See the conclusion for links regarding scripture related to this topic, including to 20 passages asking women to speak, have authority over, and teach men in the assembly and elsewhere.
Introduction
Seven of the 12 national and regional colleges affiliated with the Churches of Christ no longer exclude women from actively serving in chapel worship-services when the assembly includes men and women.
Four of them—Abilene Christian University, Lipscomb University, Pepperdine University, and Rochester College—do not exclude women from any role in their chapel worship-services. Women preach, read scripture, lead prayer, and otherwise actively serve in chapel services that include men and women.
Three other schools—Lubbock Christian University, Oklahoma Christian University, and York College—no longer generally exclude women from actively serving in mixed chapels, but some exclusivity remains, at least in practice. Women serve as the featured speaker and also actively serve in other roles in these three schools’ main chapels, and women actively serve in all roles in some mixed chapels besides the main one at OCU, but some roles in the main chapel-services for all three are generally filled by men.
These 7 colleges are joined by a growing number of Church of Christ congregations that have lifted all or most restrictions on women serving in the worship service.
Still Excluding Women
The vast majority of the Churches of Christ still wholly exclude women from actively serving in worship services in which men are present—women are not allowed to read scripture, lead singing or prayer, serve at the communion table, or preach.
The Churches of Christ denomination is nearly alone among significant U.S. Christian denominations in wholly excluding women from doing so in most of its congregations. More than 90% of U.S. Christianity is less restrictive.
Five of the 12 Church of Christ colleges—Faulkner University, Florida College, Freed-Hardeman University, Harding University, and Ohio Valley University—continue to wholly exclude women from actively serving in their mixed chapel worship-services.
At Harding, women occasionally give personal testimony or speak on a special topic (e.g., stress and anxiety) as part of a chapel program, normally after a devotional period.
These 5 colleges have an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 12,000, with half of those at Harding, while the other 7 colleges have an undergraduate enrollment of approximately 18,000.
List of Church of Christ Colleges and Their Approach to Chapel
Below is a list of the 12 national and regional Churches-of-Christ-affiliated colleges along with the status of women’s service in their chapel worship-services.
The list concludes with a few questions to consider.
1. Abilene Christian University
Full participation. Women preach, read scripture, etc.
“Chapel at ACU Gathering daily for a time of fellowship and worship ….”
2. Faulkner University
Women not allowed to actively serve in chapel worship-services.
Audio/Video: Video 1 (Wake Forest’s Dr. James Otteson) Video 2
3. Florida College
Women not allowed to actively serve in chapel worship-services.
Video: Livestream of chapel services
4. Freed-Hardeman University
Women not allowed to actively serve in chapel worship-services; sometimes make announcements after services.
Audio / Video: Available online
5. Harding University
Women not allowed to actively serve in chapel worship-services; sometimes make announcements after services.
Also, women occasionally speak their personal or family testimony or on a special topic, such as stress and anxiety, as part of a chapel program, normally after a devotional period. See examples 1, 2, and 3.
Video: Archives
6. Lipscomb University (and Hazelip School of Theology)
Full participation. Women preach, read scripture, etc.
“The Gathering is a time when our entire campus comes together for worship …”
7. Lubbock Christian University
Women preach and read scripture; do not lead prayer or singing.
Audio/Video: Chapel Audio and Video (see, e.g., videos from February 19, February 23, March 2, March 5, 2018; and August 29, 2017)
8. Ohio Valley University
Women not allowed to actively serve in chapel worship-services; sometimes make announcements after services.
“Chapel and Assembly is designed to gather the OVU community on a daily basis …”
9. Oklahoma Christian University
Women fully participate in some mixed chapel worship-services (main speaker, lead prayer, etc.) besides the main chapel and sometimes serve as the featured speaker and read scripture in the main chapel.
See video and first article, second article, and announcement.
10. Pepperdine University
Full participation. Women preach, read scripture, etc.
11. Rochester College
Full participation. Women preach, read scripture, etc.
“Rochester College Chapel/Convocation series (RCC) …”
12. York College
Women preach and make announcements; do not lead singing or prayer.
Videos: Video 1 Video 2 Video 3
Conclusion
Where would a young woman in high school deciding on a college rather go, a college that excludes her from actively serving in chapel or a place that gives her opportunities to do so?
Where would be best for her spiritual health?
What does a college’s exclusion or inclusion of women relative to chapel suggest about how that college might treat her in other respects? What other opportunities available to men will or will not be made available to her by that college, directly or subtly?
What message does the college that excludes women from serving in chapel give to its male students about her? What message does the college that fully includes her give to the male students?
Where should a high-school girl’s parents want her to go? Where might her youth minster think is best for her? What does she think?
***
Here are some resources on relevant scripture:
This article sets out 20 scripture passages that asks women to speak, teach, pray, etc., in the assembly and elsewhere. Such scriptures are among those cited by those who view it as a sin to exclude women from roles in worship services.
I also published articles that take a deeper dive into the two passages that some assert exclude women from speaking in the worship assembly. They are written from the standpoint of a young woman considering which Church of Christ college to attend.
Part 2 of this series, “… Scriptural? and a College Visit,” takes you on a journey with Mary, a high-school senior girl who attends a Church of Christ and is choosing among colleges affiliated with the Churches of Christ.
Part 3 continues Mary’s journey, as she considers scripture and her future.
In Part 4, Mary attends a college class that is discussing some of the scripture related to women speaking in the assembly. She has a few questions of her own.
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Sources & Notes
(The picture is a freely available one from pixabay.com.)
