When I first moved to Niddrie Community Church nearly 10 years ago, I spent the first 6 months or so knowing who was in the congregation (I was very small). I wanted to know who was who and what they were all good at. She discovered that some of the women in the church felt a little marginalized and deprived of their rights, it was as if they had been left in the background in life, in the ministry of the church, and in the local community they were trying to reach with the gospel. They went down the usual path: tea, coffee and flowers; but that was all there was.
I started getting to know Niddrie’s community and soon realized that we had to hire a community worker and that I had to be a woman, at the time the supplements were not as important in the British gospel scene as they are today. , so there was a small risk in choosing a woman as one of my first recruits. He had read many articles and blogs by pastors and church implementers who talked about the growth of their management teams. Very few of them talked about hiring a woman in the Even those who did tended to leave it as one of their subsequent commitments, and even then, only if there was money. I’ve seen the development of many planter plans and often women just aren’t there. about hiring a young worker, executive pastor, or cult leader before they even consider a woman.
- In 20 schemes.
- We insist that all of our church implanters make sure to employ a mature woman from the beginning during the process of implantation and/or revitalization of churches.
- Here are some of my reasons.
In fact, single parents accounted for about a quarter of all families living in Scotland in 2016. Unsurprisingly, nine out of ten of these single parents are women. In Scotland’s poorest communities, 52% of all residents are women. There are many vulnerable women. multifaceted pastoral problems (more than half of them suffer from long-term health problems or disabilities).
For example, millions of women across the UK have admitted to using illicit drugs last year and even more illicit drugs in the same period. Unfortunately, 45% of women in the UK have experienced at least one incident of interpersonal violence in their lives. Statistics also show that 54% of all violations in the UK are committed by a current former partner and half of all violations are committed by men who claim to love them.
Many of these vulnerable and needy women with complex physical, psychological, and spiritual problems are found in our congregations and communities; they yearn for love, attention, and demand a lot of time as we counsel and teach them in the Word, as their emotional needs often are so much so. great, it’s just not wise or wise for a man to spend an extended time in his life.
Although this is a major generalization, a survey of the 15 men who preceded me in Niddrie revealed that 1 in 3 had been fired for crimes related to sexual immorality. 100% of these men struggled to keep the opposite sex intensely. Unfortunately, our church Leaders are not immune to sexual sin and many pastors have fallen into this area with a member of the church they were advising or someone they were evangelizing. Advising and evangelizing vulnerable women on the periphery (many of whom have been sexually abused) is a minefield. The form of kindness or willingness to listen to a man is almost always misunderstood in a sexual way (this is also true in reverse). A man who listens to them is a very powerful aphrodisiac. For some, temptation can be very difficult to resist. They’re not used to men listening to their problems. They’re used to men who are the problem.
We know that there are many ways in which pastors can safely counsel members of their congregation, but we suggest that having a mature, trained and endowed woman is one of the most useful. In many churches, this kind of thing is left to the pastor. wife or maybe an old man’s wife. Almost invariably, it’s not about talent, it’s about her husband’s position in the community. It’s good if you’re trained, but it can be extremely harmful if you’re not. , the question remains that in crisis situations (a daily event here), a mature and pious woman can continue the relationship in a deeper and more lasting friendship in a way that a pastor cannot and should not. When we talk about discipulation, we are not talking about the specific monthly pastoral encounter, but of the intense daily walk with God, while women live together.
But what place is there for men?
Of course, women need the influence of pious men in their lives; After all, the church must be guided by men, this is clearly apparent from the scriptures; these men have a responsibility to teach the whole congregation a sound doctrine and set an example. according to Tite 2, but they also have a responsibility to teach women. Here are Paul’s instructions for Tite:
“As for the old ladies, equally, who are serious in their conduct, not slanderers, not slaves of too much wine; to own good, to teach newlyweds to love their husbands and children, to be sensible, honest, good housewives, kind, submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be defamed (Titus 2. 3-5).
Everything we do in Niddrie is supervised by the elders and has the approval of the entire congregation. It’s not that we’re not involved in the lives of the women in our church, because we clearly are. Women can see us teaching and illustrating piety. at home, while we preach the Word and lead meetings, we always advise unmarried couples and women in certain situations, if we advise a couple, I do it with my wife, if we advise a single woman, it may be with my wife or one of ours who works with women or with a friend that the counseled woman trusts. In addition, pastoral workers regularly inform the elderly so that we can consciously pray for those with specific needs and difficulties. But at the heart of this, we, as male leaders, make sure that our pastoral workers receive support and training to do their job well.
We now realize that some people think that by empowering women to become pastors and empower other women, we are not fulfilling the distinctive male role of pastors as we should. Some feel that we confuse people with having women in pastoral positions within the church. When we say that the pastoral care of “pastor” women does not mean that she is a shepherd, on the contrary, she assists pastors by providing daily pastoral care to our women. we teach and say if we are not present. There are some things to say about it.
We trust our women because, like male leaders, we train them well in the doctrines of the church before delivering them to the ministry; In fact, it is very offensive to suggest that by giving responsibilities to women at this level, we are opening up the Church to a grave mistake. Many more men have led churches to deviations than women.
The church is not confused, but is built while women and men are involved “with each other”. The shepherd is not considered the only one qualified to serve among the herd he is grazing. That’s a good thing, because a man simply can’t assume this role properly. Even with a small church and several elders, they may have difficulties under the weight of pastoral problems in our congregation.
Women are encouraged by having an important activity to do in the kingdom of God and not just by being spectators or simply by being there to prepare meals.
The local church needs workers. Most women living in our poorest communities suffer without the hope of the gospel. Women haven’t heard the good news that can really free them from their burdens. Women on the periphery need more than women who parachute to be another worker. in their lives, perpetuating their addiction. They need women to live with them every day of their lives. Harvesting is important, there are few workers and women stay outside. They shouldn’t be. Employing more women for ministry should be our top priority.