Dr. Halee Gray Scott’s recent salvo calling for women’s ministry leaders to stop doling out flowers and fairy dust to the women of their churches reminded me that each one of us has the power to change the ladies tea/chocolate spa/casserole club model of women’s ministry. There are some women that expect that kind of de-fanged busywork from church, but I most of the women I know have little time or energy for it anymore.
Many of us suburban Boomer women inherited our notions of what church-based women’s ministry looked like from those a generation ahead of us. Ministry to and by women reflected their post-war aspirations and fears, and our own Boomer concerns and hopes were folded into that lightweight spiritual souffle. In my 20′s and 30′s, I gamely tried to participate in those church-lady events designed for a certain demographic (stay-at-home-moms!), but always left hungry. [Read more]
