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In Which I Eat My Hat (and hope it’s made of chocolate)

February 6, 2012 By 2 Comments

I swore it would never happen. I would not get involved in women’s ministry. After all, I’m egalitarian. I’m not always sure we need a separate women’s ministry, as if women can and should minister only to other women, as if women can and should connect only with other women simply because we are women.

Historically, I believe women’s ministry rose out of necessity: it gave women a place to learn and it gave women a place to serve, to use their teaching gifts in a church culture where they were otherwise silent.

But now? Current archaeological finds in places such as Ephesus help explain Paul’s difficult teachings on women. Historical studies of the church show how God has used women for his kingdom work for millennia. Throughout the Bible, God’s chosen people led the way for women and provided training and opportunities for them to use their gifts, and when necessary, protected them from the culture.

I’m not sure the church does this today in our culture, but I didn’t sit down to write that post.

I sat down to write a post about why I’m teaching a women’s ministry Bible study though I swore it would never happen.

In short, I met the women who attend said Bible study. I met a group of women of different ages and life stages, with different interests and talents, from different countries and cultures, and I loved them. These women love God and want to know him and serve him. They dedicate time from their week to study the Bible individually and corporately, and the carry these lessons into their lives, into the ordinariness and the hecticness, into the mundane and the life-changing events. I wanted to get to know these women, to be a part of them, to learn from them.

Which means that I now teach in the women’s ministry at my church, and I’m thankful to be able to use my training and spiritual gifting with a group of people whom I admire and with whom I enjoy fellowshipping.

This is why all hats and words should be made with chocolate.

Filed Under: ministry Tagged With: , , ,

Safe Serving

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

They didn’t need me.

I had come to peel potatoes or shuck corn or cut out biscuits. I had come to stir pots. I had come to eat with forgotten children. But on this particular Saturday night, adult volunteers crowded the kitchen and outnumbered the children.

photo via flickr: All rights reserved by ►CubaGallery

The children came from broken homes, collected by CPS and deposited at this halfway house until they return to their parents or are placed in foster care. Before this night, I had baked a chocolate cake, iced it with more chocolate goodness, and dropped it off.

Safe serving, I call it.

Then I discovered that a group from my church makes meals for the kids once a month. Mostly, I stayed out of the way. At dinner, I sat with a couple of kids and a swarm of adults. I asked the woman in charge to add me to her email list, but she never did. They didn’t need me.

That is, that particular group on their particular Saturday nights didn’t need me. But the kids? Two years have gone by, and periodically I think, I’d like to do something with those kids. On their website, they say they need after-school tutors. I printed out the paperwork. It sat on my office desk for a year before disappearing into oblivion. At Christmas time, I think about these kids, who so easily get lost, who need to know they’re not forgotten, that they’re loved. I could knit some fun scarves for them, I think. Look at all these crazy yarns I’ve collected over the years! Perfect for a pre-teen, flashy, girly scarf. But inevitably, other knitting Christmas projects overwhelm me, and the scarves remain balls of yarn.

Now I have a four month old, and I think, how could I do this? What would I do with Keegan? I know very well that my mother-in-law would love to watch him for an hour each week while I reach out to kids who need to know that someone thinks about them.

Still, I hesitate. I procrastinate. I think, this year, I’ll start the Christmas scarves early.

Filed Under: ministry Tagged With: , ,

The Post I Don’t Want to Write

July 11, 2011 By 3 Comments

It’s been seven years. Seven years since my midlife meltdown twenty years too early, my life and identity crisis. I had just graduated from seminary, where I had studied to go on the mission field.

Except I didn’t go on the mission field.

I stayed in a Dallas suburb to marry Chris, a decision I’ve never regretted. I have only to look at my sexy, caring husband and our beautiful son to dispel what might encroach.

But no regrets doesn’t preclude pain and confusion, for what should I do now, in this suburban land in the middle of the Bible belt? Over the following year, I worked through this question, and I became a writer. I’ve told the story before, so I won’t rehash the details now.

Last night, the pain and confusion revisited me. What am I doing in this suburban land, lush with prosperity, glut with churches? Months of spiritual emptiness culminated after discussions last night between my husband, his sister, her husband, and myself about the possibility of opening a franchise business.

