Refuge.Church is an egalitarian church located in Fort Myers, FL.

Though neither the word “complementarian” nor “egalitarian” are found in the Bible, they can be a common topic of Christian debate.

We believe that men and women are of equal worth and value (a belief shared with ALL brothers and sisters of Christ). As egalitarian, we go a step further in that we believe that men and women are equal in role capabilities as well; that there are no gender restrictions on what roles men and women can fulfill in the church, home, and society.

At Refuge both men and women can hold all church positions, including the senior pastor position.  We believe that marriage is a partnership of two equals submitted to one another.  Roles in a marriage and the church should be based upon ability, not gender. We believe that Jesus abolished gender-specific authority as well as roles related to class and race.

We find support for our view in the tone and temper of the New Testament, including references to women in leadership in the early church (Romans 16:1-7, Colossians 4:15, 2 John 1:1, Acts 16:13-15) and in specific verses like Galatians 3:28 which states, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

For those looking for a deeper read on the study of Women in the Church from a doctrinal advisory group convened at a church much larger than ours with the resources to do such things,  I encourage you to check out the findings of Oak Hills Church here.