women who give us all a bad rap

I think this blog speaks for itself.

I've just finished an intriguing book by a wonderful author, Dorothy Sayers. I guess it's not as much of a book as it is two essays bound together, and in it Sayers, in her winsome way, addresses the question, Are Women Human? The book, bearing this title, is short and a very quick read, and I would highly recommend it to you. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom from her:

We have, I think, allowed ourselves to drift into asserting that "a woman is as good as a man," without always pausing to think what exactly we mean by that. What, I feel, we ought to mean is something so obvious that it is apt to escape attention altogether, vis: not that every woman is, in virtue of her sex, as strong, clever, artistic, level-headed, industrious and so forth as any man that can be mentioned; but, that a woman is just as much an ordinary human being as a man, with the same individual preferences, and with just as much right to the tastes and preferences of an individual. What is repugnant to every human being is to be reckoned always as a member of a class and not as an individual person.

"What," men have asked distractedly from the beginning of time, "what on earth do women want?" I do not know that women, as women, want anything in particular, but as human beings they want, my good men, exactly what you want yourselves: interesting occupation, reasonable freedom for their pleasures, and a sufficient emotional outlet. What form the occupation, the pleasures and the emotion may take, depends entirely upon the individual.

We are much too much inclined in these days to divide people into permanent categories, forgetting that a category only exists for its special purpose and must be forgotten as soon as that purpose is served. There is a fundamental difference between men and women, but it is not the only fundamental difference in the world.

Most helpfully, at the end of the book she makes a great point:

Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man--there never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or teased or patronized; who never made jokes about them, never treated them either as "The women, God help us!" or "The ladies, God bless them!"; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything"funny" about woman's nature.

But we might easily deduce it from His contemporaries, and from His prophets before Him, and from His Church to this day. Women are not human; nobody shall persuade that they are human; let them say what they like, we will not believe it, though One rose from the dead.

There are many more great insights in this short work. Speaking in a time when women were fighting for basic rights it is amazing to see her tempered feminism. I think she has something to teach, not just in her words, but in her winsome presentation of the fundamental aspects of what makes us all, both men and women, first and foremost, human.

women's ministry in the 21st century

I have a confession to make: when I hear the phrase, "women's ministry," I cringe. Immediately, images of doilies, cutesy teas, knitting, and flowery fonts on the cover of Bible workbooks parade in front of my eyes, ghosts from the small Baptist church in which I (almost literally) grew up. Many of the women I know have similar reactions. We suspect that "women's ministry" has nothing to offer those of us who, for example:

• don't have kids
• have kids AND a career
  
• dread arts and crafts
  
• don't believe that "submission" should be one-sided
  
• don't especially appreciate Beth Moore (or Elizabeth Eliot)
  
• are less emotional than the [stereo]typical woman
• didn't kiss dating goodbye
  

Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for women who DO benefit from traditional women's ministry, and I realize that good, relevant women's ministries do exist - but I also know that stereotypes exist for a reason. I suspect that many women's ministries, particularly in smaller churches like mine, are not equipped to minister to those of us who don't fit the "church woman" mold, much less reach the majority of non-Christian women in our culture...

So what does "women's ministry" look like in the 21st century? How can churches meet the needs of ALL women, regardless of their vocation and place in life? I've been wrestling with questions like these lately as I have been taking stock of the overall needs and strengths of my congregation, in which there is no formal "women's ministry" in place.

After church this past Sunday, a man from the congregation mentioned that he and his wife were glad I am now full-time at the church, since they had just recently been discussing the need for more "women's ministry" at Redeemer. I bristled at this, of course, because that's probably one of the biggest pet peeves of most female seminary grads: being put into the "women's ministry" box when that's neither your passion nor specifically your calling. However, as I have had further conversations with the women at my church, I am beginning to see the need for and the value of "women's ministry," but women's ministry of a particular sort. Some heuristic thoughts:

• Young moms truly do need connections with other women in the congregation, and this takes some special intentionality. This doesn't necessarily mean that young moms should only get together with other moms, but for a single gal like me, it's good to remember that childcare is a must if these women are going to be able to come to church events.
• Women need encouragement to develop their giftings and talents, and to then use those giftings and talents in the church body.
• Younger women need the wisdom and encouragement of older women.
• Single women and married women need each other's perspectives on life.
• Even if a woman is well-educated and has a career, she still needs connections with other women in the congregation. She might also need opportunities to engage faith more intellectually, or on the flip-side to have a space in which she can allow her faith to engage and release her emotions.