Two things scissored at the frays of my life: what does this business have to do with our pursuit of the kingdom of God? and what do I, as an artist, have to offer?

Let me leave behind the first question for now except to say that I believe business to be an important aspect to God’s kingdom work on earth. To be discussed later.

We move on to the second question, then. My husband is a brilliant businessman, an entrepreneur exuding ideas, a strategist extraordinaire. My sister-in-law knows people and knows sales. My brother-in-law can manage people and businesses like nobody’s business. Their assets form a trifecta not to be taken lightly.

Then there’s me, the trained musician and theologian, the writer, the artist who daydreams in left field as the baseball rolls by. What do I have to offer this business?

Last night, this question broadened: what do I have to offer God, our family, our church, our community? Or, more significantly, what am I offering? After years of toiling and thousands upon thousands of words, I continue to write in relative obscurity. In addition, our recent life change has limited my writing time and my publication pursuits (i.e. the business side of my writing).

Don’t get me wrong: Keegan brings a plethora of joy into my life. I adore motherhood more than I expected. Watching his fascination with life itself reminds me of the care our Creator put into forming this world for us.

But I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to the person I set out to be, and I couldn’t help but wonder what use my words are in this life.

My own writing came back to haunt me. After the tears cleared, I came to my computer this morning to find a note from Laura Boggess letting me know that The High Calling was reprinting an article I’d written for Curator Magazine about art I’d discovered at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel. This art was created by the persecuted in ghettos, hiding, and concentration camps. What use did such art have? What audience did they seek? I wrote: “They found a power in art separate from functional services.”

I chuckle at the irony. What use do my words have? Perhaps to remind me a year and a half later that the pursuit of beauty and truth is in itself a worthy task.

And so, today, I pick up pencil, I take to paper, and I return to my work while Keegan naps. Unuseful? Perhaps. But important all the same. May I glorify God with this work.

(P.S. You can read the article at The High Calling here.)

Filed Under: art, ministry Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Tapestry: A Christian Women's Collective

August 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment

It’s live! That’s right, after months of prayer, discussions, details (a lot of details–from whence come all the details?), it’s live–a group blog: Tapestry: A Christian Women’s Collective.

Tapestry is a conversation for all women in all ministries. It brings together leading writers, speakers, and thinkers to dialogue
theologically, biblically, and culturally with women in ministry about
the issues these individual women face and the broader issues of the
culture in which these women minister.

For more information on the whys and wherefores, go here. To learn more about the authors, go here.

Filed Under: ministry, tapestry, women

24601

March 27, 2008 By 13 Comments

I saw this meme lurking around the High Calling Blog collection (a fun network of people that I recommend you check out if you haven’t already) but thought, what odd job have I done? I skipped it. Then Brandon tagged me, and I can’t very well go ignoring good tags now, can I? Which means I’m doing a meme and combining it with some unformed thoughts rattling around in my head about my job now. First the rules (because you can’t have a game without rules–I tried once, and while it was fun for me, no one else wanted to play again):

1. Write about the Strangest Job I Ever Had and tell what I learned from it.

2. Link to other “Lessons from Odd Jobs” posts.

3. Tag my post “Lessons from Odd Jobs”.

4. Tag other bloggers, in or out of the HC network. (I tag Michelle, Tanya, and Pam because they’re three good story-tellers.)

5. Link back to the Lessons from Odd Jobs page and and email this month’s host at “Marcus AT highcallingblogs DOT com”.

As I said, I’ve never had an odd job. I’ve been a janitor, a worship administrator, a women’s ministry intern, a pharmaceutical tech, a music librarian, a medical receptionist, and a musician. I’ve babysat, edited, taught flute and piano lessons, played odd gigs at odd places, composed, and entered mass amounts of data. I’ve learned that author’s are touchy, the floor of a man’s bathroom is always sticky, and certain pills smell good.

But the strangest job I’ve ever had: a writer.

Who else gets away with hearing voices in their heads? Who else can zone out of conversations while creating alternate realities and have a legitimate excuse?

