Great blog/article on Woman in Ministry

Rod Benson from the Tinsley Institute this month wrote an article in his Speaking Ethically column in the Victorian Baptist Witness magazine. For April, the whole Witness was dedicated to Women in Ministry in Victorian Baptist churches and ministries. It is such a great read!!!

The article is in a blog: http://speaking-ethically.blogspot.com/2008/03/april-2008-by-rod-benson-australia-has.html

Rod made reference to this article in a comment to one of my posts below, and I just had to highlight it!

I made some comment, and I hope you do too (I love discussions!). Comments are screened, so won't appear straight away, so keep your eye on it.

The April copy of Witness is available here: http://www.buv.com.au/AboutUs/News/AprilWitnessAvailableNow!.aspx

If only the Vicar of Dibley had kids!

Been watching the Vicar of Dibley again on Sunday nights. I turned to David during an episode and said, "If only the Vicar of Dibley had kids!"

Don't know if I should use her as a role model - but she sure is fun!

No, no, no, no, no, no, yes!

What does a female minister with young children look like?

Since meeting with the Leadership at church I have been thinking through there ideas. The one that struck me most was that we may end up in pastoral ministry prior to our overseas cross-cultural ministry. I suddenly thought, "What does a female minister with a young family look like?"

If, God willing, we start a family soon, we would have small munchkins and possible be still popping them out while pastoring a church. I know there are a few around, but I haven't met or observed how a female minister with a family operates.

I am the type that all my adult life I have been observing married couples to learn about marriage, observing parents to learn about raising kids, asking missionaries a million questions to learn about life (family and ministry) overseas, and supporting ordination candidates through the process. But I have never had that opportunity with female ministers with kids (small or grown up).

I have shared this with a couple of people and there are some female friends in that very position who they recommend I grab a coffee with. Yeah!!

Ordination Part 4

Here is the latest on my possible path to ordination:

I went to see Frank Rees (Principal, Whitley College) who is on the ordination panal here in Victoria, a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to know a little bit more about the process down here and also introduce myself before process started. It was a very encouraging chat and he suggested I speak to Mark Holt (State Director, Global Interaction) because of our plans for Africa, as this will affect the ordination process. Also, he suggested I meet with the Leadership at church, as it is the local church that recommends someone for ordination, not an individual who decides for themself.

Fortunately the next week was the Leadership monthly meeting, so I asked to come along and I shared my felt calling. I asked them to pray about it and if they felt it was time to recommend me, if they would, or if they felt I should not proceed at the moment or work on somethings, they would let me know. They agreed to pray about it and were very encouraging. A few things came out of this:

1. They asked me to chat with David how he felt about being a "pastor's husband" and how he would feel moving around in different placements - with his own teaching career. We had a good chat about these and he is fine with both.
2. They also suggested that I may go through the process and not be recommended for ordination at the end of it. I have thought through this prior and I feel that God is calling me to the process and it would be hugely beneficial and refining in itself. I can never predict what doors of opportunity God will open or shut!
3. There was also the suggestion that I may end up in pastoral ministry before we end up in Africa as missionaries. They was not something I had thought of before!

I am really looking forward to hearing from them if the church will recommend me ofr ordination (after the Leadership, it will go to a church meeting).

International Women's Day

Celebrate International Women's day by:

1. Showing the women in your life how much you love and appreciate them; and



2. Support Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign.

Heroic women

Matt Stone has a good post on learning from the women in the Bible called "Heroic Women".