Strategy Group Responses: Self Select Groups

 

A Note about the organization of information: Each groups information is separated by a space so you can see all that was shared by all the women at this conference for each statement.  All answers for question 1 are listed under question one, etc.

 

Question 1: What are the issues that women in ministry face in our denomination:

• Women congregants not accepting or supportive of female clergy
• 2/3 congregations don’t even look at female clergy
• Difficulty in seeing a biblical concept (Joel)
• Women not connected as people since beginning of time (use of women during Jesus’ ministry and disciples)
• Not inclusive language in the bible such as the word “humanity” instead of “man”
• Diverse roles of expectations on “top” of ministry.
• Women are not open to being mobile and limiting themselves geographically.

• Pastoring a church of 100 active members in a metropolitan area as a woman generally means pasturing in an economically challenging church. 
• Where does someone go to get started in the application process for funding and grand writing?  How can we obtain these resources?
• Learning the nuts and bolts of day by day pasturing
• Being a gender minority or in TIM groups is a value but is also a challenge
• How to revitalize a church of 150 years old.  How to bring the spirit of Christ gathering back to church
• Being the 2nd in command of a large church – how does one navigate the waters when you are 2nd in command?  Especially when you have greater administrative skills than the pastor. 
• The difficulty of providing your input when the pastor is supportive but a little reluctant to give you full authority.  Especially compounded when church is dually aligned with ABC and National Baptist USA and when the senior pastor’s roots are deeply in National Baptist USA.
• Managing expectations of what can be done with limited staff and resources
• Overwhelming needs threaten to struggle the vision, life and love of ministry. 

• Placement: There is sexism in the church.  Conservative churches don’t even give women to be interviewed for positions – pastoral, hard for WIM to find position.
• SALARY: sometimes they’ll hire women because it’s cheaper – because WIM are so desperate.
• Making Role models: Raising men in ministry is difficult when there is a female pastor.  WIM have been put in a mold.  Men are intimidated by strong women.  Change comes hard.  It is hard to accept WIM if you’ve been brought up to believe women can’t be ministers.
• Women have been used by men in demeaning way throughout time.  Women who
• Need for supportive friends that don’t look at us as “the pastor”
• Help in how to get people to grab on to new life in Christ.  Lots of Asians – new Christians – want to be Christian and go to Buddha temples too.  They don’t come to a transformational mind.

• Isolation, lack of community, support and affirmation
• Fewer opportunities
• Some of us choose to be isolated
• Lack of mobility and empowerment
• Learning to network with female and male pastors that are supportive of women in ministry.

 

• Can’t find a job in American Baptist Denomination
• Finding a strong Support group
• Loneliness – no one to talk to
• Challenge of experience, share when you make mistakes
• Women mentors are needed
• Overworked
• Cultural situations dictate some roles

 

• Men feel Threatened
• Different perspectives between men and women (transcends denominations)
• ABC is more progressive in embracing women
• Some churches yes, some no.
• Question: One woman was told that churches are required to pull at least one         minority and one woman. Is this true or false?
• Communication of WIM info sometimes held up by Regions (variety of reasons but sometimes deliberate or not seen as important.)

 

• Less pay for more work
• Sexism
• Gender bias
• We may be perceived as “less gifted, less skilled, less called”
• A young ungifted male is often chosen over an older gifted female
• Rejected due to our gender
• Inequality/unfairness
• We may be dealing with multiple barriers: our gender, our ethnicity, our culture, our age (too old, too young)
• Inconsistency between support of women: national, local and among regions.

Question 2: What needs to be done to provide more support for women in ministry, locally, regionally and nationally?

 

• Sabbath, clergy self care. 
• Continual education (retreat centers). 
• Women diverse in active participation of leadership up front. 
• Financial support /health care and retirement

 

• Provide a lot of resources
• pursue the resources churches can go to
• More support (conversation and strategies) for women in pastor ministry
• How to do the job and address the issues that small churches pastors face
• Provide forums and or resources that can help pastors address serious issues of misconduct.

 

• What we are doing now at ABC WIM!
• a conference for youth (13 and up) in leadership roles to start supporting young women desiring to be in ministry
• these kids of conference done more regionally for women in ministry, more often

 

- Nationally:

• Provide the necessary staff support, i.e. secretary in order to provide clerical support, assistant to visit seminaries (liaison)
• Career planning and placement; internships(nationally with ABC Seminaries
• Grant writer to help expand the ABWIM program
• ABWIM should write a proposal regarding our statement of concern for             
• American Baptist Women in Ministry. We must learn/know the rules in    order to do so.

