Costa Mesa 各各他教会宣布按立女性牧师引争议 各各他教会协会声明反对称“重大偏离”
加利福尼亚州橙县 Costa Mesa 市的各各他教会（Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa）宣布，该会相信并实行按立女性担任牧师，这一表态在各各他教会运动内部引发公开反对。据《基督邮报》（Christian Post）11 月 8 日报道，该会牧师 Char Brodersen 于 11 月 1 日的主日敬拜中宣读了这一声明；各各他教会协会（Calvary Chapel Association，CCA）随后发表声明，称这一决定是对塑造该运动的历史信念的“重大偏离”。
Char Brodersen 是各各他教会运动创始人 Chuck Smith 的孙辈。他在声明中说，该会“相信并实行按立男性与女性担任牧职，这是对全体信徒皆为祭司的承认，也是对圣灵赐予个人独特恩赐的承认，为的是延续耶稣在教会与世界中的使命与事工”。他表示，该会近十年来一直在这样实行，女性早已在教会事工的各个层级担任带领角色；“我们并没有改变现行做法，只是想澄清我们的圣经立场与信念。”他把女性担任牧师称为一个信徒之间可以有强烈分歧的“次要问题”。
CCA 通过其 Heartland 区域团队发表声明，由牧师 Josh Blevins 与该团队共同署名。声明说，协会认为按立女性担任长老与牧师没有健全的圣经依据，与协会所持守的各各他教会特色相冲突，并称 Costa Mesa 的决定是“对历史上塑造我们各各他教会大家庭的圣经信念的重大偏离”。Blevins 写道，Chuck Smith 创立了这家教会，各各他教会曾是“耶稣运动”的中心组成部分，Costa Mesa 如今的方向偏离了 Smith 所忠实教导与示范的信念。他同时呼吁区内教会保留各各他教会的名称、继续教导与牧养会众，并为 Costa Mesa 的牧者与会众祷告。
其他各各他教会也相继表态。密苏里州 Liberty 市的 Calvary Chapel Liberty 主任牧师 Scott Gurwell 发表声明，拒绝按立女性担任长老或牧师，表示这两个职分应保留给合乎圣经资格的男性，并引用《提摩太前书》第 2 章、第 3 章与《提多书》第 1 章。宾夕法尼亚州 Bethlehem 市 Calvary Chapel Lehigh Valley 的牧师 Alan Disbrow 表示，该会早在 2013 年 Smith 逝世后就已与 Costa Mesa 切断关系。新泽西州 Calvary Old Bridge 的牧师 Lloyd Pulley 表示，这一宣布并不令他意外，并批评 Costa Mesa 自 Smith 逝世以来持续“衰落”。
Costa Mesa 各各他教会由 Chuck Smith 创立，曾是各各他教会运动的旗舰教会。Smith 于 2013 年逝世后，其女婿 Brian Brodersen 接掌该会，后来退出 CCA 理事会，并于 2016 年另立 Calvary Global Network（各各他全球网络），各各他教会运动就此分立；Costa Mesa 教会同时掌管 calvarychapel.com 网站。另据《基督邮报》报道，该会今年 9 月同意支付 1,200 万美元，和解一名前工作人员提起的诉讼，该员工指控教会一名前牧师 Jacob Harman 多次对她实施性侵。
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa Says It Ordains Women as Pastors, Drawing Pushback from the Calvary Chapel Association
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, in Orange County, California, has announced that it believes in and practices the ordination of women as pastors, drawing public opposition from within the Calvary Chapel movement. Pastor Char Brodersen read the statement during the church's service on November 1, according to a November 8 report by The Christian Post, and the Calvary Chapel Association (CCA) responded with a statement calling the decision "a significant departure from the biblical convictions that have historically shaped our Calvary Chapel family."
Char Brodersen, a grandson of Calvary Chapel founder Chuck Smith, said in the statement that the church "believes and practices the ordination of both men and women to pastoral ministry as a recognition of the priesthood of all believers and the unique gifting of individuals by the Holy Spirit to continue the mission and ministry of Jesus in the Church and in the world." He said the congregation has been practicing this for almost a decade, with women already leading and serving in every echelon of ministry. "We aren't changing anything in our current practice, but simply want to clarify our biblical position and our conviction," he said, describing women serving as pastors as a "secondary issue" on which faithful Christians may disagree, sometimes strongly.
In a statement signed by Pastor Josh Blevins and the CCA Heartland Regional Team, the association said it sees no sound biblical basis for ordaining women to serve as elders and pastors and that the practice conflicts with the association's distinctives. Blevins wrote that through Smith's leadership, Calvary Chapel became a central part of the Jesus Movement, and that Costa Mesa's present direction departs from convictions Smith faithfully taught and modeled. He urged churches in the region to keep the Calvary Chapel name and continue teaching and caring for their congregations, and asked pastors to pray for the pastors and congregation in Costa Mesa.
Other Calvary Chapel churches also weighed in. Calvary Chapel Liberty in Liberty, Missouri, in a statement signed by Senior Pastor Scott Gurwell, rejected the ordination of women as elders or pastors and reserved the offices for biblically qualified men, citing chapters 2 and 3 of 1 Timothy and chapter 1 of Titus. Alan Disbrow, pastor of Calvary Chapel Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, wrote that his church cut ties with Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa after Smith died in 2013. Lloyd Pulley, pastor of Calvary Old Bridge in New Jersey, wrote that the announcement did not surprise him and criticized Costa Mesa for what he described as steady decline since Smith's death.
Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa was founded by Chuck Smith and was once the flagship church of the Calvary Chapel movement. After Smith's death in 2013, his son-in-law Brian Brodersen took over the Costa Mesa church, later resigned from the CCA's council and in 2016 started a competing body, the Calvary Global Network, splitting the movement; the Costa Mesa church also controls the website calvarychapel.com. Separately, The Christian Post reported that in September the church agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit by a former staff member who accused Jacob Harman, a former pastor at the church, of raping her several times.
来源：基督邮报
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：各各他教会运动创始人 Chuck Smith 牧师（2013 年逝世），Costa Mesa 各各他教会由其创立，此次争议正围绕他的教导与遗产展开。Calvary Curriculum 摄，CC BY 3.0，经维基共享资源。/ Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel movement, who founded Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Photo by Calvary Curriculum, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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