Why I can no longer defend women in ministry by Steve Holmes

I have defended the ministry of women in the church in public for a while now, including on this blog. I don’t think I can do it any longer. Not because of any lack of calling or gifting in their ministry, but because of a lack in mine. Take Phoebe Palmer… By any standard, she was one of the most powerful preachers, and most influential leaders, of nineteenth-century American evangelicalism… In the face of so evident a work of the Spirit as was seen in her life, who am I to even consider the question of whether God had called her to preach? It would be offensive, presumptuous… And then there’s Catherine Booth. And Mary Dyer. And Catherine of Sienna. and Mother Julian. And Rose Clapham, all but forgotten, whose first sermon, preached when she was 18, saw 700 miners converted to Christ. Defend that? Why?

On why I still need you to defend me by Hannah Swithinbank. A response to Steve Holmes

Honestly, a man says “I’m not going to try to defend the ministry of women…” and I start waving my arms going, “No, come back, we’re not there yet, we still need you…” We need you to defend us, and to promote us–because at the basest level, if it’s just us women doing it for ourselves, someone is going to say, “well, of course you’d say that, you’re a woman.”… (Don’t) let yourselves go along with the feeling that the question of whether these women are permitted by God to lead and preach is such a stupid question that you can’t defend the ‘yes’ position. Not yet. Because we’re not there yet… I need you to pull your weight on this, because in our deeply unbalanced world, you have more weight than me.

Why I defend women preachers by J. Lee Grady

When I tell people that I work alongside women pastors I get puzzled looks. Many Christians who love God and the Bible believe women are not allowed to serve in pastoral roles… At the risk of sounding simplistic I will list the reasons why I believe we need more women on the front lines of ministry today:

Priesthood of All Believers? By Jessica Leep Fick

I have seen too many of my friends who passionately led people to Jesus in college, planted Bible studies with their study groups and organized campus outreaches be relegated to passing out church bulletins or working in the nursery on a Sunday morning.  They are serving, yes, but not to the full potential of priests serving King Jesus in his royal priesthood.  And the church, communities, neighborhoods and families are suffering because of it. They are living in darkness, sin and despair because evangelists like me have been told “leave it up to the professionals” instead of being empowered go and preach the living word.