This brings me to the tweaking part of the meme. The wilderness part. You guys were with me as I wrote about becoming me, the imaginative theologian who loves the arts. It’s who I am. I have visions of the Church being a patron of the arts, of incarnating Christ through art, of being a beacon of creativity. I have a desire to help shepherd and guide artists and lead them in spiritual formation. Something (or Someone, I should say) pushes me to do more with my writing, to work harder, to be excellence (by the way, there’s a good article, The Habit of Excellence, up at The High Calling this week), to embody the sufferings and the hope of resurrection.

I’m an artist.

Or am I?

I’m a mediocre musician and a rookie writer. Am I an artist?

I’m in a place of stripping and purging. I prayed for insignificance that God would strip away my pride.

And He’s answering it.

I read last night in Dark Night of the Soulthat in the purging process, there’s a time when the soul feels rejected by God.

I’m in that process. Some of it, I suspect, is God telling me, No, that’s not what I have for you when I take on jobs impetuously. Some of it is an answer to that prayer for insignificance. Some of it, I don’t understand.

I feel alone. I feel useless. I’ve been in this wilderness for four years. God reveals things now and again, like oases. A couple years ago, I started writing. I thought, now we’re getting somewhere!

Only I’m not anywhere.

It’s not that I don’t love my job and my life. I teach flute and piano. I spend most of the day writing. And I’m heading up a new group blog for bible.org (more on that later). I love my job(s).

But I wonder if God loves them. If He loves them, why doesn’t He use them? If He loves them, why doesn’t He give me that bit of encouragement when I ask for it?

So the oddest part of my odd job: watching everything be stripped away.

I can’t help but think of the part in the Maundy Thursday service when the priests stripped the altar. Christ’s presence gone (metaphorically speaking).

I can’t help but think of Mary meeting Christ in the garden, of the travelers meeting Christ on the road to Emmaus, of the disciples meeting Christ in the locked room.

I warned you that these thoughts are unformed, swimming around without a dock. Next week, I’m going to the symposium, Transforming Culture: A Vision for the Church and the Arts. I’m looking forward to refreshment. I’m looking forward to just being who I am, an imaginative theologian, and perhaps, an artist.

My soul belongs to God, I know
I made that bargain long ago
He gave me hope when hope was gone
He gave me strength to journey on

Who am I?
I’m 24601!

Filed Under: art, imagination, imaginative theologian, meme, ministry, music, work, writing

Amy Beach

March 13, 2008 By 5 Comments

Today we’ll finally begin to look at ministry to women, specifically Bible studies.

But first, a word from our sponsor: Amy Beach (1867-1944). Amy began taking piano at age four, and by thirteen was a published composer (yeah, one of those child prodigies–funny, you don’t hear about child prodigies as often in women as you do in men). She spent her early life focusing on performance but at eighteen shifted to composition. She composed over 150 works, many of which were performed by high-profile organizations. Her style was marked by lyricism, intensity, and passion.

So ends today’s history lesson.

Bible studies. There are a number of good ones geared for women out there, including, but not limited to Kay Arthur (Precept Ministries), Beth Moore (Living Proof Ministries), Priscilla Shirer, BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). (I’m not including Sandi Glahn’s studies in this list because I don’t think they’re specifically written for women, although numerous women’s groups do them.) Bible.org also has a women’s focus on their site. I’d like to point out that all of these were began by and for women, most have expanded to groups that include women, men, and children.

So let’s talk about training and gender issues.

The question is, does Bible training need to be done gender-specific? Is the Christian life different for men and women? I’d like to point out that I know of no women’s Bible study that believes that the Bible or theology is different for men than women. I think the question relates to two different issues: (1) Does femininity affect learning style (in other words, do women learn differently than men)? and (2) Is the essence of the sin struggle different for men than women?

Historically, women’s ministry is young. I’m not talking about the natural mentoring that happens between mother and daughter or other such things. Mentoring relationships have always been around, both gender-inclusive and gender-exclusive. I mean an intentional pursuit of Bible study and events done by women for women. I don’t know why it began. I suspect that women wanted more Bible knowledge and training than what they are able to get in church. 

That makes me wonder: why? If women are not excluded from sermons and Sunday schools, why did they feel like they were getting less training than the men? It seems to me that men’s ministry is rarer and later than women’s ministry, but perhaps I’m wrong.  If you have any theories about this, I’d love to hear it.

