejumo was consecrated canonically and elevated as Charismatic Pentecostal Bishop by Calvary Grace International College of Bishops (CGICB) led by the Prelate, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, the National President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN).The elated Bishop in her speech revealed her ordination as a Reverend 37 years ago by Bishop Oke and how she initially did not want to be a Bishop after her husband, Bishop Felix Adejumo, had at a time announced in church that God asked him to make her a Bishop, while placing his (Bishop’s) chain on her neck.
“You all saw what happened. I wasn’t crying, I was wailing that I don’t want to. Now I want it with my life. I want it with my heart because it’s a bigger platform for me to serve Jesus. I’m so grateful to the King of Kings and the Lord of lords who has found me worthy to trust me with another level of grace and I trust him that what has been deposited in my life today will make me a true worthy investment,”she said.
Appreciating Oke’s consistency with his presence in her life and family, she as well appreciated her husband for loving her loudly, being kind to her and being secure enough to allow her head to be lifted and telling her not to die under his shadow.
The rage
While congratulatory messages followed her consecration, a critic said in Yoruba, “orisirisi, se obinrin tun je Bishop ni?” meaning “wonders shall never end, do women also bear Bishops or are women also allowed to be Bishops?”
Another critic asked if the “hood makes a monk and if big human doctrinal titles lead to holiness and higher spiritual attainment? Yes, she looks cute in her bishopric costume, but what I don’t understand is that craze for big titles.” The critic went further to quote 1 Timothy 3 verses 1 to 5:1-5, highlighting why the office of a Bishop should be only for a man.
An article dated January 19, described the elevation as “iniquitous charade and a public parade of haughty hearts”, and fallout of a corrupt system. The writer said, “What we are witnessing here, by this appointment of a woman to the office of a Bishop in the Household of God, is a violation of the Word of God. This is nothing short of an all-out assault on God Himself.
“…Had these people believed that all Scriptures are inspired by God and that the authors of the Books of the Bible wrote as they were led by the Holy Spirit, they would not have proceeded on this path of disobedience to God’s Word.
“I know there are some of you who, having read this commentary up to this point, are already furious with me and are cussing me out in your mind. With righteous indignation, you are asking yourself, ‘How again is the consecration of a woman as a Bishop a disobedience to the Word of God?’
“Let it be known, I have nothing but empathy for anyone who entertains such a thought. These folks are unfortunate victims of a corrupt Church Industrial Complex. The reason they probably don’t see the sacrilege in this parade of lawlessness is because they have been conditioned not to.
“Those who fail to see the error in this woman’s elevation to the office of a Bishop are individuals who have been raised in a Christian tradition that bears little resemblance to historical biblical Christianity practiced by the First Century Apostles and Church Fathers who laid the foundation of the Christian faith.”
Changes to make room for women
The writer’s submission is described as dismissible to some who believe the scriptural quotations given are not holistic and tilted to one side as the ‘Great Commission’ has no gender preference- as churches including the Orthodox are gradually embracing. Some parishes of the Roman Catholic Church in Nigeria, now have female mass servants or altar servants.
The Methodist Church Nigeria who have started accepting women as priests, consecrated Rt. Rev. Dr. (Mrs.) Nkechinyere Udumma Nwosu as the first female Bishop of the church on Saturday, November 12, 2022 after her ordination as first female priest of Methodist Church Nigeria in 2005, thus her ordination and Adejumo who is from the Pentecostal denomination add to the list of notable female Bishops in Nigeria; Bishop Bolanle Odeleke, Bishop Peace Okonkwo and Archbishop Margaret Idahosa(ordained 2009 after being a Bishop for 11 years).
‘No male or female Holy Spirit’
Associate Pastor, Agape Generation International Church, Rev. Dr. Folashade Toyin-Kehinde, in her reaction, dismissed the notion that the pastoral or office of a Bishop is strictly for men. Emphasising that what should matter is heading to the call from God and not a matter of status conferment.
“There is no male or female salvation. Neither is there male or female Holy Spirit. It is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one Saviour and one Lord over all. It is God who appoints and whenever he chooses a woman, then we cannot query Him. All we need to do is to support and encourage her, whom God has chosen.
“There are nations ruled by the female gender, female captains of industries, female professionals, and the bible says he made them male and female, both after His likeness, in His image. I believe all that should matter to us is that the individual is called into that office by God.
