Young girls are harmed by church leaders and members prohibiting them, their moms, and other females from roles and functions in the church, per published research.

This harm often remains into and through their adulthood.

Such sex discrimination goes by several names, including complementarianism, patriarchal traditionalism, patriarchy, male headship, roles of women, and sexism.

It is not surprising that harm comes to young girls from things like a church modeling and teaching (by actions and words) that discrimination against young girls and their moms is “love.”

Parents are often unaware of the harm done to their daughter when they keep their daughter in a church that discriminates against girls and women, though.

One reason is that church leaders—ministers, elders, youth ministers, others—who are supposed to look out for and protect families and young girls against such things engage in the behavior.

Another is that parents assume that the good people around them and the good people that came before them would not do something harmful to others.

The Churches of Christ denomination is extreme in its restrictions on girls and women, as it is nearly alone among Christian groups in completely — completely — prohibiting girls and women from speaking, leading, and actively serving in the worship service, as the vast majority of Churches of Christ congregations do. Only an estimated 1-2% of Christianity has such a broad prohibition, most of which is Churches of Christ congregations. Islam generally does the same in its worship service.

The harmful impacts on girls and women reported in the research described below is not limited to churches engaged in extreme restrictions, however.

Below is a brief overview of some of the findings in such published research—

1) Harm Caused by Discrimination Against Girls and Women

a) “[A]fter adjusting for other influences, levels of unhappiness, loneliness, and depression are about 30% higher for women who reported experiencing recent discrimination compared to those who did not.”[1]

b) “[P]erceived discrimination has a significant negative effect on both mental and physical health” and it “also produces significantly heightened stress responses and is related to participation in unhealthy and nonparticipation in healthy behaviors.”[2]

c) Women with only male congregational leaders (preachers, elders, and the like) growing up had, as an effect, 1) lower self-esteem (associated with more depression and anxiety), 2) less education, 3) higher unemployment, and 4) more of an authoritarian and judgmental view of God (associated with negative psychological health), on average, than men and than women who had influential female congregational leaders growing up.[3]

d) “[A]mong religious participants, women who attend sexist religious institutions report significantly worse self-rated health than do those who attend more inclusive congregations.”[4]

e) For most people, attending religious congregations improves ones’ health but “only women who attend inclusive [congregations] … exhibit a health advantage relative to non-participants….”[5]

f) A person’s “gender role ideology became more traditional” various harmful behaviors increase, including body shame and self-silencing behaviors.[6]

2) Includes Domestic Violence

a) That such discrimination and theology promote abuse of girls and women by boys and men is highlighted by many.[7]

b) “[M]en who hold much more conservative theological views than their partners are especially likely to perpetrate domestic violence.”[8]

c) “Especially predictive of the geographical distribution of partner violence are norms related to male authority over female behaviour ….”[9]

d) “Christian fundamentalism was positively associated with both violence approval and acts of intimate partner violence.”[10]

3) Church of Christ Environment

a) Approximately half of the female Churches of Christ members responding reported trauma symptoms of a moderate to severe nature as a result of being raised in churches of Christ.[11] 

b) “African American women who are active participants in patriarchal religious organizations, particularly Churches of Christ, do not experience themselves as competent and valuable. These women developed the learned helplessness orientation[,] … become passive, and take refuge in the afterlife. This lack of confidence in one’s value result in an avoidance approach to problem-solving which undermines cognitive functioning and the overall self-concept.”[12]

c) An invitation to current and former members of Churches of Christ to describe when one or more persons in the church made them feel bad about their gender received over 2100 comments in a short period and was shared over 190 times.[13]

Important Questions

Should a parent knowingly keep their child in a church that discriminates against female persons?

Is action that is harmful to young girls “love”?

Might the harm to girls and women indicate that scripture probably does not mean to engage in the activity that causes the harm?

After studying scripture, many churches have changed to lift all restrictions on girls and women. But the pace of change is slow. Some will make some changes, but keep significant restrictions. Some will never change. How long should a parent give a church to change before removing their daughter from such a situation?

