Women in Ministry and Ministry for Women

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.