What’s next for women in ministry?
What does the ministry of women look like in your neck of the woods? That might be a hard question to answer, because the ministry of women could embrace pretty much every form of ministry in the Church these days. After all, our Presiding Bishop is a woman. Women are rectors and vicars and wardens and treasurers – filling a variety of leadership roles in congregations and in the diocese. Women exercise ministries in pastoral care, outreach, buildings and grounds, teaching, organizing, and the like. They are lectors and Eucharistic ministers. They are involved in the ministries of parenting, working for good in their cities, towns and neighborhoods, and using their gifts in their daily work.
Well, you get the idea. The sky’s the limit.
However, not until the 1960s did we begin to see women serving on vestries, reading lessons in church services, serving as delegates to diocesan conventions and deputies to General Convention, and being ordained as deacons. The first women were ordained priests in 1977; we didn’t see women as bishops until the late 1980s. The idea that women could exercise pretty much any ministry in the Church is a fairly recent one.
That’s why an elaborate framework for the ministries of women evolved, most often known as the Episcopal Church Women (ECW). First called the “Women’s Auxiliary,” ECW was a way for women to exercise leadership, participate in a variety of ministries and enjoy the companionship and collaboration of other women in a time when formal ministry opportunities were not open to them. ECW, which still has its own Triennial meeting alongside the General Convention, was a parallel structure at every level of the Church.
The good news is that ECW is still with us – looking a bit different that it once did, but still offering many opportunities for women to engage in ministry and fellowship. Some churches in this diocese still have active and involved ECW groups. But in other places women have opted out of the organization, wondering if it has outlived its usefulness. Not too long ago, the diocesan structure for ECW was discontinued.
This brief history was the backdrop to a meeting, “Good Wine and Fresh Wineskins,” in May. Bishop Waggoner invited women to talk about what the ministries of women look like – and how to best support them. More than 40 women from around the diocese gathered at St. John’s Cathedral for that Friday-Saturday conversation.
They talked about what they had valued in women’s ministry over the years, noted what is missing today, looked at the challenges of change and considered what the future might hold. They wondered how they might involve younger women and what kind of structure would assist women in local congregations.
As I listened to the spirited conversation, several things seemed clear. The first is that these are women who “get” ministry. They are living into their baptisms and doing so with enthusiasm. Another is that they value ministries of outreach and compassion. Historically women’s groups have put massive energy into a variety of outreach ministries and this is still true today. These women also enjoy being together, whether for a project, a meeting or simply a time to visit. And spirituality is at the center of who they are. They are shaped by their faith.
The tricky part is discovering if and how some diocesan structure can support and encourage the ministries of women and what that might look like in a culture of ministry where so many more options exist. The spring meeting wasn’t the end of the conversation. A second gathering is tentatively planned for October. So stay tuned for more on what is emerging in the ministry of women in the Diocese of Spokane.
