Is the "Women's Ministry" Inadequate?

Quite interesting. My lady quotes someone and responds.

I shared my frustration with Christian women’s things…because they tend to be: devotional or “light” in nature, emotional/relational, or focused entirely on a women’s “role” as wife, mother or housewife. None of these things are bad, but women are more than this… and need more than this as well.

…I mostly read blogs/books written by men because they tend to be general about theology and the Christian life (and not exclusively through the lens of fatherhood, being a husband, or masculinity) – and therefore applicable to everyone. Why is it that so few women are capable of this? Our identity should be in Christ and should flow from the Gospel. But it seems that for too many women, their identity is in their role and flows from their life status. Don’t misunderstand – there is a time and place to discuss roles. But too much women’s material is anchored only in roles or distinctly feminine issues.
–Enough Light

The post reminded me of a complaint many of my other female friends (Complementarian and not) have about how the women’s ministry is done in their churches. This is especially felt by women who might be classified more as “thinkers.” Personally, when I hear “women’s ministry”, the words that immediately pop into my mind are: boring, devotional, shallow and for mothers (I am not a mother yet). Part of the issue for me is that I was initially raised in a church that taught me in Sunday school and youth group to dig into the Word and was rich and diverse in application. I later went on to get a B.A. in Biblical and Theological studies at Biola too. Unfortunately, the women’s Bible study or ministry often gets confined to activities and “studies” that are about Ruth or Esther (great women of God), but don’t go beyond these figures or simply don’t dig into the intricacies of the text. Are women actually interested in matters of doctrine, systematic and Biblical theology? My experience has been that they are once they are introduced.

For the original post: Allison Quient.

--Nick