“Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head,...Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels [or messengers]”
(1 Corinthians 11:2-5 & 10).

“What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.”
(1 Corinthians 14:26)

What is Paul teaching us in this passage? Is he concerned with hair and hats? Or does he have something more important in mind? In church history there have been many conflicting views, but after much prayerful Bible study, it seems to us as Elders that Paul is most concerned here that men not “disgrace” Christ by mistakenly thinking they must have some “sign” of another man’s authority “covering them” before they can pray to God or speak for God. If so, nothing less than the doctrine of “the priesthood of the believer” is at stake! Paul is concerned that no unbiblical hierarchies divide the church and set the stage for the abuse of authority! Our primary concern is how we can avoid disgracing Jesus! “Christ is the head of every man,” not the Elders, and not even Paul. To lose this truth would be to lose our liberty!

At the same time, Paul is concerned that each woman not “disgrace” her own husband or father’s place as her “head” in Christ. Evidently, if a woman prays to God or speaks for God in the weekly gathering while “uncovered,” she, in a similar way, distorts the truth of what God has done for us in Christ by disregarding established marriage covenants and parental authority. The issue of how such a “symbol of authority” should be displayed on a woman and not on a man is not our issue here. Every householder is free under Christ to settle that question for himself and his own family.


But What Does This Have to Do With the Open Mic?

If our interpretation is accurate, we, as your Elders, need to rethink the way we try to “screen content” before allowing men to share at our “open microphone.” It would seem that we are not supposed to provide such “covering” for our men, because Christ alone is your covering! It is a matter of our respecting Christ and respecting each man in Christ enough to allow him to speak for God as he feels moved by the Spirit. Our responsibility as Elders is to facilitate the use of your gifts, keep things “decently and in order” in terms of any misuse of the service time, and to “judge” whatever is spoken in the light of God’s Word.

Though we do not entirely understand how all this works, we suspect that it has a lot to do with our encouraging every man to take his place before God as one whom God can and will use in ministry!
So that is what we will attempt to do. We will no longer “screen” the content of what our men wish to share. When you, as a man of God, feel prompted by the Holy Spirit to speak for God, please do so. It may be by reading a passage of Scripture, or singing a spiritual song, or building us up with a word of prophesy or the interpretation of a tongue. All are welcome. But make every effort to be biblically sound in doctrine! If we as your Elders feel that what you speak requires qualification or correction, we will gently do so, in order to protect our congregation from error. We can all learn together.


What About the Ladies?

At the same time, we ask each husband and father to provide appropriate oversight to his own wife and daughters. The issue again is not hair nor hats, but rather heart attitudes toward God, toward you and toward the church. The women in your household represent you as well as themselves at the open mic, so provide whatever guidelines and encouragement as are called for to help them to build up the body with their spiritual gifts.

Women attending alone should continue to ask an Elder for direction, just as they have done in the past. The “angels” mentioned by Paul may refer to celestial beings looking in on our service, but they may also refer to visiting human ministers (the Greek word used is actually “messengers”). Either way, we can see how this issue of “honoring your head,” whether it is Christ, your husband and father, or an Elder, is a good way to maintain godly order in Christ’s church around the world.


Our Continuing Need to Use the Open Mic

Paul’s instruction seems to have the logistics of smaller congregations in view. Each congregation normally met in a home and was probably seated in a circle facing one another. Simply standing to speak was enough to be heard. Unfortunately, that is not enough in a large building arranged in rows as our’s is. So, for the sake of everyone’s ability to hear you, we ask that you go to the front of the room and allow an Elder to give you the use of the open microphone. You need not offer a synopsis as in the past. We ask only that you be sensitive to the “flow of the service” and to the time remaining.

These changes are tentative and we welcome your comments. In the weeks to come we will watch to see how these changes effect the moving of the Spirit in our services and we will adjust our course as needed.

--G.H.