Why Women's Ministry?

Women's ministry is women serving women. Women can serve in other capacities in the church and community as well, but the special focus of this ministry is the nurture of women. Women make up more than 50 percent of church membership. The church has a responsibility to provide a path for women to develop their relationships with Christ, and to help women find their unique gifts and roles in the priesthood of believers. An organized women's ministry provides a forum for women to discover these gifts and their roles through their relationships with each other and with new women members.

Women today are not only different from men in their needs, but different from their grandmothers. Fifty percent of women with young children are working mothers (Women's Ministry Handbook). They are better educated than ever before. Fifty-four percent of working women, ages 25 to 54, are college educated. In 1965, only 20 percent of working women were college educated. In America, more than 50 percent of society is single. Many women are included in that number. Women are living longer. Senior women need to be ministered to and also trained to minister to younger women.

Married Christian women have at times been limited in realizing their identity in Christ; instead their spiritual identities have been so closely tied with their husbands' they are often unsure of their own relationship with Christ. Married or single, all Christian women need to have their own relationship with the Lord and be secure in their salvation.

Much research is being done on how people think and learn. Studies show expectation has much to do with the level of accomplishment people attain. If little is expected of women, little is accomplished. God expects much more of women than they might believe.

Pastor General Joseph Tkach has said: "Each member of the church, men and women alike, is called to participate in the work of the body of Christ--each according to the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit provides." Women's ministry gives our women that opportunity.

Leith Anderson writes, "The healthy church pushes people into ministry where the Holy Spirit has gifted them rather than where the church organization needs them. To do otherwise would be like using a nose for feeling and a hand for walking--it can be done, but it's not in keeping with the original design" (A Church for the 21st Century).

To raise women's self-esteem and encourage them to grow spiritually, women need to be recognized as equal servants of Christ in the priesthood of believers. Women's ministry programs can provide the opportunities for women's abilities and service to be recognized and valued. They help women recognize what Christ is doing in their lives. Such programs also provide opportunities for relationships, for both prospective and long-time members.

Christian formation is developmental, for both men and women. Women's ministry can help women reach their potential as they learn and serve through their relationships. By training women for leadership positions in women's ministry and by treating them with dignity, women's confidence and skill levels will increase, and they will be released for service in the work of Jesus Christ.

Spiritually mature female leaders are necessary for the growth of the 21st-century church. Quoting Stanley Grenz, professor of theology and ethics at Carey/Regent College in Vancouver, B.C.: "The use of imagery for God which arises out of human sexuality leads to an important conclusion. God is not merely beyond male and female. Rather, God's relationship to creation takes on both male and female dimensions. Thereby, God forms the foundation for the distinctively male and female dimensions of human existence. As a consequence, a true perception of the divine nature requires the contribution of both men and women" (Women in the Church, a Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry).

Women's ministry provides support and growth opportunities for all women, regardless of their lifes' circumstances. Women's ministry can help women grow in spiritual maturity through their service to other women.