(Tim, w/thanks to past and present Redeemer Presbyterian Church members and leaders)
Recently, I was sent a PowerPoint slide that was distributed among Redeemer's pastors and Shepherding Team members explaining to them how Redeemer's five "Clusters" are to shepherd all those involved in the church's "Fellowship Groups." What it reveals about the pastoral authority woman exercises over man at Redeemer isn't surprising given Tim Keller's stated commitment that a woman may do anything an unordained man may do, there.
Here's an excerpt:
(Redeemer's) Shepherding Team is comprised of 5 Clusters. Each Cluster consists of a Fellowship Group Director, 2-4 Elders, and a Woman Advisor.
(When) a Fellowship Group Director is a woman, she will serve the roles of both Fellowship Group Director and Woman Advisor.
Fellowship Group Director is “firewall,” facilitator and liaison to the Shepherding Team for all cases that come to the Cluster.
Ruling Elders and Teaching Elders in a Cluster become the standing commission for cases that are brought to the Cluster by the Fellowship Group Director...
Scope of a Cluster’s role is strictly limited to the following types of cases, which come to the Director only through his/her Fellowship Group system and/or as Pastor on Call:
b) Acute discipline cases that cannot be handled solely by the Fellowship Group Director (see diagram below).
So these "5 Clusters" are each led by a "Fellowship Group Director" and they are composed of a pastor, a couple elders, and a woman.
What are the duties of those "Fellowship Group Directors?"
Well, whenever possible, they are supposed to "handle" "shepherding" and "discipline cases" so those cases don't have to be handled more formally by a "standing commission" of pastors and elders.
And among those 5 "Fellowship Group Directors" who lead the pastor and elders under them in their "Cluster" and "handle" "shepherding" and "discipline cases," one is a woman.
This means a woman is responsible for the less acute shepherding and discipline of hundreds of souls at Redeemer. They are under her authority and she's doing her job well if she can "solely" "handle" most of those cases so they don't have to go to the pastor and elders.
At New York's Redeemer Presbyterian Church, women shepherd and discipline men, lead the congregation in pastoral prayers, read the Scripture lessons, attend Session meetings (one woman), direct teaching and ruling elders in small group ministries, serve the Lord's Supper...
About the only thing they don't do is preach, vote in session meetings, and try formal discipline cases (when there are any).