In other words, women need discipleship. At the same time, it is only men and women together that bear the image of God -- what implications does that have for spiritual formation and discipleship? But that's a topic for another day...

So what shape SHOULD women's ministry take in the church today? I suppose asking questions is the first step toward finding answers...

~~~~~~~~

Case in point: After publishing this post, I visited a blog associated with the "True Woman" movement (hand-in-hand with the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood), and the most recent posts include, "You can't go wrong with Chester's Chocolate Mint Brownies," "Studying Housework," "He Never Helps Out," and my personal favorite, "Warm Fuzzies."

Ever wondered why the "women in ministry" issue is such a big deal for so many Christians?

Well I sure have. The Issue seems to pop out out of nowhere sometimes, but it always rises up with vehemence and strong opinion. I'm the first to admit that it's a hot button issue for me -- it strikes too close to home for my responses to be anything less than passionate when The Issue comes up -- and I have to be really careful that to season my passion carefully with love, compassion, and respect for those who disagree with me.

How did the interrelated Issues of women in ministry, the ordination of women, and male headship become such a big deal for the American church? While I'm sure that some might reply, "because defending biblical truth [in my experience, this usually means a complementarian perspective of some sort] is of the utmost importance!", I just don't think it's quite that simple. Why THIS battle with this amount of energy?

Scot McKnight has some thought-provoking thoughts on this subject. Rather than me summarizing his excellent blog post, read the whole thing here. And if you have the time, click on the category "Women in Ministry" and check out some of his other postings on The Issue. You won't be sorry you did.

Side note: Scot McKnight's blog, Jesus Creed, is well worth exploring for its intriguing discussions and interesting posts, even if you couldn't care less about The Issue mentioned in this post.

A Vocation I Did Not Choose

I never planned on becoming a minister. In fact, if you had told me when I entered seminary that I would be employed full time at a church when I graduated, I would have laughed in your face. Four years ago, when I entered seminary (which, at the time, I would only refer to as "graduate school"), I was on the fast track to earn my M.A., do the whole PhD thing, then teach theology in a university somewhere. Academic teaching was "safe" for a Christian woman, and I felt that since few enough women are teaching theology, in becoming a professor I would still be a bit "on the edge," expanding the boundaries for future generations of women and men, bringing an underrepresented voice to theological discourse.

I had never had a female professor for a theology or biblical studies class. I had certainly never attended a church where a woman was any sort of pastor... other than a children's pastor, of course (another "safe" vocation for a Christian woman). I had never in my wildest dreams wanted or even imagined entering into ministry myself - it had simply never been presented as an option for me.

My second year in seminary, I was sitting in one of my classes, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I sensed this... voice? Call? Leading from the Holy Spirit? I don't even know what to call it. All I know is that from out of the blue, I had a sense that God was calling me into some sort of pastoral ministry. I did NOT want to be a pastor of any size, shape, or variety. I told God flat out that if he wanted me to enter that type of ministry, he would have to make me want it.

Well, he did. It took a lot of time, a lot of personal growth, and more pain than I like to think about. But gradually, yet suddenly, I find that I am a minister. I am a pastor. I long to help other people become wholehearted, whole-bodied disciples of the Lord. I love to walk alongside people when they are struggling, to help them bear their burdens, to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. I hear the Lord reminding me, "Feed my sheep... and do not forget about those sheep who are wandering outside of my fold."

I didn't choose this life -- but I love it. I was built for this vocation, and God knew that, even when I didn't. As I enter into ministry, I sense His pleasure... and that is where my confidence lies.

Like many women, I still don't quite understand how I ended up in ministry... but I'm grateful.