OVERCOMING the Obstacles to Women in Ministry

Obstacle # 4: The church's system of titles and positions.

At one point I found myself in a supportive position of pastoring under male leadership. This man was kind and very good to me in many ways. However, he said he could not call me "assistant pastor" due to my gender. Instead he would call me a "pastoral assistant." I did not understand the difference, but he felt the distinction was necessary.

Years later I was still in the same conflict. Someone wanted to appoint me to a specific office of leadership but was struggling with my title. A decision was made to set me in the position with another man and call us "co-directors." We were the only co-directors in our fellowship in the nation, but evidently the leadership felt safer about this arrangement since I was a female.

The leaders in both these situations had no problem with my ministry calling, but both told me other people did. Supposedly these semantics games were the best ways to deal with church politics. Interestingly, when my co-director resigned his position, the leadership kept me as the only female director in the fellowship. God has a way of working things out on our behalf if we will trust Him.

Similarly, as I started attending pastors' conferences, I discovered the terminology used was "pastor and wife." While the women were sent to fashion shows and luncheons, the men were trained, equipped and feeding on the meat of the Word. I am not against fashion shows, but I went to those conferences to learn, grow and mature as a minister.

I needed help, someone to encourage my gifting and give correction if needed. I tried one conference after another looking for ministry support. Finally I realized the help was not out there for women ministers, so I developed Women's International Minister's Network (WIMN), a vehicle to train women for ministry.