Preacher Woman: A Critical Look at Sexism without Sexists

257 Pages·2021·1.581 MB·English

by  Katie Lauve-Moon

Preacher Woman

Preacher Woman
A Critical Look at Sexism Without Sexists
KATIE LAUVE-M OON
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Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Lauve-Moon, Katie, author.
Title: Preacher woman : a critical look at sexism without sexists /
Katie Lauve-Moon.
Description: New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University
Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020049120 (print) | LCCN 2020049121 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780197527542 (hardback) | ISBN 9780197527559 (paperback) |
ISBN 9780197527573 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Women clergy. | Sex discrimination against women. |
Women in Christianity. | Baptists—Doctrines.
Classification: LCC BV676 .L38 2021 (print) | LCC BV676 (ebook) |
DDC 262 .14/613—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020049120
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020049121
DOI: 10.1093/ oso/ 9780197527542.001.0001
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Paperback printed by Marquis, Canada
Hardback printed by Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc., United States of America
For the little girls whose minds and souls are being formed from within church
pews. May they see themselves in the leaders they encounter.

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. The Gendered Pastor 23
2. Women’s Path to the Pulpit 43
3. Gender “Neutral” Hiring Processes 71
4. The Body 93
5. The Third Shift 117
6. Women’s Work 137
7. Preacher Woman 165
Conclusion 187
Appendix: Congregational Survey 203
Notes 205
Bibliography 221
Index 231

Preface
When people are committed to gender equality, what gets in their way of
achieving it? Why do well- intentioned people reinforce sexist outcomes? In
a country with (some) workplace equity laws in place and the vast majority of
residents opposed to sexism, why do sexist outcomes persist? These questions
are being asked in various workplaces, organizations, and institutions across the
world with responses emerging in the form of diversity, equity, and inclusion
initiatives. I became particularly interested in the answers to these questions after
learning that women occupied only about 5% of solo senior pastor positions in
congregations affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). Women
pastors’ vast underrepresentation in these organizations was particularly sur-
prising because the CBF had been established 30 years ago in part to explicitly
support women’s equal leadership in the church. In light of this, I wanted to know
why these sexist outcomes persist today.
Congregations affiliated with the CBF have established a theology that
supports gender equality and women’s equal leadership in the church. Unlike
Southern Baptist congregations, which explicitly bar women from leadership
positions, most CBF congregations additionally maintain organizational goals
supporting the pastoral callings of men and women equally. Given the stated
values of gender equality of these congregations, one hypothesis I carried into
this research was that members and leaders of these congregations were well in-
tentioned in relation to issues of sexism and gender inequality. After 18 months
in the field and visiting seven different congregations, I found this to be true.
To varying degrees, every congregation in this study wanted to learn more in
order to reach their established goals of gender equality. I never met anyone who
was explicitly resistant to my presence nor did I ever have trouble finding people
to interview. Most study participants were deeply interested in my findings and
insisted I share my conclusions.
Informed by these experiences, I drew on Dr. Eduardo Bonilla- Silva’s theoret-
ical frame, racism without racists, to develop this book’s title, Preacher Woman: A
Critical Look at Sexism Without Sexists. This book goes beyond the inclusive the-
ologies and good intentions of CBF congregations to identify gendered processes
that undergird the established inequitable gender outcomes of these organiza-
tions. The purpose of this book is not to reveal ill intent in these congregations,
but rather to examine critically congregational processes with the purpose of
building on established organizational goals of gender equity and inclusion