Fundamental, I think, to this is your definition/understanding of femininity. Anciliary to this is your stance on the role of women in the church. A quick note regarding the women: there is not simply "complementarian" and "egalitarian." There is a spectrum. Two people who consider themselves complementarian may have different reasons for believing it and may have different boundaries. For example, one complementarian position states that men and women were created equal but with different roles. Another believes that we were created egalitarian but as an effect of the Fall (namely related to the struggle for power), hierarchy is needed. In this view, at the resurrection, men and women will be egalitarian again. The same goes with the egalitarian view. One more quick note: you can be complementarian and believe that women can preach–yes, even preach a sermon on a Sunday morning–to men and women. This is a more moderate complementarian view that sees this woman preaching as under the authority of male leadership (i.e. the senior pastor, the elders). Likewise, you can be egalitarian and at times think a male is more suited for a specific role.

Regarding femininity, I’d like to talk about epistemology (how we learn) within femininity. In other words, do you think that women fundamentally learn differently than men?

Honestly, there are several answers to this, I think. Some of it is the superficial area of illustrations. Typically, sports and war illustrations are used to reach men. Crafts and chick flicks are used for women. And then there are some that I don’t know where they’d fit: career, child-rearing. There are some problems with this: different women enjoy different things. Not all women like crafts. Not all like chick flicks. Some like sports and war illustrations. Hear me: I’m not saying what women should and shouldn’t like (for example, I enjoy watching sports and movies like Braveheart and I’ve taken up knitting). I’m not saying that we should then just say, to heck with it, let’s focus on the sports and war illustrations. There are a number of people, men and women, who don’t resonate with those, and so with the interest of connecting with all people, we should have a number of illustrations. It sounds like I’m talking in circles here, but really, all I’m asking is can and should illustrations be gender-specific?

Then there’s the question of learning style. I learn differently than my husband does, but is that because I’m female and he’s male or is that because I’m right-brained and he’s left-brained? Is it because of the belief that women are more holistic thinkers while men compartmentalize? (I say "belief" meaning that there is some scientific data saying women have more synapses connecting left and right brains than men do, but I also know of women who compartmentalize and men who easily flow between right- and left- brained functions and thinking.)

In the interest of keeping this post from lasting until the cows come home (and considering the fact that we don’t have cows, that could be a long time), I’ll save the rest of my thoughts on learning styles and Bible studies for Monday. For now, I’d love to hear what you guys enjoy from women’s Bible studies (those of you that do them) and what you wish they did more of.

Filed Under: Bible studies, femininity, ministry, ministry philosophy, women, women's ministry

Ruth Crawford Seeger

March 11, 2008 By 3 Comments

In honor of Women’s History Month, for this series of women in ministry and ministering to women (which is broader than women’s ministry), I’m titling each one with important women in history.

Because of my music background, I’m prophesying that most will be musicians. But who knows?

Ruth Crawford Seeger was a composer in the twenties and thirties. She wrote atonal music influenced by composers Alexander Scriabin and Charles Seeger (who became her husband) and folk music. RCS was the first woman to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship.

Back to our discussion about ministering to women, although we have yet to talk about women specifically, and I have a feeling we won’t get to that until tomorrow. Yesterday, I brought up the issue of the purpose of the church, and, more specifically, your local church because any ministry to women should fit within that. I believe, as you can see in the Transforming Culture supercategory above, that the church’s function (within the purpose of glorifying God and showing His love to the world) is to transform culture spiritually and physically. (This includes areas such as social justice, arts, and science.) I believe that evangelism is bringing people into meaningful relationship with God, and this relationship affects the spiritual and physical realms. The church, then, functions to transform believers and, with these transformed believers, actively participate in the world (you can see my fire and coal illustration in the Transforming Culture category). Let me point out that I don’t think this is a two-step process. I don’t think you first transform believers and then you participate in the world. I think these two things go hand in hand. Jesus didn’t remove his disciples from the world to train them and then take them out. He trained them as he went out. In fact, the training was in the going out and in the conversations that his actions spurred. In the same way, I believe the church goes out and ministers/heals/feeds/preaches/touches and in the process also has conversations through Scripture about why and how and who and all that jazz.