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Sources

Regarding relevant scripture and many in the Churches of Christ studying scripture and coming to the conclusion such prohibitions are wrong, see, e.g., these articles and sources cited therein: Steve Gardner, “Female Elders in a Church of Christ: Interviews, One Year Later,” Authentic Theology (December 8, 2020); Steve Gardner, ““Women Serving God” by John Mark Hicks (Book Review),” Authentic Theology (October 1, 2020); Steve Gardner, “4 More Churches of Christ Open Speaking Roles to Women,” Authentic Theology (Nov. 26, 2019); Steve Gardner, “One of Largest Churches of Christ Opens Preaching Role to Women — And Some Questions,” Authentic Theology (Sept. 17, 2019); Steve Gardner, “Another 10 Churches of Christ Where Women Speak in the Assembly: Their Reasons & a Quiz,” Authentic Theology (April 24, 2019); Steve Gardner, “10 Churches of Christ Where Women Speak in the Assembly: List and Links (Part 1),” Authentic Theology (March 26, 2019); Steve Gardner, “10 Churches of Christ Where Women Speak in the Assembly: Female Elders (Part 2),” Authentic Theology (April 3, 2019); Steve Gardner, “10 Churches of Christ Where Women Speak in the Assembly: 1 Timothy 2:12, “Teach or Usurp Authority” (Part 3),” Authentic Theology (April 9, 2019); Steve Gardner, “Most Church-of-Christ Colleges No Longer Exclude Women From Leading in Worship Services: Violates 1 Timothy 2:12 “do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man”? (Part 4, Conclusion),” Authentic Theology (May 30, 2018); Steve Gardner, “(Part 3) Most Church-of-Christ Colleges No Longer Exclude Women From Leading in Worship Services:  Does It Contradict 1 Cor 14:34-35, “Women Should Remain Silent …”?,” Authentic Theology (May 22, 2018); Steve Gardner, “20 Scripture Passages Telling Women to Speak, Teach, Lead, and Have Authority Over Men, in the Assembly and Elsewhere,” Authentic Theology (September 3, 2018); Wiley Clarkson, “A Directory of Gender Inclusive  and Egalitarian Churches in the Church of Christ Heritage,” Where The Spirit Leads (last updated March 2021), last accessed January 21, 2022.

“nearly alone … 1-2% …”: See, e.g., Discussion on this point in Notes & Sources Section in Steve Gardner, “David Lipscomb, Church of Christ Foundational Leader: “All the Teaching of the Bible is Against Women Speaking in Public” (It Gets Worse),” Authentic Theology (April 12, 2018).

[1] Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, “Discrimination,” Healthy People 2020 (2020), accessed Nov. 11, 2022, wayback.archive-it.org/‌5774/‌20220414160233/https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/‌social-determinants-health/interventions-resources/discrimination; American Psychological Association, Stress in America: The Impact of Discrimination (March 10, 2016), apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2015/impact-of-discrimination.pdf.

[2] E.A. Pascoe & R.L. Smart, “Perceived discrimination and health: A meta-analytic review,” Psychological Bulletin 135.5 (2009): 531–54, doi.org/10.1037/a0016059. See Yu Shoukai, “Uncovering the hidden impacts of inequality on mental health: a global study,” Translational Psychiatry 8 (Art. 98, May 18, 2018), nature.com/articles/s41398-018-0148-0 (women “nearly twice as likely as men to suffer from mental illness”; “may relate to social inequalities and living standards”); Eliza K. Pavalko et al., “Does Perceived Discrimination Affect Health? Longitudinal Relationships between Work Discrimination and Women’s Physical and Emotional Health,” J. of Health & Social Behavior 44.1 (March, 2003): 18-33, doi.org/10.2307/1519813.

[3] Benjamin R. Knoll & Cammie Jo Bolin, She Preached the Word (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), Table 2.1, discussed at Steve Gardner, “Church of Christ Practice Harms Girls Long-Term, Suggests 2018 Study,” Authentic Theology, Nov. 28, 2018, authentictheology.com/2018/11/28/church-of-christ-practice-harms-girls-long-term-suggests-2018-study/ and Steve Gardner, “(Part 2) Church of Christ Practice Harms Girls Long-Term, Suggests 2018 Study: Negative Reactions,” Authentic Theology, Jan. 30, 2019, authentictheology.com/2019/01/30/part-2-church-of-christ-practice-harms-girls-long-term-suggests-2018-study-negative-reactions/.

[4] Patricia Homan & Amy Burdett, “When Religion Hurts: Structural Sexism and Health in Religious Congregations,” American Sociological Review 86.2 (2021), journals.‌sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0003122421996686.

[5] Ibid., Abstract.

[6] K.D. Eliason, M. E.L. Hall, T. Anderson, M. Willingham, “Where gender and religion meet: Differentiating gender role ideology and religious beliefs about gender,” Journal of Psychology and Christianity 36.1 (2017): 3-15, Abstract.

