The Calgary Pride Parade took place this past Sunday. As our city (and the Western world) celebrates sexual perversity and rebellion against God and his creational norms, it is easy for us to articulate what we are against. But do we know what we are for? Could we articulate a vision of masculinity, femininity, sexuality, marriage, children, family and so forth? Could we give biblical warrant or would we base our answers on “traditional” values, however they may be defined?
One area that can be challenging for Bible-believing Christians today is to define what it means to be a woman in a local church. Certainly, passages like 1 Timothy 2 forbid a woman from preaching or being an elder in the church. But what then, should a woman do? What does church ministry look like for women?
The following is an excerpt from the sermon “Christian Ministry: At Church.” After the excerpt, I’ll list a number of integral ways women serve at Fairview.
Is there a place for women’s ministry in the church? Of course. Undeniably, and resolutely, YES. But what does that look like?
“Christian Ministry: At Church” preached March 27, 2022.
Women’s ministry today is often a ministry geared to the women rather than ministry of the women. Most involved in this ministry would be consumers rather than servants. We want to see a ministry of the women, while being equipped by the word and Spirit to do that work of ministry and service.
Women’s ministry is clearly defined in Scripture. In Titus 2, wives with children and husband at home have a clear, God-given command to “to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled” (Titus 2:4–5). This is your act of worship, your act of service, your calling (regardless of your gifting or suitability), and this is your ministry to the church.
Also in Titus 2, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children” (Titus 2:3–4). In doing this, the word of God is honored and praised.
Do women serve in the church beyond the home? Yes. As the Lord provides opportunities that do not take away from your responsibilities at home, women serve and minister to the body in accordance with their gifts and in keeping with their nature. Women make things beautiful. They are tender to the sick, the downcast, the lonely. They provide meals and clothing. They encourage conversation and prayer. They use their homes as a place of refuge for their own families and others outside their family, practicing hospitality. They care for children and pray and strive to see the murder of the unborn cease. It may be using gifts of administration and organization. It may be a mother to the motherless or orphan. It may be through accompaniment of the worship in song, in evangelism to children, in helping people in addiction, in providing clothing, in greeting new people who join us in worship, in being a friend and counselor. Women do these things while not neglecting the primary calling to motherhood and the home if that is your season of life. There are myriad of ways to serve the body for the glory of God.
Now there is a time for the equipping of women. Classes, groups, studies, workshops, and so forth. But this equipping cannot replace the ministry. Neither can this equipping avoid equipping women to do the very tasks that women are called to do.
Women’s ministry is ministry of the women (and to them). Speaking the truth in love, serving one another to grow to be like Christ, and in ways which understand the high calling of women and appropriate tasks according to God’s design for womanhood. Equipping to facilitate ministry is required but isn’t ministry for everyone. Ministry of all is the goal. Equipping and teaching the word is necessary to achieve that goal.
Now let me expand by considering a few ways women serve at Fairview. This list is not meant to be exhaustive, but illustrative. It also does not mention common items that both men and women are called to do (read the Scripture, fight sin, grow in holiness, and so forth).
- Household. Be faithful and push to be fruitful in your calling at home. A woman who serves her home as a wife and mother serves the church. This cannot be neglected for a “public” ministry. Love your husband, teach your children, build a home that is a refuge of warmth and light in a city of darkness. This point cannot be overstated. To be faithful in your household is your primary service to the church.
- Hospitality. Your home is your public place of ministry. Consider having one night a week (or some regular interval) where you can have others into your home to fellowship together. Get to know new people, invite young and old, and if space allows, consider multiple families as a way for people to get to know each other. Share with guests a time of family worship to direct hearts to the Lord in worship.
- Meals. There are many needs you can meet practically. Sickness, transitions, newcomers, postnatal mothers, etc. Blessing someone with food, card, or book is a great way to encourage one another and build up the body of Christ.
- Helper to Mothers. Older women are called to help younger women (see Titus 2). This is not always a “tell them what to do” but a “show them what to do” or “help them do.” For example, older or single women can help on a Sunday by sitting with a family with young children to help manage the challenge of children in our services. Sometimes another set of hands can greatly lighten the load. At home, there is opportunity to help with cleaning or cooking as need arises.
- Outreach. There are many ways in which we go into the world to share Christ. We have women involved in pro-life ministry, handing out tracts, and street evangelism. Engaging in conversation or doing acts of mercy to direct non-believers to Christ is a challenge yet exciting.
- Encouragement. Women are gifted to care for others, encourage those in need, and pray for those who need intercession. This can also be a ministry of passing along books, encouragement from the Scripture, and other forms of edification. Look for other women who are exhausted, hurting, or alone and encourage them in the Lord.
- Greeter. We see many newcomers visit our fellowship on Sundays. Some of which do not know the Lord. Women should be looking for new women or mothers who visit our fellowship to acquaint them with our church and ask questions to see if they are in need of salvation in Christ. It is important ministry for women to welcome other women into the fellowship.
May this encourage you to minister according to your own gifts and calling, remembering that the Lord uniquely equips each part of the body so that we work together as the church.
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:4-8).