The older I get the more I see how the church has fallen short of helping young women see their value, beauty, and their importance in the church. Last semester I took both Old and New Testament classes which meant I pretty much read the entire Bible in one semester. What I loved about these classes was that they taught what the Bible said not what the church teaches. I remember the day in New Testament when my professor addressed the "issue" of women in ministry. I got nervous because I was at a baptist college but he told us what the Bible said and what it meant. He said that in Acts it is written that women will prophecy. Then he proceeded to inform us that the word prophecy means to teach the word. He then said "So there you ladies go it says it in your Bibles. You will be preachers of the word." It says nothing about women's ministry or children's ministry it just says prophecy in Acts 2:17-18.
"17. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons AND daughters will prophesy.
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18. Even on my servants, both men AND women,
I will pour out my spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy."
As a female who is being called into the ministry it was like finding a diamond in a coal mine. I have a passion to teach and lead teenagers in the church. Not just teenage girls either. I love kids but I don't have the patience to solely minister to them. I think women's ministry is a very important area in the church but I don't want to be the one responsible for dealing with all the drama that comes with being female.
I am incredibly lucky to have grown up in a church and with pastors that were very pro-women in the church. I had a female youth minister my last two years of high school, our intern was female, and we had a female pastor on staff that would preach during main services on a fairly regular basis. I have had a healthy view of women in the church because, growing up I was always surrounded by the most amazing women in ministry. And, in all honesty, it wasn't until it was recently pointed out to me how unfriendly the church can be towards women. I have always known it but it had never affected me until a few recent things happened in my life. Knowing what I know now and seeing they way women can be treated makes me even more grateful for the women I got to see preaching from a stage when I was younger. They are the reason I felt like I could go into ministry because I saw Julie preach on Sunday mornings and I heard Natalie and Julia teach on Wednesday nights. The male pastors I grew up with were very pro-women in ministry also. In fact I had never seen first hand opposition to women in ministry until recently and it disgusted me.
I know this blog will cause some people to disagree with me and to think I'm crazy. Some will think I am completely out of line, some will get infuriated at the things I have said but it is things that need to be said. It's not a popular stance to have on the subject and it might get me in trouble in some places but the fact is, if you read what the Bible says about women and their place in ministry, AND also do some research on the era and circumstances certain things were said under you will see what I am talking about. Also, that some things can not but taken at face value because you have to know what was going on in the church and the culture of the time the scripture was written.
So that is my two cents. I would apologize if I made you angry but I honestly don't feel the need for it.