[7] Kevin Giles, The Headship of Men and the Abuse of Women: Are They Related In Any Way? (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020); Scot McKnight, “Complementarians and Abuse of Women: Kevin Giles’ Newest Book,” ChristianityToday.com (July 2, 2020), christianitytoday‌.‌com/scot-mcknight/2020/june/complementarians-and-abuse-of-women-kevin-giles-newest-book.html; Mikaela Bell, “The Consequences of Soft Complementarianism,” CBEInternational.org (June 24, 2020), cbeinternational.org/‌resource‌/consequences-soft-complementarianism; Kristin Du Mez, “Is Complementarian Theology Abusive to Women?” Patheos (April 6, 2017), patheos.com/‌blogs/‌anxiousbench‌/2017/04/is-complementarian-theology-abusive-to-women; Kelly Ladd Bishop, “Male Headship Theology Enables Abusers,” Huffington Post (Mar. 15, 2016), huffpost.com/entry/male-headship-theology-enables-abusers_b_9463150; see also Scot McKnight, “Complementarianism and the Abusive Male,” ChristianityToday.com (July 6, 2020), https://www.christianitytoday.com/scot-mcknight/2020/july/complementarianism-and-abusive-male.html (“The ‘driver’ of male abuse of women is male entitlement”)

[8] Christopher G. Ellison, John P. Bartkowski, & Kristin L. Anderson, “Are There Religious Variations in Domestic Violence?” Journal of Family Issues 20.1 (1999): 87–113, Abstract, journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/019251399020001005.

[9] Lori L. Heise & Andreas Kotsadam, “Cross-national and multilevel correlates of partner violence: an analysis of data from population-based surveys,” The Lancet 3.6  (June 1, 2015): 332-340, thelancet.com/journals/‌langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(15)00013-3/fulltext.

[10] Jerome R. Koch & Ignacio Luis Ramierz, “Religiosity, Christian Fundamentalism, and Intimate Partner Violence Among U.S. College Students,” Review of Religious Research 4 (June, 2010): 402-410, jstor.org/stable/20778531.

Some complementarians misrepresent contrary arguments (e.g., by representing the only opposing argument as one that the sole cause of domestic abuse is complementarianism or patriarchy); engage in the “no true Scotsman” argumentation (e.g., asserting that anything that is a bad result of complementarianism is via a misapplication or distortion of complementarianism); or engage in logically fallacious arguments (e.g., arguing that since most men at complementarian churches do not abuse their wives, complementarianism is not a cause of domestic abuse).

For examples of arguments like these and others, see Steven R. Tracy, “Patriarchy and Domestic Violence:  Challenging Common Misconceptions,” https://mlhlsi.infiniteuploads.cloud/2021/01/PatriarchyDV.pdf.

Some will deflect by claiming women abusing men is ignored by egalitarians, shows that complementarianism is not a cause of abuse, “sometimes” (or other ambiguous modifier) occurs just as often, or something similar.  But “[t]he fact is that male violence against women is far more damaging, generally occurs in a far different context (aggressive dominance versus self defense), and typically has a more pernicious meaning (establishment of control) than does female violence. For instance, according to a Justice Department analysis of crime, more than 40% of adult female hospital emergency room visits are caused by violence at the hand of a male intimate partner, whereas violence by intimates caused less than 5% of male emergency room visits. According to the National Crime Victimization survey, in 1998 women experienced almost 900,000 violent offenses at the hands of an intimate partner – a rate five times higher than the violence men experience from female partners. Other research reveals that for every one man hospitalized due to being assaulted by a female intimate partner, forty-six women are hospitalized due to being assaulted by a male partner.” Ibid., 2-3.

Still others will deflect from the problem by claiming that complementarianism involves “love” (e.g., service, sacrifice, etc.), not acknowledging that egalitarianism also involves love but does not require discrimination against girls and women to go along with it, like complementarianism does. Pairing the requirement of sexism with love ought to help reveal a problem with complementarianism.

Still others will claim something along the lines of “since the Bible requires it, it can’t be harmful,” thereby begging the question and assuming their conclusion is correct.

Some complementarians blame culture, arguing that if women had not been given the right to vote and allowed and encouraged to obtain higher education, and like, then they would not have unreasonable and inappropriate expectations for themselves and would experience less mental health problems from being discriminated against. That is, if girls and women would focus on having children and raising them, instead of on education, employment, and issues of equality, then they would not experience such mental health problems.

Still others will seek to divert from the harm done to young girls by asserting things like this: There were no female elders, deacons, or preachers in the New Testament or in the first many centuries of the church. But 1) scripture suggests differently, 2) that some in early times discriminated against girls and women does not make it right, and 3) that discrimination against girls and their moms harms young girls should indicate to us that the interpretation of scripture that encourages discrimination against girls and their moms is wrong.

Also, there were female elders, deacons, and preachers in the New Testament and the early church. You can read about it here — https://margmowczko.com/women-elders-new-testament/ — and here — https://authentictheology.com/2019/04/03/10-churches-of-christ-where-women-speak-in-the-assembly-female-elders-part-2/, for example.

