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Influence of Godly Women

Discussion in '2000-02 Archive' started by qwerty, Oct 23, 2002.

  1. qwerty

    qwerty New Member

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    Why do godly women have such little influence in the local church today?

    Why is the local church today so male dominated?

    Why is the "lording over", authoritarian model of government, which the Lord Jesus clearly said not to do, so openly practiced in the local church today?

    (These things are directly related.)
     
  2. Grace

    Grace New Member

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    I know Godly women who have influence in the church. My pastor's wife for example, if we want something done (or permission to do something), we know that we can take it to her and it will get done. She encourages everyone, and all of the ladies in our church look up to her. And, our old youth minister's wife...all of the youth and us college kids would go to her because we knew that she cared. A woman can have an influence without being in control. As for having a woman pastor...well...I don't care for the idea. God was pretty clear on that in the Bible, and if He said it, we should listen. Now, as for women Sunday School teachers, don't really have a problem with it (unless of course she wants to teach the men's class) As for "lording it over someone" well, maybe your church is different than mine. I don't see that. In the church I go to, the ladies are considered important people with important opinions. We are not looked down upon just because we happen to be female. So, I guess I didn't answer your question, but I can only talk about what I know.
    Growing in Grace,
    Grace
     
  3. Helen

    Helen <img src =/Helen2.gif>

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    ...the women are behind the scenes... :D
     
  4. Johnv

    Johnv New Member

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    Perhaps they are oppressed by well-meaning Godly men. :eek:
     
  5. latterrain77

    latterrain77 New Member

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    One need not be on the stage in order to conduct the symphony. Congregational authority must be male as the Bible teaches. Yet Body Of Christ GLORY belongs to GOD's elect no matter if male or female. [​IMG]

    latterrain77

    [ October 23, 2002, 07:40 PM: Message edited by: latterrain77 ]
     
  6. Headcoveredlady

    Headcoveredlady New Member

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    I agree that women do not have much influence in church either. That is because many are not in their God-given roles as Titus two women. How much more we could influence if we taught younger women how to teach their children.
    Two of the most godly women I know you wouldn't know them. They are gentle and quiet, submissive women. They work quietly with their hands and tend to their own business. They are under their husbands and are a great blessing to them. They teach their children daily the Word of God. They maintian their homes and work very hard. Maybe one day one of their children will turn out to be a Charles or John Wesley. WHo knows... Susanna Wesley was that type of mother too...

    HCl
     
  7. FearNot

    FearNot New Member

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    Headcoveredlady is right. Women can be of great service to the church/God if done in a biblically corect way.

    Dr Patterson's wife is a good example of this. Actually to be completely accurate, Mrs. Patterson can also be called Dr. Patterson. [​IMG]
    Mrs Patterson like Dr. Patterson is a very active speaker around the country. She is also about to release a new book. She has written books in the past on women's minitry and biblical role. She also teaches women's studies at Southeastern seminary.

    My mother has always been active in church, whether it be choir, teaching children's Sunday school or organizeing socials. Women can be very useful to the local church and the kingdom of God.
     
  8. Abiyah

    Abiyah <img src =/abiyah.gif>

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    Throughout my life, I have seen an unchang-
    ing pattern with regard to men and women in
    congregations. Grant it, most of my church-
    experience has been Seriously Warped, but
    this is what I have seen, and it is an unbroken
    pattern so far, until my present congregation.

    Women make up the greatest portion of the
    congregation with a very large margin. Most of
    the teachers are women, with an approximate
    ratio (AR) of 3:1. The majority of the choir are
    women with an AR of 3:2. The deacons, minis-
    terial staff, and pastor are 100% men, with a
    very occcasional exception of a female music-
    minister. If there is a church-school, the
    teachers have an AR of 5:1 women to men, while
    the principal and asst principal are men. Office
    staff are nearly invariably women, except in
    large churches with printing presses, on-call
    counselors, and correspondence; then the AR
    of women to men is 3:2. The AR of women to
    men in the whole congregation seems to be
    about 10:7.

    Another observation I have made is that a lot of
    women, out of necessity, are the spiritual
    leaders in too many 2-parent homes--even in
    pastors' homes (but less often in deacon's
    homes); otherwise, there would be no spiritual
    leader at all. Further observation has shown
    me that when a whole family goes astray (I
    intend to mean either leaving our God altoge-
    ther and/or taking the family into a false reli-
    gion), it is the women who lead in that direction,
    almost without exception. And the children's
    love for the Lord, or lack thereof, nearly always
    follows that of the mother.

    I have marveled at these observations over the
    years. Of course, I recognize that this may vary
    from others' observations.
     
  9. donnA

    donnA Active Member

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    I don't think godly women are lacking in our church, we have many godly women serving in our church, and people know they service just like they know any mens service, but still there are even more in the background who have a service noone even thinks about. But they are without a doubt there, and many are looked up to becasue they are godly women who serve God.
     
  10. SaggyWoman

    SaggyWoman Active Member

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    Godly women? They are too quiet and no one can listen to them. They are not visible because they always are under their husbands. They aren't doing anything for concern that it would be thought of as usurping authority.

    No. It is time for red-necked women now. Their influence is broad. :rolleyes:
     
  11. g'day mate

    g'day mate New Member

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    Women have been behind the scenes for far too long
    Its time you ladies made a move.
    John [​IMG]
     
  12. donnA

    donnA Active Member

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    What do we mean by behind the scenes? And what if thats the particular service God has intended for a woman? And I don't mean all women. What are the jobs in church that you consider that aren't behind the scenes?
     
  13. Wisdom Seeker

    Wisdom Seeker New Member

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    I guess it depends on what your personal experience is...but our church has many godly woman who have been a valuable asset to me and my walk with Christ.

    Our Pastor lifts up his wife, who is my mentor. And woman on the whole are honored, respected and valued in our church community. We get a lot of respect... unlike out in the world.

    All of these things have been a blessing to me. I don't feel oppressed, disrespected or without a voice. I feel that there is a Biblical place for all of us woman: married, single, teen and girl who strive to be the best that we can to honor God.

    Sometimes the things I hear from the people on this board make me think about how different being a Baptist is in other places. I really have a hard time believing that things can be so different elsewhere...I mean we use the same manual. ;)

    Maybe it's attitude. Maybe it's being in His will that makes the difference. :confused:
     
  14. Dr. Bob

    Dr. Bob Administrator
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    Why do godly women have such little influence in the local church today?

    That kind of biased question implies a condition and assumption. Like, "Qwerty, when did you stop beating your wife?" or "What was the last bank you robbed?" Rabble rousing question of the lowest demneaning sort.

    It takes more than qwerty's saying it to make it so. Or my refutation by saying in my church the women have tremendous influence.

    Why is the local church today so male dominated?See question of qwerty above. Same rule applies. That is NOT a valid question.

    Let's work on trying to discuss an issue from a position of biblical scholarship, not slanted questions.
     
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