An update from the Women’s Ministry front:
I’ve been at pastel tables featuring tea cups and doilies, making small talk with church ladies. I’ve gone to women’s “retreats” that were nothing more than glorified teachfests with a side of craft projects, teary testimonies and awkward ice-breaker activities. I’ve been a part of women’s Bible study groups that have been a reader response echo chamber: “What do you think this verse says?”/”I don’t know. What do you think it says?”/”The notes in my study Bible say that the verse means…”
I didn’t really imagine I would ever learn anything much from most of these women’s ministry efforts other than how to buff up the surface of my Christian life. They certainly didn’t factor into my actual discipleship journey. But in search of church friends, I swallowed hard, held my nose, and gave women’s ministry events the ol’ college try. I’ve accepted the reality that I’m an odd duck who likes reading theology, involvement in serving the community, and tends to gather friends who’d rather go deep than have a shiny, doily-covered surface. It was validating for me to discover a few years ago that other women struggled with women’s ministry “norms”, thanks in large part to Amy Simpson’s words, Halee Gray Scott’s spot-on letter, and Sarah Bessey’s seminal post on the subject.
When we moved to this community three years ago, I hoped to get to know some other believers. I contacted…[Read more]