For example, Titus 2:3-4 and 1 Tim 3:11 likely refer to female elders. Titus 2:2-4 refers to presybytidas, the feminine form of the same word used in Titus 1:5 that is widely acknowledged as referring to at least male elders, presybterous. The description in Titus 2:3-4 parallels the qualifications of 1 Tim 3. 1 Tim 3:11 (“In the same way, the women are to be worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.”) likely refers to female elders and deacons.

See also Psychology Today (Jan. 15, 2020), psychologytoday.com/us/blog/life-after-50/202001/does-benevolent-sexism-cause-harm; Ashley Easter Blog (April 18, 2018), ashley-easter.‌squarespace.com/blog/hidden-sexism (“How can we address this issue in the church?”). See also Kristen Davis Eliason, M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall, & Tamara L. Anderson, “Benevolent Sexism’s Manifestation and Expression in Conservative Christianity: Measurement Issues and Religious Correlates,” Society for the Psychology of Religion & Spirituality Newsletter (Oct. 2014), apadivisions.org/division-36/‌publications‌/newsletters‌/religion/2014/10/conservative-christianity (examines the adequacy of Ambivalent Sexism Inventory in measuring sexism in an evangelical Christian population, explores the religious correlates of sexism within this population). See also Ken Chitwood, “Spiritual Abuse Definition Debated by UK Christians,” Christianity Today (March 4, 2020), christianitytoday.com/news‌/2020/march/spiritual-abuse-definition-uk-churches-timmis-fletcher-ccpa.html; Shawn Meghan Burn & Julia Busso, “Ambivalent Sexism, Scriptural Literalism, and Religiosity,” Psychology of Women Q. 29.4 (2005), doi.org/‌10.1111/j.1471-6402.2005.00241.x (“Intrinsic religiosity, extrinsic religiosity, and scriptural literalism … positively associated with benevolent, but not hostile, sexism.”); Małgorzata Mikołajczak and Janina Pietrzak, “Ambivalent Sexism and Religion: Connected Through Values,” Sex Roles 70.9 (2014): 387–399, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4045317 (religious value societal status quo, tradition, conformity, leading to seeing women through a lens of traditional social roles).

[11] Heather Heflin Hodges, “Self-Reported Trauma Symptoms by Women in Churches of Christ,” Wineskins (Aug. 4, 2019), https://web.archive.org/web/20210122010359/https://wineskins.org/2019/08/04/self-reported-trauma-symptoms-by-women-in-churches-of-christ/; “Self-Reported Trauma Symptoms by Women in Churches of Christ – Part 2,” Wineskins (Sept. 2, 2019), https://web.archive.org/web/20191130051356/https://www.wineskins.org/2019/09/02/self-reported-trauma-symptoms-by-women-in-churches-of-christ-part-2/; Anessa Westbrook, “The Perceived Need for Spiritual Development Among Female Church of Christ Students at Harding University,” Discernment: Theology and the Practice of Ministry 2.1 (2016), digitalcommons.acu.edu/discernment/vol2/iss1/4.

[12] Claudius A. Davis, “Patriarchal leadership and African-American women’s self-concept and well-being” (Ph.D. Dissertation, The Union Institute, 1996), 30, 36, 84 (“patriarchal leadership in churches of Christ undermines African American women’s self-concept and sense of well-being; “androcentric theology and practices foster negative self-esteem and self-efficacy”).

[13] Kaitlin Hardy Shetler, “Calling all Church of Christ people (current and former) …, ” August 17, 2020, www.facebook.com/tufftaffy/posts/10101959843006411, accessed November 23, 2022 (“Calling all Church of Christ people … when someone (or a group of someones) from the church made you feel bad about your gender.”).

Young girls suffer significant harm by church leaders and members prohibiting them, their moms, and other females from roles and functions in the church, per published research.

The harm includes injury to physical, mental, and spiritual health. The damage done to young girls is often long-term, enduring in adulthood.

Such sex discrimination goes by several names, including complementarianism.

Parents are often unaware of the harm done to their daughter when they keep her in a church that discriminates against girls and women. Greater awareness is needed.

This article briefly overviews some of the research and analysis.

Questions and comments are welcome.

Image created with OpenArt.AI.

This article is adapted from Section C of Chapter Two of Steve Gardner, “Churches of Christ Ending Prohibitions Against Females Speaking and Leading: Case Studies & Observations on Steps for Success” (D. Min. Thesis, Lipscomb University, 2023), https://authentictheology.com/2023/06/15/churches-of-christ-ending-prohibitions-against-females-speaking-and-leading-case-studies-observations-on-steps-for-success-doctor-of-ministry-project/

Additional resources related to this topic:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/06/11/depression-stress-women-heart-health