Evangelicals have recently observed a surge in the number of women at the front of meetings. This ranges from giving welcome announcements to praying, reading the Scriptures, leading the service, or singing. At Keswick this year, Ellidh Cook – Minister (Students) at All Souls – spoke at the evening celebration in the first week and Amy Orr-Ewing during the second.
Distinctions eroded
The old distinction between egalitarians (seeing no ongoing male-female role distinctions) and complementarians (holding to complementary roles with male leadership) has been eroded. Some now seek a third way and are dubbed narrow complementarians.
The FIEC Leaders’ Conference for 2024 has a shepherding theme. To encourage wide attendance, they state that ‘it doesn't matter if you're a pastor, an elder, a woman in ministry, a youth or seniors’ worker, a church administrator, or a musician: every man or woman in local church leadership shepherds the flock in some way’.
Here are ten reasons why we may be at a turning point for women in ministry in conservative evangelical churches.
Ten reasons
1. Cultural pressures. Our culture sees any restriction on what women can do as oppressive. The virtuous thing to do is to platform women, and so churches are seeking to do so wherever possible. With cultural pressure strong, the tendency is to ask what the red line is and then push as close to that as possible, to appease the culture.