“Moreover, the word Bishop is just a description of the word Pastor. Jesus says to pray for labourers for the harvest. If a woman responds to Jesus, answering His call to become a labourer, then so be it,” Toyin-Kehinde stated in a chat with Sunday Telegraph.
‘If God Has called you, go ahead’
The first female Bishop in Africa, General Overseer of the Power Pentecostal Church Worldwide (PPC) otherwise known as ‘Kiibati’ (Power of God never fails) and President of Christ Miracle Ministry (CMM), Rt. Rev. Dr. Bolanle Margaret Odeleke, who in 2024 celebrated her ‘50 years on the pulpit’, noted in an earlier interview that Apostle Paul asserted that gender-based discrimination is not allowed.
Odeleke stated:“God gave Adam Eve- meaning mother of all that are living. This means I as a woman was the one that carried you as a man for nine months, so I should know what suits you better, and how to take care of you better. If a woman can take better care of her children, love them more and teach them the way and if she becomes a pastor to give birth to people in God’s kingdom I do not see anything bad in this. With God there is neither male nor female.
“The Bible passage they quote to say women should not preach, it is not what is written there, what the Bible says if you have anything to say, say it to your husband. Therefore women are also called not only men. Now to females who do not want to rise because someone is saying she is not meant to be a pastor. I want to advise you to go and do what you have been called to do. There are a lot of women God Has raised, if God Has called you, go ahead. He who called you will empower you.”
Churches preach equality but oppress women
National President, United Gospel Churches Association of Nigeria and Executive Vice President, KOGA Faith Foundation, Bishop Dr. Priscilla Otuya, decried the discrimination female ministers’ face.
In an interview with Sunday Telegraph, she said it was sad that women were seen as lacking the capacity to make meaningful decisions, no matter how anointed they are, as the church that is supposed to protect women is guilty of abusing and oppressing them, and the signal that is sent from the Christendom is that the purpose of Christ’s death and resurrection does not cover women.
Otuya said further: “The Church is telling the world one thing and doing another thing. We preach and teach about women like Deborah but dwell on the curse of Genesis 3 verse 16. We teach and preach that all are equal before God, ‘No Jew, nor gentile, no male nor female’, but we relegate and oppress women, that is double standards and hypocrisy.
“Take for instance, a woman has never led the main pastoral associations in the nation since their inception, why? Are there no women who God can use to lead these associations? There was an instance when the president of one of these associations could not continue his role as president and the constitution states that the vice president takes over as president, but this didn’t happen, the constitution was ‘suspended’ because the Vice President was then a woman. Intra religious persecution, oppression and subjugation is one of the main challenges women face in ministry.”
Going beyond the norm
In an earlier interaction with Sunday Telegraph, the Methodist Bishop, Nwosu, narrated how she faced stiff opposition becoming a Bishop and how her consecration was an humbling and joyous experience.
“For me to get to the level of consecration as a Bishop of course is a dream come true because that is the apex of the ministry and it is not everybody that gets to that level, many stop at the level of Presbyter, it takes only the grace of God though not everybody can be a Bishop. I am very grateful to God and the Methodist Church, especially His Eminence Emeritus, Dr. Kanu Uche. If the Lord had not spoken to His Eminence Dr. Uche then it would be difficult.
“For God to do anything new he has to speak to the leader. He was the one that did the nomination for the members of the Electoral College to either support or disagree. But to the glory of God they all accepted and gave their support,” she stated.
Despite all the hiccups, she said she still continued to look up to God as the author and finisher of her faith and calling.
“There were persecutions, silent oppositions and all manner of challenges. Despite the church’s acceptance of women’s ordination, there were people who in their hearts did not accept but cannot leave the church.
“The opposition of course was from the ministers not the lay people. The lay people had no problem, in fact they were happy to have female ministers. The challenge has always been the ministers who feel that one was coming to take over their job. Some also allow culture to affect their reasoning. You know some believe that here in Africa a woman should not be in a position of authority, they even quote some scriptures to back this up. They forget that the scriptures they quote were for a group of people at a particular occasion.”
Asked to recall an experience that was a test to your faith which she was likely not to forget in a hurry. She replied, “Do you have my book? I wrote a book titled ‘Priesthood of women: My journey’. A few minutes interview is not enough to explain my experiences and how God helped me, though it is not as if I shared everything, I only shared some yet some who have read the book ask me ‘you mean you went through all these?’ Like I pointed earlier, though the Methodist Church Nigeria accepted the ordination of women, those ministers who in their hearts did not accept it worked against my staying in the ministry.”
