Thank you to all the women pastors, priests, bishops, deacons, and other church leaders!

[bekkilyn]

***BEFORE POSTING TO THIS THREAD, PLEASE NOTE*** You are in the EGALITARIAN Christians forum.

If you feel obligated to jump in and post that "Women can't be ______" then read the link below.

If you must insist that men and women are equal but have "separate roles" then read the link below.

If you think that Men are from Mars and Women from Venus then read the link below.

In general, if you have anything besides a positive comment on this thread title, then read the link below.

Statement of Purpose - Egalitarian Christians Statement of Purpose

It's sad that it seems we need to continuously make these sorts of disclaimers whenever anything positive is said about women in the church, but there it is.

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I just want to post and say thank you to all of the female leaders in the church who have done so much to be an inspiration and an example to my own faith. I appreciate your devotion to God and to scripture and all the hard work you do while answering the special calling that God has placed on your lives and that you said yes to it. Without you, I may not have returned to the institution of the church, never having found a real home as a Christ-follower, and even now you help to lift me up when trials of faith become great.

So thank you, ladies, for saying yes to God and for everything you do for the Kingdom!

And to continue the positivity of this thread, how has a female leader in your church impacted you and your faith?

 

[mkgal1]

I was encouraged to see this video from N.T. Wright (former Anglican bishop) the other day. I loved his perspective of how Jesus's new creation after the Resurrection changed things (and that the biblical reference to the women being the first to know about His resurrection is an example of change):

 

[NBB]

This may sound out of the extraordinary, but i'm not making stuff up, i had a heart ailment that i felt in my chest area since i was a child i was worried this could end my life, this year this lady, wife of a pastor said without knowing me 'someone heart is being healed, God is giving you an athlete heart' thing is, this feeling in my chest dissapeared, and yes a woman can be a 'prophet' or minister like in the bible there were women prophets.

 

[public hermit]

I know so many gifted female leaders in the church. They remind me that in Christ we are united and equal. In Christ, the categories that we use to carve up humanity (male/female, Jew/Greek, etc.) no longer function to divide us. Praise God, and may all female leaders be blessed.

 

[bekkilyn]

I was encouraged to see this video from N.T. Wright (former Anglican bishop) the other day. I loved his perspective of how Jesus's new creation after the Resurrection changed things (and that the biblical reference to the women being the first to know about His resurrection is an example of change):

I love how he says it all flows from the Resurrection. That's part of what I find so inspiring. Both men and women FULLY participating in ALL areas of the church IS a Resurrection story! It's the gospel of a fully redeemed humanity.

 

[bekkilyn]

One story I would like to share is many years ago when I was just getting back into going to church again, the Methodist church I attended had a young, female associate pastor, and it just amazed me in so many ways! I really felt the hand of God here. Shortly afterwards I moved and no longer attended the church but that young pastor stuck with me. A couple of years ago when I was exploring vocational ministry myself, I found out that she is now a senior pastor at a thriving large church a town or two over, and I hope to be able to thank her in person someday. She never knew me, and it was only a short time, but she had a very positive impact on me.

 

[Paidiske]

Thank you for this thread, bekki. I actually got teary over breakfast!

There are many things I could say, but for now I'll just share that the first time I received communion from a woman, it made something real for me in a way it hadn't been before. I think for women in a male-dominated church there's a level of "interpreting" that we have to do; we see the men in leadership, we hear non-inclusive language, and so on, and we have to do the mental work of reminding ourselves that (theoretically) that includes us too. But to see it and not have to do that mental translation; it brings home that God can love me, for who I am, without having to have that mediated through male images and language and me being an afterthought.

I don't know if that makes sense? I can come back and try to unpack it more later.

 

[Gregorikos]

There have been so many, but one that stands out is the Adult Sunday School teacher in an Assembly of God church I used to go to. The leadership in that church was male dominated, and there were many knowledgable men in that class, but she blew them all away. Her knowledge and insight were always outstanding. This was 30 years ago, but I still remember how I looked up to her, and to this day I never had a teacher that I held in such high regard.

The one time I thought she was a little crazy was the time she pointed out that men and women in 1 Timothy 2:8-10 are plural, and that it shifts to singular in verse 11-12, and that means something. Now 30 years later I have come to hold a view of that passage that embraces many things she taught that day.

I think when she left she started her own church.

 

[bekkilyn]

There have been so many, but one that stands out is the Adult Sunday School teacher in an Assembly of God church I used to go to. The leadership in that church was male dominated, and there were many knowledgable men in that class, but she blew them all away. Her knowledge and insight were always outstanding. This was 30 years ago, but I still remember how I looked up to her, and to this day I never had a teacher that I held in such high regard.

The one time I thought she was a little crazy was the time she pointed out that men and women in 1 Timothy 2:8-10 are plural, and that it shifts to singular in verse 11-12, and that means something. Now 30 years later I have come to hold a view of that passage that embraces many things she taught that day.

I think when she left she started her own church.

Good for her!

 

[bekkilyn]

Thank you for this thread, bekki. I actually got teary over breakfast!

There are many things I could say, but for now I'll just share that the first time I received communion from a woman, it made something real for me in a way it hadn't been before. I think for women in a male-dominated church there's a level of "interpreting" that we have to do; we see the men in leadership, we hear non-inclusive language, and so on, and we have to do the mental work of reminding ourselves that (theoretically) that includes us too. But to see it and not have to do that mental translation; it brings home that God can love me, for who I am, without having to have that mediated through male images and language and me being an afterthought.

I don't know if that makes sense? I can come back and try to unpack it more later.

I wanted to respond before but I ran out of time, but I have experienced it as well. It was difference between feeling included as a real person created in the image of God vs. just being an afterthought. Even when it wasn't communion, that's a big part of what that associate pastor did for me, just seeing her helping to lead services, being ordained and recognized as crucial leadership in the church, and it gave me a whole new and broader and brighter view of the church, a church that might even include someone like me. I knew I had a place with God, with Christ, but I had thought I would be forever spiritually homeless on his earth in his church.

Had those women never said yes to God's calls in spite of what is often a great deal of obstruction from other human beings, I don't know where I would be today.

 

[Emily Write]

The church I go to women's leadership more than I agree with, but the children's minister that they've had for years has done an awesome job running it. And while I dislike the last two girl's ministers they have had for the teen ministry, the one that was there the majority of the time I was in their youth group was an amazing person because of her calm nature and kind behavior. The last two youth pastors wives were or are actually better at leadership than their husbands and our pastor's wife is just as good as hers and he gives her credit for helping him out in his walk with God all of the time.