- Regionally:

• Women must participate in regional activities and committees in order to                become visible
• Make regional minister aware of your needs as a minister/pastor.

-Locally

• Invite women to serve
• Write articles that deal with  problems and potential solutions

 

- More effective communication

- Develop a way to reach small isolated churches

- Local gatherings for women who are called not yet licensed or ordained…maybe           similar to WIM but not yet licensed or ordained

 

• Networking-getting together-support group
• Men need to be taught if God calls a woman, you have to support
• Stand on the word of God
• Don’t fight – find advocates
• Keep in touch by email
• Need to know about resources that are available – TIM – continuing
• Tell other national staff how helpful the conference was
• Make churches aware how important the ABWIM conference is
• Have regional executives communicate with churches about the importance of this ABWIM Conference.
• Get information about the conference out sooner
• Possibly hold conference at churches instead of hotel to cut costs.

 

• Web-based resource network – of us and our skills and our gifts
• scholarships for ministers from Alaska, other far away places for conferences
• Recognition and affirmation and confirmation of young women’s call; financial support
• Visiting high schools, colleges and talking about ministry
• Video “Good, Bad and Ugly” our moments in ministry make it humorous but tell it like it is to prepare our seminarians.

 

Question 3: What should each of us do to help? 

• Develop sisterhood for dissemination of information
• Educate ourselves on inclusive language
• Become active in local women’s associations for ministries
• Advocate for each other because of diverse spiritual gifts
• Change this myth: women are in competition to men but somewhat in competition with other female clergy because of limited senior pastorate positions. 

• Informal gatherings and networking of women clergy – start them and keep them going
• Do the least we can to insure that our churches provide financial support to the denomination and that the annual report required are turn in
• Keep ourselves healthy – physically, spiritually and emotionally lift up the stewardship of self care
• Establish the mentoring program for young (newly ordained ministers within the ABCUSA
• Establish conversations about women’s stuff to address the issues we learn within us (as addressed by Rev. Carolyn Gordon at luncheon)
• Be on the lookout for resources and retreat places 

• To get everyone’s email and become part of a support network
• To NOT become isolated
• To find other new WIM in your area, and have lunch with them.  Take the initiative to have relationship with them…
• Execute ministries need to be advocates for WIM
• To have WIM task forces and committee’s regionally

 

• Spread the good news
• Bring more women to conference next year
• Do fundraisers to help woman come to conference
• Open the door to local woman to come

 

• Make it personal
• Write about problem
• Be an encouragement to other women in ministry and share resources as needed
• Be intentional in giving woman opportunities to serve
• Provide good interaction between pastors and churches to provide volunteer           services.

 

• Reach out, bring in younger women, mentor
• Intentional discipleship of young women
• Invest time and money in women who are called
• Locate as many women in ministry in our area as possible, develop lists, funnel       into central location
• Make sure everyone is on mailing lists.

 

Question 4: What messages should this group take to denomination leadership?

 

• Defining small churches as congregations of 200 members,
• Be open to recognizing gifts of ABW
• Resources to impart change building resources at local, regional and encouragement of young people to become leaders in church
• Resources at national level
• Educating congregations to become accepting of females as senior pastors
• Local money being funneled up to national level for support of women
• National providing avenues/recourses for women
• Recourses at all levels to bring people/women together
• All meetings will have diversity in leadership at those meetings.

• Advocate for women
• We’d like to see more empowering workshops done for WIM locally and more frequently
• WIM should be treated equally
• To educate men in ministry on how to embrace the women, diversity training
• To do some studies about how business educate their employees on sexual harassment
• Mentorship, women mentoring women, to find people who want to be mentors
• We should have some sort of system that helps couples where one or both of them are in ministry to strengthen pastors and their families
• Husbands of WIM need to get together.  Define the role of the pastor’s husband. 

• Thank you for financial support for the conference
• Need to know about resources at national level
• Have them (National) watch the video taken at this ABWIM conference
• Sharing of ideas 

• Provide adequate support – financially administrative support to continue these conferences
• Educate men and women about the role of women in ministry 

• Make sure we are on all the mailing lists provided
• Contact lists – who does what
• Make more of an investment into ABCWIM
• Develop regional contact person who would report to valentine – chapters outside regional lines if needed

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