Women in the Ministry
The Calling to Ministerial deeds included Women.
Many people have a limited idea of what pastors do, and it’s not uncommon for pastors to feel deficient in dealing with the members’ problems and the church’s problems in general. Sometimes Pastors confront difficulty in solving these tasks and sometimes have doubts or fears, but remembering that God has called and ordained them to serve His way, gives them strength.
Paul tells us that pastors, along with other ordained ministers, are called “to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12-13).
God called us to a ministry whether we are rich or poor, learned or uneducated, male or female, with good moral characters, an attitude that pleases Him, and maturity to represent Him to the lost still living in darkness. God usually calls people with slight hints, through visual or through hearing, and it takes some time for us to visualize the calling, and it takes some time to hear the audible transmission; it comes conveniently when we are ready to respond.
Some of us have been serving in pastoral ministry for years without perhaps even recognizing that we are being called, but others may notice the fruits of your service, which could be an assertion that you are being called. Sometimes you will be asked to serve in a pastoral leadership role, which may also call you to serve. Calling comes in many ways. Do not deceive yourself by saying you are being called, yet your ministry has not been growing for years.
We are called to be his servants; many are called, and few respond with the gifts He has given us; directing others to him should not have a problem. We are not called to be served but to serve. Both males and females can shepherd and serve.
Many women are proficient in religious activities and thus equip also with gifts of administration, hospitality, mercy, teaching, evangelism, and help. Various ministries of the local church depend on women. Women in the early testament church are not restricted from public praying or prophesying (1 Corinthians 11:5).
The Bible nowhere restricts women from exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit; “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. We were all baptized by one Spirit to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, enslaved person or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so, the body is not made up of one part but of many.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).
Women, the same as men, are called to minister to others, to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), and to proclaim the gospel to the lost whether inside the building or outside the field “emphasis added” (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8;1 Peter 3:15). The Bible as we believe is a living word of God and progressively being revealed to some to be dispensed according to their gifts, male or female.
The Apostle Paul wrote: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither enslaved person nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:28-29)
“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. The Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.
Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality.” (1Timothy5:17-21)
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you, but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant; Christian egalitarians’ interpretation of scriptures and spiritual convictions bring them to the conclusion that the manner and teaching of Jesus “Matthew 20:25-26” abolished discrimination against racial minorities, enslaved people, and women in both the church and marriage. They believe that the Bible teaches the fundamental equality of believers of all racial and ethnic groups and all economic classes.
Ultimately, Christian egalitarianism holds that all people are equal in fundamental worth and moral status. A significant source of this trend of thought is the Christian notion that humankind was created in the living image of God (Imago Dei). Therefore, Jesus Christ did not conform to a mentality unfavorable to women but reacted against inequalities based on sexual differences.
The denomination that ordained women in Pastoral positions; United Methodist Church May 1956 granted ordination to womenPresbyterian Church decision was made in 1964 to ordain womenJudaism the first rabbi ordained in American history in June 1972The Episcopal church ordained women in 1976. In 1984, Reformed Mormons, now known as the Community of Christ, ordained a woman 1984. Conservative Judaism ordained the first female rabbi in 1985. In 1995, a Seventh Day Adventist church in Virginia violated church policy by ordaining three women 1995 Catholic women priests, seven bold women first ordained on the Danube River in 2002. (http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/)In 2007, after years of study, the Worldwide Church of God decided to ordain female ministers. Protestant denominations understand ordination more generally as accepting a person for pastoral work.
Many may disagree with my conclusion, “Are women allowed in the ministry or influenced only by men?” I agree with the truth that we are born male and female, equal in the eyes of God, loved by God and blessed by God, given the gifts to some male and female and the right to live in His space and time, given us the free will; it is our responsibility and accountability for that will. Jesus Christ picked all-male apostles because it was based on the tradition and culture at that time, where females were treated like second-class citizens.
Let us also consider that the epistle to the Corinthians at that time was addressed to the Corinthians, and the letters to Timothy (Ephesus) and Titus (Crete) were exclusive to their congregation. Furthermore, no scriptures in the Old Testament prohibit women from preaching in the temple; likewise, Jesus in the New Testament never teaches that women cannot be involved in any ministries.
Martin Luther’s number one in the Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences, by Martin Luther stated (Father of Reformation) “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent,” He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” Notice the entire life of believers means male and female.
As generation changes, so as the practice of our culture and tradition change, I am bound to honor the Women that God calls, let them serve for the women know when they are called, and we will know the truth of their calling from the fruit of their work. “Beloved, although I was very eager to write about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.
Specific individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign, and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt at one time but later destroyed those who did not believe.” (Jude 1:3-5)