Side notes: (1) this being a blog and me being an external processor, I’m working through these things. I have been for years and years. In fact, I wonder–do you ever get to a point where you’re not working through these things? So, please, point out my weaknesses, tell me your processes and workings out so that we can do this together. (2) Later we’ll address the specific role of Bible study and meditation, but at this point, since I don’t specifically mention it much in the above, I do want to say that I believe the Bible to be the most significant shaper of our story as it is a witness to God’s overarching story in which we fit. I also believe that all this is done through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. (3) Transforming culture is God’s kingdom work in which we get to participate. In other words, while we are passionate about it, we don’t have to stress. He’s in control. (4) These beliefs influence the Bible studies I write. For example, in the study on Abraham and Sarah, we look at God’s call on, work in, and work through Abraham and Sarah. At the same time, we "storyboard" (what I termed the section that reflects on the reader’s life) our lives (God’s call on, work in, and work through us). Also, because I’m an artist (specifically musician and writer), the arts are an important influencer in how I think about, process through, and reflect God’s work in and through me, so one day a week is reserved for worshipping God through whatever artistic medium you choose. This, I think, helps some people (i.e. people like me) work through things and participate in that sector of life. Finally, while we dwell on what God has called us to, we’re doing it. Part of the commitment in these studies is your social justice project (what I call your Special World, following Campbell and Vogler’s terminology) done as a group and optimally through partnerships with your local church because this is how God works in and through us. Why stop at talking about it? Part of the learning process is in joining God’s kingdom work. By the way, these Bible studies are not written exclusively for women, but we’ll get to that later. I say this to give you an example of how your philosophy and theology about the church (i.e. ecclesiology).

As I predicted, we have yet to talk about ministry to women specifically. Some issues still to be covered in re-evaluating women’s ministry: why do we do this (this specifically in light of our belief about the purpose and function of church and of your local church)? Why do we have it? Why do we need it? Should we try to attract women to women’s ministry? What do personality differences and learning styles have to do with how and what we do? Do Bible studies and spiritual formation need to be different for different genders? What kinds of outreach ministry can women uniquely do?

I will say that these answers will be different for different cultures and sub-cultures. A healthy tension exists between the church ministering within culture (and sub-cultures) and seeking to bring cultures and sub-cultures together. When I say together, I do not mean make them the same. I mean that we can worship together, rejoice together, participate together, all the while celebrating the differences that serve to reveal different aspects of God.

I also want to point out that as we address ministry to women specifically, these answers will be influenced by your definition of feminity. I interacted with this on the three-part series I did on Becoming an Imaginative, Female Theologian Who Loves the Arts (part one, part two, and part three). 

Let me end with one last point I’ve been thinking about lately: how our culture affects this. In our transformation of culture, I don’t believe our goal should be to go back to some "Golden Era." (For the record, I don’t think a Golden Era ever existed.) One of the things that I think the church is not doing well is modeling a healthy mixed-gender leadership for those in leadership in their worlds. In the working world, women are CEOs, managers, project leaders. They have men and women answering to them. They answer to men and women. We teach men how to lead biblically, but do we teach women?

Now that I’ve brought up a potentially explosive subject, I leave you to your interactions. In a couple days from now, we’ll look at epistemology (how we learn/know things) and femininity. This will affect our thoughts on Bible study and spiritual formation. Other thoughts to discuss in the future (many, many days from now): women in leadership (addressing the issue I raised in the end) and outreach.

Oy vey. 

Filed Under: ecclesiology, ministry, ministry philosophy, theology, women, women's ministry

Women in Ministry and Ministry for Women

March 10, 2008 By 2 Comments

Did you know that this month is Women’s History Month? It’s fitting that we discuss women in ministry this month and the purpose of ministry for women.

Last week, I brought up the question, why aren’t most women in their 20s and 30s (really, early 30s, I think) connecting with women’s ministry? At the back of my mind, I’ve been wondering, should they? Or is it okay that they plug in with other ministries during this stage of their life? Will this mean that eventually women’s ministry will die out? Or is it a stage thing–women who are now in their 20s and 30s will see women’s ministry differently as they approach their later 30s? Or if it dies out, is that okay? Does that mean that needs are now being met elsewhere?