I obtained information on the various schools via internet research (the schools’ web-sites, YouTube, etc.) and, for most of the schools, by communicating with people who attended or who are attending the school or who are or were otherwise associated with the school. I am very appreciative of those who shared information with me. I received more information regarding some schools than others. If you have any other information relevant to this list, I would appreciate hearing from you via commenting or the Contact page.
I used “leading” in the title only because it seemed to be the only way to convey the subject to my audience in a succinct manner. “Serving” is a better description than leading. By “active role” or the like, I am referring to what many refer to as a “leadership” role—preaching, leading singing, leading prayer, serving at the communion table, making announcements, etc. I am not referring to singing with the congregation, participating in communion when passed to her, giving money when the plate is passed, or similar things. The term “active role” or the like is used to differentiate between those two categories but is an imperfect descriptor.
“… national and regional colleges …”— I used as my criteria: (a) listed in U.S. News & World Report’s Find the Best Colleges for You (2016 Edition — this is the latest one I had) as a national or regional college, (b) substantial and meaningful information about the school listed in that book, (c) that book showing enrollment of more than 350 full-time undergraduates and a peer-assessment score of 2.0 or greater (out of 5.0), (d) accredited by at least one nationally well-respected and well-known accrediting body whose accreditation is regularly sought after by highly respected colleges, (e) in the United States, and (f) shown as a university or college formally affiliated with the Churches of Christ in this list and this list. The first list indicates that Florida College is not formally affiliated with the Churches of Christ and its entry in the U.S. News book mentioned above does not mention its affiliation with the Churches of Christ. This is likely due to its non-institutional history and approach, so I included it anyway, as it meets all the other criteria. The criteria are mostly meant to express that this list does not include non- or minimally accredited schools, preaching schools, “Bible colleges,” local or online schools, schools outside the U.S., or the like. Amridge University and Southwestern Christian College appeared in the U.S. News book, but very little information was listed for either, and it showed Amridge at under 175 full-time undergraduates. Crowley’s Ridge College, Heritage Christian University, Johnson University (Florida), and Nations University were not listed at all even though the book lists over 1600 U.S. colleges.
It appears that Southwestern Christian College does not exclude women from at least some roles in its chapel. See http://swcu.edu/chapel-schedule. I received information, too, indicating that Heritage Christian University excludes women from actively serving in worship services.
From its web-site, Austin Graduate School of Theology appears to adhere to an exclusion of women from serving in chapel, at least in being the featured speaker. See http://austingrad.edu/happenings/chapel/.
“Seven … no longer exclude ….”: Nos. 1, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12, which is 7 out of 12.
“Four … do not exclude women …”: Nos. 1, 6, 10, and 11, which is 4 out of 12.
“… growing number of Church of Christ congregations that have lifted all or most restrictions on women serving ..”: http://www.wherethespiritleads.org/gender_inclusive_churches.htm.
See generally Erik Tryggestad, “Faith in higher learning: A sampling of chapel services,” The Christian Chronicle (Oct. 1, 2013).
“Churches of Christ denomination is nearly alone among significant U.S. Christian denominations in having most of its congregations exclude women …. At least around 90% of U.S. Christianity is less restrictive relative to women’s service in worship services.”: See, e.g., Steve Gardner, “David Lipscomb, Church of Christ Foundational Leader: ‘All the Teaching of the Bible is Against Women Speaking in Public’ (It Gets Worse),” AuthenticTheology.com (April 12, 2018) (discussing evangelical denominations in the main body and in the notes); Pew Research’s religious landscape study, http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/(includes percentages reflected by various denominations). It appears that, of the sizeable evangelical denominations, only three others (the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (1.1%), Presbyterian Church in America (0.4%), and Independent Baptist (2.5%)) are generally as restrictive as the general Church of Christ (1.5%) approach. Notes and sources regarding the larger evangelical denominations are in the David Lipscomb article cited above.
| College | Undergrad Enrollment | ||||
| Abilene C | 4910 | ||||
| Faulkner | 3319 | ||||
| Florida C | 528 | * | |||
| Freed-H | 1906 | ||||
| Harding | 5902 | ||||
| Lipscomb | 4632 | ||||
| Lubbock C | 1471 | ||||
| Ohio Valley | 404 | ||||
| Oklahoma Christian | 2570 | ||||
| Pepperdine | 3542 | ||||
| Rochester | 735 | * | |||
| York | 377 | * | |||
| Totals | |||||
| 7 who do not wholly exclude | 18237 | ||||
| 5 who do | 12059 | ||||
| All numbers from | US News at | ||||
| (searched May 8, 2018) | https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges | ||||
| except for marked with *, which are | |||||
| from the 2016 U.S. News book referenced above | |||||
Links to scripture-study materials from some Churches of Christ explaining why scripture does not prohibit women from speaking in the assembly, etc.:
- Sycamore View Church of Christ
- Springfield Church of Christ
- Providence Road Church of Christ
- Southern Hills Church of Christ
- Glenwood Church
- Oak Hills Church
- Fourth Avenue Church of Christ
- Meadowbrook Church of Christ
- Highland Church of Christ
[Updates: added link to Video 3 under “12. York College,”; added marked additions regarding personal testimony and special topics under “Harding” and in the introduction; and made explicit that the article is referring to mixed chapels when discussing the group of 5 colleges; added specific cites to the Lubbock Christian section since the link is to a long list of chapel videos; added information on Southwestern Christian and Heritage Christian in the sources / notes section. 11/2/20: fixed broken links. Moved church links to notes.]
Added:
https://thelink.harding.edu/the-bison/2020/02/28/women-in-ministry/