Monday
Feb272012
a short {funny} story on women & church
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 11:15AM
monday = the perfect day for a funny story. i'm reflecting on my experiences as a woman in the church as i'm just beginning work on my talk for the upcoming CM Websummit, "Reflections on Leading in the Church (As a Woman)." this event will be the first time i've spoken directly on the subject of women, leadership, and the church, and of course, i'm excited and beyond nervous. i think it was chef bobby flay who said, "if you aren't nervous about your passion, you aren't passionate about it.”
the topic of women leading (or not leading) in the church is not only a passion for me, but a way of life and a divine conviction. i'm deeply committed to empowering women and inspiring men to utilize the full gifts and talents of all people. and, it seems as if my experiences have greatly shaped my opinions. have i ever told you this {funny} story?
i attended bible college {that's not the funny part!}. it was both a weird and wonderful time. every monday through friday i participated in theology classes which reinforced the message to me these classes are useful and good and helpful for your ministry to women and children. but, the man's work is to lead the church. this was challenging and confusing for me. i knew god have given me leadership gifts to use for the church, after all i had enrolled in bible college to receive training for ministry, but what i heard each day was that god intended to use my leadership gifts partially and in small doses to serve the church. this wasn't the god i read about in the bible, and loved and served with my life.
in my experience, i felt most obedient and most alive when i led in the church.
here's where the story gets good {and funny}! when i was a junior in college i started working part time at willow creek church {where women are encouraged to lead strong}. i wrote curriculum and led a small group of volunteers who taught the preschool children. can you see where this story is headed? even now, as i write this, i'm laughing, because the whole thing is so dang funny. every saturday afternoon i would leave my downtown chicago dorm room and travel down I-94 to willow where i led a team of volunteers in the children's ministry. most of the volunteers were men. ah! and, older men. it was totally scandalous. to make matters worse, i'd return to church early sunday morning to lead another team of volunteers who were also men. how I ever walked out of bible college with an actual diploma is still a mystery to me. maybe the dean's office was unaware of my terribly unbiblical behavior. please don't tell. i'd hate to have my diploma retracted!
are you catching the irony {and humor}? i would sit in class all week listening to how god's plan was for men to lead the church, and then when the weekends came, i would get in my car, leave bible college behind, and lead the church. some days i felt like i had a hidden secret identity. but actually, i'm grateful for that time in my life. working at willow gave me women role models who encouraged my spirit, and attending bible college opened my eyes to various perspectives. together, these experiences resolved my determination to use the gifts god had given to lead strong for the sake of the church.
how have your experiences shaped your opinions on women leading in the church?
and, please! give me advice, what must i mention during the CM Websummit?
PS: have you read this book? i'm ordering it today. looks amazing!
the topic of women leading (or not leading) in the church is not only a passion for me, but a way of life and a divine conviction. i'm deeply committed to empowering women and inspiring men to utilize the full gifts and talents of all people. and, it seems as if my experiences have greatly shaped my opinions. have i ever told you this {funny} story?
i attended bible college {that's not the funny part!}. it was both a weird and wonderful time. every monday through friday i participated in theology classes which reinforced the message to me these classes are useful and good and helpful for your ministry to women and children. but, the man's work is to lead the church. this was challenging and confusing for me. i knew god have given me leadership gifts to use for the church, after all i had enrolled in bible college to receive training for ministry, but what i heard each day was that god intended to use my leadership gifts partially and in small doses to serve the church. this wasn't the god i read about in the bible, and loved and served with my life.
in my experience, i felt most obedient and most alive when i led in the church.
here's where the story gets good {and funny}! when i was a junior in college i started working part time at willow creek church {where women are encouraged to lead strong}. i wrote curriculum and led a small group of volunteers who taught the preschool children. can you see where this story is headed? even now, as i write this, i'm laughing, because the whole thing is so dang funny. every saturday afternoon i would leave my downtown chicago dorm room and travel down I-94 to willow where i led a team of volunteers in the children's ministry. most of the volunteers were men. ah! and, older men. it was totally scandalous. to make matters worse, i'd return to church early sunday morning to lead another team of volunteers who were also men. how I ever walked out of bible college with an actual diploma is still a mystery to me. maybe the dean's office was unaware of my terribly unbiblical behavior. please don't tell. i'd hate to have my diploma retracted!
are you catching the irony {and humor}? i would sit in class all week listening to how god's plan was for men to lead the church, and then when the weekends came, i would get in my car, leave bible college behind, and lead the church. some days i felt like i had a hidden secret identity. but actually, i'm grateful for that time in my life. working at willow gave me women role models who encouraged my spirit, and attending bible college opened my eyes to various perspectives. together, these experiences resolved my determination to use the gifts god had given to lead strong for the sake of the church.
how have your experiences shaped your opinions on women leading in the church?
and, please! give me advice, what must i mention during the CM Websummit?
PS: have you read this book? i'm ordering it today. looks amazing!
Reader Comments (5)
I love this story!
I was so lucky...in high school, our pastor asked if I would lead a group of children (and adults) in a Christmas Pageant production. It made me feel so necessary to the church! Thankful...
I love your story about women leading in the church. Quite honestly there are many men who feel very threatened by women stepping into leadership in the church- even if they are gifted leaders. The culture at Willow is distinctive in its openness toward leaders of both sexes -- Praise God! I grew up in the tradition that 'first' honored women in leadership by ordaining them- the Episcopal/Anglican tradition. Even today in the Episcopal/Anglican church... there are people who REFUSE to take communion from a female priest/pastor. When I served in an international church in Amsterdam my marriage became suspect because a female priest had officiated at my marriage. I had two kids, had been married for 20 years... and yet the marriage was invalid to some because of the priest? That priest was assigned to our wedding by a bishop. The dealing with women in leadership issue seems to follow me around from group to group. If there are no ordained men in the group... then they will ask me to lead them in prayer. The minute there is a man with a masters in divinity in the room - regardless of how much experience he has... people tend to give the men the floor – even if it means taking it away from a female pastor who had the floor! I have seen staff meetings cancelled if there were not men attending and women told that since “no one” on the staff could attend a meeting the meeting would be cancelled (when the women were staff!). This is NOT an issue that goes away -- it seems.
Seminaries struggle with how to help their female graduates. One denomination offered incentives for those churches that would hire a woman to lead. Some men in ministry are very concerned about dealing with female pastors in the workplace. In some churches there is a 'boys club' that excludes the female staffers. I actually think this is an area that deserves more attention than it gets in the church and specifically within church staff members.
I'm glad you can see the lighter side. The other side can be hurtful, harmful to interpersonal relationships, and a barrier to peace within the church family.
I love that you are talking about this! I remember talking last year at Orange with you about this very topic. I think if you got a room together of women who have been in ministry for awhile you would have one long conversation filled with lots of ups and downs. For me, I am blessed to have an unshakable calling that I can't look back and deny. I KNOW God called me to lead... now getting others to respect that and allow me to lead is another story. That book looks really interesting! I need to read that for sure! It poses an interesting question of what would happen to the church if all the women resigned... thanks for sharing it!
amy...i needed to hear this today! how did you know? the "pings" to my thoughts about women in church leadership have just come recently...and from close friends (who attend different churches with different points of view on this topic). my own church (where i have been a lay leader for about 20 years) has been nothing but supportive and encouraging. jesus erased so many lines that people have drawn. and i think he continues to pull out that eraser...erasing the lines widens the circle and that's such a good thing.
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