There has been a little bit of discussion around the traps about the idea of women in ministry (see here and here and here and here for a start) and it has prompted me to come out of the closet.

The fact is, I am actually one of these women in leadership that we are talking about. I have been a bit circumspect about revealing my gender, or the fact that Phil and I are married. Some of you that we have been in closer conversation with know these things, but many don’t. A lot of people have in the past assumed that I am a male (although I don’t know what assumptions they make about my relationship with phil).

Why? Partly because it is fun to mess with people’s assumptions, but partly because I believe that people interact with me differently when they think that I am a guy.

But this is my story of my experience in leadership in traditional church and the emerging church.

I am not in full time paid ministry. I have never felt the inclination, although I have done some formal theological study. I think that I could be a formal minister - so why do I not? It is certainly not because I don’t think I am capable, or because nobody has ever encouraged me to consider it or because that option has been blocked off to me. The fact is, I prefer doing what I am doing as a secular professional.

Nonetheless, I have held key positions in leadership both in a traditional church and our current church which is exploring non-traditional models. I have developed discipleship and outreach programs for senior high school students. I have a significant responsibility in relation to our gen X congregations at Northern. I have led and coordinated congregations at our church not attended by any minister.

Last year, I became the chair of the board of our denominational body. Interestingly, the men that I work with in that role congratulated me because they recognised that I was good at the job. Interestingly, a number of women (even those that I had little to do with prior to my appointment) congratulated me because it was good to see a woman in that position. I discovered after my appointment that I was the first woman in our history to hold the position. On the other hand, generally I find that I have to earn respect from men that have not had personal contact with me, prove myself in a way which I feel a man would not have to. Women are more likely to respect me because of my gender, whereas men are less likely to grant me automatic respect that would sometimes proceed from my position.

Members of my board still call me “chairman” when they are trying to get my attention.

As for my role in the emerging church, it is interesting. Through this blog, I feel that people who do not know me have placed a higher value on my contribution than those that I come into contact with face to face. I cannot decide whether that is due to my gender, or because I am married to one of the most gifted and innovative practitioners in our movement, and my contribution pales in comparison.

Our church has many key leaders that are female. Our gen X leadership team is exactly 50/50 male and female. I have had female ministers at my relevant church(es) as long as I can remember. One of our female congregation members is currently exploring planting a new congregation at Northern which she would lead alone - because she is trying to create something that connects with her and people that she knows.

In two weeks I am going to attend the ministry induction of my mentor, a woman who has given years of leadership to our denomination and has now committed to local ministry, a woman universally admired. I see that great women are contributing great things to ministry all around me.

Oh, and one last thing. I don’t believe that women are somehow less suited to strong leadership than men. There are plenty out there. My close friendship group includes a range of strong women who in their careers are kicking butts, engaging in high profile, high importance, highly driven deals and who demand the respect of all that they come into contact with. But none of them are a part of the church.

So what is my point in all of this? I don’t know. I believe that gender has an impact in the way that people are valued and the way that they have to proceed. I don’t believe that is the only factor. I believe that the role of women in the church has been traditionally one of service and nurturing, and that this may contribute to women with strong leadership qualities abandoning the church. I believe that implicit in the conversations about women and men in churches is an assumption that men hold the power to affect relationships, not women - it is men who must protect themselves from situations of intimacy with women, for example.

I don’t know the answer to any of this. I don’t even know all of the questions. We seem to oscillate between bemoaning the fact that we can’t get more men attending church, and bemoaning the fact that we can’t get more women in leadership. Perhaps part of the answer is that as the church explores new models and new incarnations, new models of leadership will also emerge and impact our churches.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 30th, 2004 at 1:45 pm by dan and is filed under chicks in church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.