The Bible says women should not exercise authority over men in the church. This is the principle we try to practice. In evaluating practices like the voters assembly we must ask does participation in a given role or office violate the principle of 1 Timothy 2:12 and the other relevant passages?

We do not have a principle "women should not vote" or "we should not seek the opinion of all of the members of the congregation," but the nature of the the voters assembly is that it is the authoritative body in our congregations. For this reason women should not vote in it because it exercises authority over the whole congregation.

All the arguments you raise are based on humanistic considerations. None of them bring the question to Scripture. The church is to serve the needs of all its members, but it is to do this by obeying what God says about who should serve as pastors, elders, and other authoritative positions in the church. We have to base our decisions on what God's Word says not on other considerations.

There could be cases in which the men neglect their duty to such a degree that women have to step up and do their job, but this is not the normal case. We can't establish principles from exceptional cases.

If the principle "I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man" is God-given and binding on the church, we must follow it whether or not it is acceptable to our society. Our practices and the way we arrange things may be changed as long as the changes do not violate the principle. There is, for example, no law about whether or not women can attend the meetings.

It is not we who establish the principle that in the church "women should not exercise authority over men." This is what Scripture says. The first thing you have to do in wrestling with this issue is to formulate on the basis of study of all the relevant passages of Scripture what the biblical principles about this matter are. Is 1 Timothy 2:12 a valid biblical principle which directs our actions? On the basis of careful study we believe it is, but you must go to the Scriptures to find their testimony for yourself.

We have prepared three different studies entitled "Man and Woman in God's World" which address the larger question of scriptural roles for men and women--shorter and longer study documents and a ten-lesson Bible class. Also available on this web site is a brief pamphlet concerning the spirit with which we apply these principles by Pastor Walter Beckmann. The booklet of our synod's doctrinal statements also contains a section on this. All of these should help you to study this issue and to discuss it with your pastor or others.