My church, Mission Covenant Church, has just started a six-week sermon series on women in ministry titled “Called and Gifted.” For the next month and a half, we will be digging into the Bible to see what it says about women (and men!) working together for the kingdom, taking the whole council of scripture into account, but also tackling those sticky passages that have often been understood as limiting women’s involvement. This grew out of a series that was previously done with the elders, and of course years of study from the staff.

Honestly, I have never heard of a church doing this before; spending so much time and energy studying this issue and encouraging ALL God’s people to do whatever it is God has called them to do. And if you or your friends are interested in hearing a theologically-conservative, uber-evangelical church’s biblical defense of the full participation of women in ministry, you can follow along! I will be posting a link to the streaming audio on my blog as soon as it comes online, usually in the second half of the week. Or, you can watch the series live online at 8:30 or 11 am CST on Sunday mornings (but be aware, this is a rural church, and the internet coverage cuts out every once in a while!).

We actually jumped the gun a bit on the women in ministry series by tackling 1 Timothy 2:11-15 when we were going through 1 Timothy earlier this year: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.”

I mean, huh?!

In this message, you can listen to my mentor, Pastor Darrell Nelson, talk about the ways Christians have misunderstood and misapplied this passage, and more importantly, what it meant in its original context, and how it should inform our worship and practice today. Access the audio by clicking here. I’d really encourage you to both listen and share it with others.

Stay tuned for many more great sermons! Today’s was awesome, and I can’t wait to share it with you later this week!

Note: To learn more about the Evangelical Covenant Church’s support for women in every level of ministry, and access some of their resources, visit the ECC’s Commission on Biblical Gender Equality.

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