I do a lot of public speaking for the non-profit ministry that I work for. As the Executive Director, I try to speak to the community organizations in the area, appear at events with display tables, and mostly speak at churches on Sunday’s to share our message with the Christian community. This has been one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects of my job. It has been rewarding because I have been given the opportunity to see just how many people share the same values and beliefs as I do. The challenge has been to actually be allowed to speak. Unfortunately, some churches believe that women should not be allowed to speak on a pulpit.
Now, to be fair, this has only been with a few churches. Most churches have no problem letting a woman come and share about the ministry. But those handful of churches who will not allow a woman to come and speak from their pulpit, simply because they are a woman? Well, they frustrate me.
This is a mostly female ministry. All of our staff and volunteers are female except for one. Most of our board members are female. 90% of our clients are female. Our goal? To give women another option other than abortion. We are trying to save lives. Women’s lives, due to emotional trauma that often comes with having an abortion, and the unborn baby’s life. We also want to reach the father.
The message that we want to share is a message of hope, healing, compassion, and oftentimes about the heartbreak we see on a daily basis. We give our lives for this ministry. So when we make a phone call or talk with someone face to face about coming to speak to their congregation about the incredible things God is doing in the lives of those who come through our doors, and we are told only a man can share this, it feels like a slap in the face.
I don’t happen to believe there is a problem with a woman preaching, but for those who have this conviction, I can respect it. But we are not preaching. We are sharing about God’s miraculous work. To be told that we cannot is disheartening.
The idea of women now being allowed to lead ministries and preach in pulpits is derived from 1 Timothy 2:12 which says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.” But sometimes we have to evaluate the cultural values and the societal norms that were in place during the time. Also we have to accept that Paul as the writer says that he does not permit women to preach. That is his personal preference, but that does not mean that it is against God’s will or plan for women to preach. To say that would be overlooking the equality that Paul also spoke about in Galatians 3:8 which says, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” We are equal in God’s eyes.
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:8
There is also scriptural evidence that women were in ministry even in the Bible. Deborah and Huldah were both prophets.There was also Miriam, and then Anna found in Luke 2:36. Acts 2:17 says ‘”n 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.” Men and women are both capable of being used by God. It’s time all churches get on board!
We want the same opportunities that men have. We want our work and our message to be seen as just as costly as 
a man’s. I believe it is time for the church to take a look at this and make some changes. In an open letter to her Christian brothers, Beth Moore talks about similar struggles. It is a tough thing to be a woman leading a Christian ministry. Heck, its a tough thing to be a woman in any leadership role.
On average, men still make more than women given the same experience, education, and job description. That’s not just the secular world. I have seen it within the circle of Executive Directors I am associated with. A female director will be paid less with less hours per week until a man comes to fill the position. Then the salary is increased, or the hours, or both. A man would never settle for the pay grade of his female predecessor.
These sorts of things need to be addressed across the world, but specifically within the Christian community. If we are all made in God’s image, then we all have value. It’s time to take a good hard look at the misogyny taking place in the church.
Until this has been rectified, we hold our heads high, don’t we ladies? We do our work as unto the Lord, and allow Him to fight our battles, whatever that may look like. We pray that God will change the hearts that need to be changed, and go before us to make a way. We are daughters of the most high King!
