AMANDA JACKSON, executive director of the World Evangelical Alliance’s Women’s Commission, reflects on some key ideas which emerged from a recent gathering of 60 Christian women in Amsterdam…
Sixty women leaders from 18 nations gathered in Amsterdam in June to celebrate the gifting, service and leadership of women in the church across the globe. They mourned the injustices women suffer and called on Christians to take steps to honour women’s leadership in family, church and community.
Women are leaders. They lead businesses, families, law firms, theological colleges and charities. They are writers and counsellors, mothers and mentors. They also lead in churches in various ways, using the gifts and natural talents given by God.
Some 60 women from 18 nations attended the conference.
“Too little is taught about the contribution of women to the flourishing of faith. We are conscious that Bible teaching about the role and leadership of women can divide Christians but God’s character is to value men and women equally. And there are many examples from the Gospels and the early church that show women leading church groups, teaching, giving financial support and having roles like prophets and apostles.”
During three days of ideas, worship, networking and united determination to speak for women across the globe, key ideas emerged. I want to share some of those ideas, to demonstrate the beauty and the burden of being born a girl in our world.
1. We love our calling despite setbacks: Before the consultation we surveyed 500 women (496 to be precise) to seek their insights. The survey highlighted that we think that sexism in the church (57 per cent) and cultural obstacles to women in leadership (50 per cent) are the biggest hurdles to women being able to follow their calling.
The women at this consultation were mostly over 50 and established in leadership – they had pioneered projects, set up ventures and earned high educational standards; but they still wanted to talk about the setbacks they had to overcome and were concerned that young women still experienced the same obstacles.
The strongest social concerns were about poverty (52 per cent), faith-based or gender-based violence (46 per cent), marriage and family pressures (39 per cent), and social media pressures on girls and teens (38 per cent). Is the church active in addressing these issues?
2. We need numbers: It’s often said that women make up 60 per cent of the church (and more in some places like Nepal or rural Europe). But we don’t know for sure because there are few global statistics on the number of women who are Christians or their roles.
Barna research tells us that women are leaving church in the US, but we only have anecdotal evidence for women becoming Christians or the number of women who lead churches. Good data will help us know how women and men experience church. After all, the closest disciples of Jesus (120) counted their new members at Pentecost (3000). Numbers would help us understand how women are contributing and where.
3. We recognise the truth of the Bible: more than 180 women are mentioned by name in the Bible and many more who are significant are not named. Too little is taught about the contribution of women to the flourishing of faith. We are conscious that Bible teaching about the role and leadership of women can divide Christians but God’s character is to value men and women equally. And there are many examples from the Gospels and the early church that show women leading church groups, teaching, giving financial support and having roles like prophets and apostles.
4. We value each other: The event was unusual because we did not have any ‘main’ speakers – 32 women had roles in presentations or leading some aspect of our time and that was a strong signal to us all that no-one was more special than anyone else. Kay Arthur, whose Precept ministry has 11 million books in print, showed gracious humility in all our discussions. Other women are successful business entrepreneurs, or work with the most vulnerable women in war-torn areas. God sees and values all.
If only all leadership in the church was as wise and humble as the women gathered in Amsterdam. It is not easy: we all want recognition for what we do, a bit of praise, especially if we are volunteers or low paid. This group of dedicated and professional women were willing to acknowledge each other’s giftings and achievements without jealousy and that is a moment to celebrate.
5. We have influence: Our influence in terms of day-to-day contact and leadership is around 3300 people, an average of 55 per woman, which sounds good but not spectacular. But when we added the next layers of influence – emails, books, social media, radio, TV, our boards, and friends, we got to five billion! That’s the reach of TV and radio as well as having some big denominations present.
You might say, ‘Hang on a minute, that sounds like overclaiming’. And the quick survey we did in the room was not meant to be scientific. But if we take only 10 per cent of that figure, the women gathered in Amsterdam reach a potential 500 million people. This gathering in Amsterdam, sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance and the Lausanne Movement is a significant step to heeding the insights of women.
6. We united in our prophetic voice: Gender inequality continues to be a barrier that diminishes the effective witness of the church to the transforming power of the Gospel. Views on theological hot issues like headship or women pastors varied but all of us acknowledged the pain when women’s voices are silenced, single women are ignored, girls are seen as second class and when the church has tolerated abuse. Such behaviour has harmed the gospel message.
7. We had one mind in our ‘Call to All Christians’: We know that that Jesus came that we may all have life and have it in all its fullness. and that Jesus called, accepted, healed and restored women. We committed to sharing and demonstrating this Good News, women and men together empowered by the Holy Spirit. And we called on the church to take notice of the cries and concerns of women and girls so that we can be honest when we say, Jesus transforms individuals and communities.
You can read the full text of the Call at http://www.worldevangelicals.org/wc/ or on the Amanda Advocates blog where this article was first published.
Amanda Jackson is executive director of the World Evangelical Alliance’s Women’s Commission.
