Re-Ordering Women Participation in Christian Leadership as a Panacea to the Struggle for Gender Equality in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper explores the gender struggle issue related to women participation in Christian leadership. It considers the struggle of inequality from different perspectives even from the religious perspective. No doubt some Bible passages have also been misconstrued and used in support for gender inequality. However, the paper argues that some of the Bible passages used for the support of such are used out of context and there is need for proper interpretation being conscious of the different genders. This study employed descriptive survey method. And the Theoretical framework considered is the Liberal Feminism Theory, which concept is to create a just society, the protection of freedom and liberty, the creation of a classless society and the creation of a Gender-neutral society respectively. The paper finally calls on the Church to reorder for women participation in the Church because God the Creator has not restricted any gender. To effectively do this the Church need to reinterpret scriptures appropriately, make it more emphatic in women involvement, organize enlightenment programme in form of seminars and collaborate with the government to enhance equal participation. The Church taking such step will no doubt reduce the age long struggle of Gender inequality.