Women, ministry and changing times

Women have always played a vital part in evangelical churches.

They have been the faithful attenders, the godly raisers of children, the pinafored polishers of church steps or brasses, the diligent Sunday School teachers, the dogged prayer warriors and the humble suppliers of practical needs.

Until the last quarter of the 20th century, they performed these valuable ministries for the most part silently and un-obtrusively, taking very seriously the Scriptural injunction that they were not permitted to teach or have authority over men. In fact they were clearer about what they should not do than about what they should. It was only on foreign shores that a more prominent role for women was allowed.

A significant issue

While the battle over women priests was fought and lost in the Church of England, Free Church women rarely held such aspirations. They were happy with the ministry of teapot, broom or nappy. But the feminist debate of the latter 20th century awoke many evangelicals to the fact that there were things that women could and should be doing, as opposed to what they couldn’t and shouldn’t. Titus 2, with its expectation of older women teaching younger women, was given greater attention. Ministries of women became a significant issue and an important concept. Women were encouraged to exercise gifts other than baking and flower arranging. In particular, there was a rediscovery of woman-to-woman ministry, whether in a ‘one-to-one’ or group context, or even in platform Bible teaching from one woman to an assembly of women. Not that these things had not happened before, but they were given greater prominence and a more contemporary relevance.

I write very generally, of course: individual churches move at very different rates. I believe it may still be true that there are churches which forbid women (covered or uncovered) to pray out loud at the prayer meeting, despite the evidence of 1 Corinthians 11.5.

Flourishing ministry

But here are some indications that women’s ministry in evangelical churches is currently flourishing and very much valued:

* The increasing popularity of conferences organised by women, for women. The London Women’s Convention, now in its fourth year, continues to attract large numbers of women of all ages and from a range of backgrounds. They come to enjoy a day of excellent Bible teaching along with the encouragement and excitement of being among many hundreds of other believing women. They enjoy the fact that the ministry and its application is directed right into women’s lives.

* The opening of some ministerial conferences, for example the Carey conference, and some organised by the Proclamation Trust, to pastors’ wives and women workers. This represents recognition of the crucial contribution such women make to church life.

* The maximising of evangelistic opportunities among women through the establishment and popularity of church-run mother and toddler groups, playgroups, ladies craft evenings/book clubs/ social evenings with gospel input.

* The growth in women’s discussion groups which meet specifically to study the Bible interactively.

* The move towards the appointment and, in some cases, the employment of a lady worker/female deacon to co-ordinate and lead in pastoral work among women.

All this is good news for our churches. One bi-product of feminist and post-feminist thinking is that women recognise the importance of friendship between women and the strength and mutual support available in that context. At one time, to attend a women’s conference would have been distinctly uncool; now it is the reverse.

Downside of feminism

But there is, of course, a massive downside to the feminism which has profoundly affected our nation and culture. Feminism has forced women into the workplace, women who in former times would have been busy at home in unpaid but significant caring ministries, women who served the church in countless ways because they had the time and did not have to bring home a wage. But feminism has taught the last two generations of women to believe that the workplace is the only place where they will find real significance and fulfilment. The bearing of children is now tellingly referred to as a career break.

Because families now commonly have two wage earners, the concept of a living wage, which was what a man used to earn and with which he was able to provide for his wife and family, has been lost. The market tends to adapt to people’s ability to pay. House prices have risen ridiculously to match this shift in expectation of spending power. Many families now find it all but impossible to make ends meet on one salary. They have also been trained to expect to need two. Living standards have risen to where families value the things a woman’s income can buy more than they value the contribution she makes to home, family, church and wider community through not being ‘out at work’. This is short-sighted thinking. Although the Exchequer benefits greatly from two taxable incomes per family, mothers, husbands, children, elderly parents and neighbourhoods are the poorer. Some-thing irreplaceable has been lost. Local churches have also been stripped of an asset more significant than the lead on the roof.

Lost ministries

Just as women’s ministries were taking off, women’s lives have changed. Churches can no longer rely on this unpaid army of workers who visited, catered, evangelised and cared. Neither can they assume that the women they hope to reach are available during the day time. Not only so, but, where a mother is in full-time or even part-time work, her first priority when not in her place of employment is her home and family. She is precious about evenings and weekends. She is less inclined to be available and she is very choosy. She is also very tired.

Thus all the myriad seen and unseen tasks, voluntarily and sacrificially performed by Christian women since the days of the apostle Paul, are within a generation of being left undone. Society expects, the Chancellor expects, the mortgage lender expects, perhaps the husband expects that women will be in the workplace, contributing to the family income and the gross national product. Women must pay their way. There are no free meal tickets. Thus our churches are being robbed in broad daylight.

Practical responses

How are we to bear and adapt to the loss? Here are some suggestions:

1. Raise the status of motherhood and present it always as a worthy ambition for women and an occupation which lasts beyond breast-feeding.

2. Teach the men to embrace traditional biblical manhood, central to which is the idea of provision. Money cannot buy that which a godly woman will bring to her home, her husband and children, if she is released to do so.

3. Fight tooth and nail the rising materialism and consumerism which has invaded our culture and propagated the lie that luxuries are necessities and that more money must always in and of itself be a good thing.

4. Value the ministry of women. Recognise their service by appointing lady workers/female deacons/care co-ordinators/church visitors. If possible and appropriate, employ them.

5. Run or encourage attendance at events which can be accessed by working women, as well as those for women at home. For busy women, an annual or termly event at a weekend might be more appropriate than a weekly one.

6. Train up women who evidence a teaching gift. There is a sorry shortage of women, from the conservative evangelical constituency, who are able and willing to teach the Bible publicly.

7. Help women (and men) to live distinctive Christian lives in the workplace. Here is where they will have more interaction with unbelievers than anywhere else.

8. Encourage women (and men) to make the most of the opportunities they have for mutual edification and support. Too much of our interaction is trivial or worldly. Prayer partnerships or triplets can be arranged. Even in busy lives, hospitality and practical care for each other are commanded in Scripture and must remain a priority. Those ministries, al-though not confined to women, are ones at which women can excel to the benefit of God’s people and the glory of his name.

A version of this article was previously published in Grace magazine.

Ann Benton is chairman of the London Women’s Convention. For more information about the London Women's Convention and the Northern Women's Convention, visit: http://www.christianconventions.org.uk