Our nominating committee was stuck! We couldn't agree on anything-not a Sunday school director, not even a department director. Every time a name was suggested, Fred would object. We had no men both qualified and willing to take any of the key leadership positions, and Fred was set against having a woman in any position "over" men. We had a problem.

As pastor, I badly wanted to get the Sunday school staffed with able, committed directors. I also wanted to work through the differences Fred had with other committee members.

I suggested to Fred that we meet privately to examine the Bible teachings on the role and ministry of women in the church. We studied 1 Timothy 2:11-15, Galatians 3:28-29, Ephesians 5:21-30, 1 Corinthians 11 and 14 and other Scriptures. I pointed out the leadership roles played by Priscilla, Phoebe, and Deborah-all to no avail. Fred was immovable.

As I weighed the situation, I developed the following grid as an analytical tool.

X-coordinate: Degree of Certainty, or "How sure ...