My friend Stewart brought this story to my attention. An 81 year old Sunday School teacher who had taught in her Southern Baptist church for 54 years was "dismissed" from her teaching duties, ostensibly because she is a woman. The news story can be found here, and an insightful post on the subject by biblical scholar Ben Witherington can be found here.
It's pretty shocking that what looks to be a very young pastor (watch the videos on the news site) would dismiss a woman who had faithfully served the church for such a long period of time. I suppose if he really believes the Bible prohibits women from teaching (I don't) , he may have felt it a move he had to make. The problem, it seems, is that there is some doubt as to the real reason. The letter in which they dismissed her (yes, it was a letter - he did not even have the courtesy to do it face to face) refers only to 1 Timothy 2:8-15. However, it appears that church politics are also in play - the church has now said that there were other (undisclosed) reasons (which were not listed in the letter) and it does appear that the teacher had some disagreements with the pastor in the past. This possibility makes the situation even more disturbing because it seems likely that the Bible is being used as a smokescreen to cover up more personal issues.
While I do believe that some allowance needs to be made for differences in interpretation regarding the Bible, such prohibitions of women from service in the church grieve me deeply because they stifle the gifts of many very competent women, whose abilities will never be fully utilized in their churches. There are other (I believe better) ways to interpret passages such as 1 Timothy 2:8-15, and most interpretations that prohibit women's activities in the church are remarkably inconsistent (for example, how many people honestly prohibit women from braiding their hair, or from talking at all in church?).
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