Eldership Is Male

This work was first published under the title Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, with the alternative subtitle Does the Lord Jesus Want a Woman to Rule as an Elder in His Church? It concerns the ecclesiastical structure of the Christian Church, with particular focus on the office of eldership as defined in the New Testament. The central thesis of this volume is that the office of elder is reserved for qualified men, in accordance with the apostolic pattern and consistent with the broader biblical doctrine of gender distinction and role differentiation within the church.¹

This present edition has been revised and retitled Eldership is Male – Alternatively: Only a Woman Can Be Pregnant, a title chosen to highlight the biological and theological realities currently obscured by prevailing cultural ideologies. The subtitle was inspired by a public statement made by Suella Braverman, Member of Parliament for Fareham and former Attorney General and Home Secretary, who remarked—amid debate in the UK Parliament—that “only a woman can be pregnant.” Her observation, while grounded in biological fact, was met with resistance and evasion, notably from senior political figures, thereby illustrating the depth of confusion that now characterises much of contemporary discourse on sex, gender, and identity.

The events that prompted this publication arose from my personal encounter with a group of church elders who, in an effort to promote equality and inclusivity, sought to appoint women to the office of elder. While well-intentioned, such efforts represent, in my view, a departure from the authority of Scripture and a concession to secular cultural trends rather than fidelity to biblical teaching. This book records the theological, pastoral, and ecclesial concerns I raised in response to that development.²

More broadly, I contend that the rejection of historic Christian teachings on male and female roles has contributed to wider societal shifts—what is often described as the rise of a “Woke” or post-Christian culture. These shifts have led not only to confusion regarding church governance, but also to contentious issues in civil society, such as the adoption of gender-neutral pronouns, the normalisation of gender reassignment treatments, and the redefinition of sexual identity. These developments are deeply interconnected and, I argue, stem from a foundational rejection of God’s created order.³