In Church Leadership: Where Are the Women?
“When my daughter was in fifth grade, we visited my home church in Oakland. It was communion Sunday, and the preacher—male—got up and preached the sermon, then after the sermon, 12 men in their dark suits came forward to serve communion. And my daughter—fifth grade—leans over to me and she says, “Dad, where are the women?”[1]
Dr. Kurt Frederickson, a former pastor, and seminary doctoral director shared this story in a blog post to illustrate that as his young daughter did, women look for female role models in the church.
Does your church affirm and celebrate young men AND women who discern the Lord calling them into pastoral leadership? Are the young men’s calls encouraged, while the young women’s motives for leadership are questioned and her call redirected towards ministry to children or hospitality? If so, is this biblical?
During my tenure as the women’s ministry leader at a Bible church, questions directly related to “Where are the Women?” churned in my mind.
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- What is God’s vision for women in the church?
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Does the testimony of Scripture set guardrails on female leadership—is it right and good for a church to impose restrictions on female pastoral gifts—because restrictions are biblical?
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- Can women preach/teach?
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- Can women serve as pastors, deacons, and/or elders?
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- Where do I begin to study for myself—which Scriptures, scholars, and commentaries will best help me learn what the Bible says about women and leadership?
Perhaps you, too, have pondered one or more of these questions. Pursuing thoughtful and robust answers is worthy. Why? It’s vital to understand what the Bible truly teaches about women because what the family of God believes about women matters! One’s view of women influences how one treats their female friends, work colleagues, mothers, sisters, and daughters. And for husbands, it impacts how they treat their wives.
A second reason what we believe about women matters: In the global church, women are the majority stakeholders. In the United States, women represent upwards of 60% of the church. In Latin American Pentecostal churches, women comprise 70% of church membership, and in African churches between 70—80% of congregants are women. While women in China and Japan represent 80—90% of the church body.[2]
Sadly, women are voting with their feet and leaving the church. Recent Barna studies reveal that in the overall decline in U.S. church attendance, “The rate of decline is much steeper for women.” They learned that 27% of professional women are leaving the church.[3] A study titled “Christians at Work,” indicates “Women are less likely than men to believe they are using their unique talents and gifts to serve outside the workplace.”[4]
Significantly it matters because the Bible and church history reveal story after story of women serving in divine mission on behalf of the church. Historian Anneke H. Stasson writes, “Women’s leadership is not a twentieth-century phenomenon. On the contrary, women have played a leadership role in the mission of the church since the days of Jesus.”[5]
It matters that believers learn and understand what the Bible teaches about women, their personhood, and their gifts.
Do your personal beliefs about what women may do in the church align with God’s Word? If you are unsure what the Bible says about women, are you willing to sift the Word and revisit what you believe, either to confirm it or to reconsider it?
It is unimaginable to me that even one faithful believer would desire for the global church to fail to empower and to enable the full benefits of women’s Spirit-given gifts because of misunderstanding, confusion, or lack of clarity over what the Bible teaches about what women may do in the church. Would you agree?
Stay tuned for my next January blog post: I’ll review the major Christian views on women in the church: Traditionalist, Complementarian, Egalitarian, and Mutualist.
Download my complimentary resource guide: For ideas on how to get started with your study on women and the church, download my complimentary resource guide here.
Theology of Women Academy is opening for enrollment soon: Join the Waitlist now for the first opportunity to enroll in my online course in early 2023. In this self-paced course, I unpack the spectrum of Christian views on women and the church to move you from confusion and uncertainty to confidently being equipped to form your beliefs on women and church leadership.
[1] Fredrickson, Kurt. “Barriers and Bridges: Advocating for Women in Ministry.” Commission on Biblical Gender Equality. June 2, 2013. http://blogs.covchurch.org/bge/2013/06/02/barriers-and-bridges-advocating-for-women-in-ministry/
[2] Katie Lauve-Moon, Preacher Woman: A Critical Look at Sexism Without Sexists (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021), 6. See also Carolyn Custis James, Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women, (Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2011), 27; Wendy Murray Zoba, “A Woman’s Place: Women Reaching Women is Key to the Future of Missions,” Christianity Today, August 4, 2000, 46, accessed May 20, 2022. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/august7/1.40.html.
[3] Ryan Burge, “State of the Church: Behind the Steep Decline in Church Attendance Among Women, Barna, March 4, 2020, accessed February 23, 2022, https://barna.com/changes-behind-the-scenes/. See also Barna Group, “Five Factors Changing Women’s Relationships with Churches,” June 25, 2015, accessed May 2, 2022, https://www.barna.com/research/five-factors-changing-womens-relationship-with-churches/.
[4] Burge, “Christians at Work: Examining the Intersection of Calling and Career,” Barna.
[5] Leanne M. Dzubinski and Anneke H. Stasson, Women in the Mission of the Church: Their Opportunities and Obstacles Throughout Christian History (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021), 7