As these questions pop in my head, I return to the idea of always re-evaluating ministries in order to make sure that they are serving not just their purpose, but God’s kingdom. I think we all agree that programs and curriculum are not the end in themselves. As we together re-evaluate specifically women’s ministry, I want to look at what is the purpose of the church, how does women’s ministry fit in that purpose (both the purpose of the universal church and the purpose of the local church–I think different churches to some extent have different purposes), how does women’s ministry uniquely serve, what are the good things women’s ministry is doing, what are some empty things women’s ministry is doing, perhaps even, what women’s ministry is.

I want to be clear that I’m not saying this because I think all of women’s ministry is necessarily bad. I think it’s generally good. I’m also not bringing this subject up because I think I have all the answers. This is an issue I’m currently working through, and I thought, what better place to work through this than on my blog where I can get the input of other men and women (yes–I think it’s important to get a man’s input on this as well, just as I think women should have some input in men’s ministry). I do have some opinions (who doesn’t?), and I’ll develop those as we work through this series, but what I really want is to know what you guys have to say.

I don’t know how long this series will run. Besides purpose, we’ll look at content–at things like Bible studies, mentoring, discipleship, spiritual formation, outreach and service, and events/programs–and how the content serves the purpose.

For today–let’s get the juices flowing. I’m going to make an assumption that the purpose of the church is to unify believers so that the world knows God’s love (John 17). What I want to start discussing today, before we even get to some specifics of women’s ministry, is the function of the church. Is it the care of believers? Is it the care of the hurting or needs of the world? Is it to reach unbelievers? I know we all would say that ideally, all three. Let’s get beyond that. Let’s look at how we want to see all three accomplished. There’s one that your church (or you, if you don’t agree with your church) would see as primary. The other two, then, flow from accomplishing the primary, or there are ministries to the other two in your church, but the ministry you hear most about is…

To help you out, think of what metaphors and/or common terms/phrases you relate with most and how you imagine that metaphor/term/phrase being played out–ambassador of Christ, refuge, protector of truth, dispenser of church, the Bride of Christ, a healing balm (or hospital), a prophetic voice, community, common identity, salt of the world, light of the world, city on a hill, fortress (now I have Martin Luther’s song stuck in my head), etc. It’s important that you think through what the metaphor means to you. For example–salt has been used for many purposes–to season, to preserve, to make thirsty.

FYI: I’m getting these ideas from a class I took at Dallas Theological Seminary several years ago called "Theological Education in Intercultural Contexts." A lot of my ideas, my approach, and even the fact that I’m bringing this up at all, comes from my theology, my ideas of communication, and my belief that God has a purpose for the world, for the church, and therefore for each program/study/ministry/curriculum/project that the church undertakes.

So have at it folks, let’s look at some of those metaphors and ideas.

Oh, and I added a new supercategory to my site, "Transforming Culture," that has some of my ideas about church (notice I said some). Also, for those of you who get Glimpses, you may have noticed how I develop the metaphors for the church in the monthly devotional, "As the Church." Heck, if you even look at what I attach to my name on every email, on my description of my Speaking Ministry–"incarnating Christ to a hurting world"–you begin to get an idea of my passion. But I’ll chime in later with some specifics.

Filed Under: femininity, ministry, ministry philosophy, women, women's ministry

Rahab, Ruth, and Rebekah Blog

March 4, 2008 By 5 Comments

So continuing the thread from yesterday…

I have a group of women of different age, experience, and life position who are getting ready to begin blogging about women’s ministry (and women in ministry). What would you like to see us blog about? The door’s wide open. 

Filed Under: Christian living, ministry, women, women's ministry

Of Rahab, Ruth, and Rebekah

March 3, 2008 By 26 Comments

Let me be honest with you. I’ve never been passionate about women’s ministry. Not specifically. I’m passionate about encouraging people (challenging people?) to participate in God’s kingdom work, which means being passionate about people, which sometimes means finding myself in women’s ministry (but also means finding myself in young adult ministry, youth group ministry, missions, artists’ groups, small group ministry, singles’ ministry–you get the picture).

