Special probes church battle

When a filmmaker's mother wanted to be a "father," he found himself in the middle of a theological dispute -- and turned on his camera to record what happened.

The result is "Battle for the Minds," a one-hour special on PBS that is part of its "P.O.V." series. The program chronicles the controversy among Southern Baptists over this question: Should a woman be allowed to be a pastor?

Steven Lipscomb, the producer of the documentary, stumbled on the topic when he was talking to his mother, Dixie Petry, who attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky with the hope of becoming a pastor.

'Moral imperative'

"She told me of places that she was not allowed to speak and meetings she was not allowed to attend because she is a woman," he recalled. "I couldn't believe something like this was happening in this century. It felt like a moral imperative to tell people what was going on."

So Lipscomb trained his cameras on a dispute over a female professor of theology and her dismissal from the faculty because of her views. He recorded a candlelight protest that looks like it is left over from the '60s, interviews with people on both sides of the issue (filmed in black and white, which the issue is not), meetings of Southern Baptists and a short history of the denomination.

What results, as the series' title "P.O.V." indicates, is a film with a point of view, namely that the Southern Baptist Convention is wrong in barring women from being pastors. Says Lipscomb: "The grand ray of hope is that there are women, despite all the things that have happened to them, who are out there doing extraordinary things. Nothing will keep these women down, and they will continue to touch lives as only they can."

Catholic tie-in

The interest in such a documentary for Catholics is obvious: When the Vatican announced last year that it was infallible Church teaching that women could not be ordained priests, the same sorts of disputes continued among Catholics.

Among the Southern Baptists, the familiar arguments are marshalled:

* On the one hand, say some, the Bible forbids women from leadership roles in the Church; on the other hand, respond critics, Scripture is being interpreted in such a way that it is manipulated against women while other parts of the Bible are not seen as being so literal.

* To Joe, the issue is one of power and control; to Jane, the question is, "What difference does it make which sex is in control if control is exercised justly?"

* Side A thinks the Southern Baptist Church is becoming too liberal, and allowing women to lead congregations is one more sign; Side B believes a woman pastor can be just as conservative as any man.

For Catholics, "Battle for the Minds" is an interesting peep at the dispute as it is played out among members of another denomination. We can watch dispassionately as the pros and cons are batted back and forth, nodding or shaking our heads at one side and then the other with no ax to grind and no stake in the outcome.

("Battle for the Minds" is being shown on WMHQ, channel 45, June 16 at 9 p.m.)

(06-05-97) [[In-content Ad]]