Creating "tradition" - how long does it take?

I haven't found a recipe yet for cooking up a Baptist tradition, but I believe we're watching one currently in the oven.

Over in the "moderate Baptist" kitchen, some liberal thinking has reached back into the pantry of history to pull together the ingredients for a new/old way of doing things. The desired result: some, like the Baptist Women in Ministry organization, want women in the pulpit--at least during the month of February. What's the historical ingredient that adds that special zest? - good ole, Separate Baptist preacher Martha Stearns Marshall. Martha was violating 1 Timothy 2:12 way back in the 19th century, with the full endorsement of her husband Daniel Marshall and brother Shubal Stearns. That's all history; now here in the 21st century, the Baptist Women in Ministry organization gleefully touts this historical bit of information in their bid to have female preachers readily accepted by mainstream churches. The starting point for acceptance is international celebration of Martha Stearns Marshall Day. Could what they've cooked up actually catch on in Baptist circles?

Writing for the Associated Baptist Press, Bob Allen reports that more than 100 churches take part in month celebrating women in pulpit. Citing one example, Allen says "Guest preacher LeAnn Gardner told Providence Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C., she was invited to preach Feb. 7 because moderate Baptist churches across the country had chosen the day to celebrate a female preacher 'who proclaimed the gospel long before Baptists thought there was something weird about' women doing so."

Here we have the main ingredient, a historical fact (Martha did preach in the mid to late 1700's) rendered a bit in revisionism (Baptists didn't think it was "weird" back then.) There has to be more in the mix though, and Allen identifies the secret. He quotes Ms. Gardner further: "So you could conjecture that I am preaching because it is 'women-in-the-pulpit day,' but I have a hard time making sense out of that," she said. "You see, the first time I preached at Providence Baptist Church was in 1999 when I was 23 years old. Several women have been ordained in this church. And perhaps even more powerful is that young girls and boys grow up in this church never wondering why certain people can do this or that because of their gender." Did you catch it? The secret ingredient in creating a new tradition is removal of biblical instruction!

So how long does it take to start a new "tradition?" In Ms. Gardner's experience, someone permitted her to preach to the congregation in 1999, and barely a decade later youngsters are accepting this error as standard practice. Didn't I claim previously that it only takes one generation to create tradition?