I’m passionate about connecting with people (ironic since meeting new people scares me at times). I’m passionate about finding my place in God’s story and taking people with me.

These days, my place in God’s story seems to include women’s ministry, specifically in partnering with my church and with groups like bible.org and Proven Way ministries in figuring out both how to develop theological materials and how to connect with my generation. (Now I have that song stuck in my head–Talking ’bout My Generation–although I don’t know if that’s really the title of the song or just a line from it.)

Here’s the thing–women in their 20s and 30s are not involved in women’s ministry. In other words, women’s ministry is doing a great job of ministering to women in their 40s and above, but, for the most part, is not meeting the needs of 20s and 30s, specifically those who are single or married without kids.

I’m going to be honest about what’s kept me from being involved in women’s ministry in the past, and my plea is, will you share what’s kept you/keeping you from being involved in women’s ministry, both good and bad reasons?

  1. In both my learning environments (i.e. college and grad school) and my working environments, there’s no distinction between men and women. This goes back to my femininity post (okay, posts). Frankly, I don’t care if you’re a man or woman if you have something to teach me. This is my biggest reason and it reflects two things: (1) I want to hear diverse opinions (even if I don’t agree with them), and (2) I connect more on other levels, such as personality.
  2. There’s a perception of fluff surrounding women’s ministry. Sometimes this perception holds true. Other times it doesn’t. But I get tired of trying to figure out which ones do and which ones don’t. Sometimes the fluff is needed. Sometimes the need is just to connect people of similar interests. But personally, I’m interested in getting into the theology and meaning of life. I’m interested in spiritual formation and discipleship. I’m interested (and this gets to the heart of it since the other interests are for the purpose of this one) in loving God and loving my neighbor as myself, which means (as I said in the beginning of the post), participating in God’s kingdom work.
  3. I’ve been involved in other ministries that I’ve been able to pursue the above interests so haven’t felt the need to get involved in women’s ministry.
  4. Women’s ministry hasn’t always had something to say to my life. What do I mean by this? There are excellent resources and studies out there geared for women–Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, BSF. These are all good things ministering in good ways to a lot of people. But, as I said in those imaginative theologian posts, my learning style is governed more by my personality and my identity as an artist than it is by my femininity. So while Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, and BSF are all excellent and needed, I don’t learn as much from them. Think about it in regards to your college life. Different people resonate with different classes and different teachers. (Sidenote: this is why I’ve started writing Bible studies–not because others aren’t doing it well but because I wanted to write something for people who see things the way I see them.) One example of a group of women doing Bible study together that I’ve connected with in the past and look forward to connecting with very, very soon again is Soul Per Suit because of the women involved and the way the Bible studies are structured.

In the end, I think I sometimes feel more segregated from the church by women’s ministry than I have felt connected with the church. I don’t think women’s ministry needs to be doing everything. And I think that women’s ministry needs to look different for each church based on the needs of your church and your community. To end on a positive note, I’d like to list a few possibilities that women’s ministry has that other ministries don’t:

  1. Connecting women together for spiritual formation. Theology and spiritual formation (and, for that matter, service) flow together. I’m not a fan of models that distinguish between heart, mind, and service because I think all affect the other. That being said, I think there is a place for spiritual formation which takes the theology in a very personal way (though I hate saying that as if theology is ever not personal!) within the context of a small, trusted group with the intention of opening you up, cleaning you out, discovering who you are (the good, the bad, and the ugly) so that you may serve in the way God intended to serve. I think women’s ministry is an excellent platform for this ministry because, let’s be honest, there are some things that I can say to women that I can’t say to men (other than my husband). This is not to say that women’s ministry is the only place for spiritual formation, but a good option.
  2. Some ministries, such as those to battered women or pregnant girls with no where to turn, are better done women-to-women because these hurting women may not trust men as well because of their history.

In short, I think I’d like to see women’s ministry more outwardly focused and coordinating with other ministries in order to connect with people like me.

But I only speak for myself.

I know this is a long post, but if you’ve made it thus far and still have a second to spare, I’d love to know your thoughts as I seek to help other ministries.

Filed Under: femininity, ministry, women's ministry
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