Voices: Three ways to support women ministers whole-heartedly

As the Baptist world questions the fact, yet again, of women being called by God to lead and teach people, I am saddened and angered we have come to the point of making lists of women ministers and sharing their personal information.

At the same time, I am happy to see people demonstrate their support. Voices backed by Scripture definitely have been raised and are showing the world Christ chose women to preach the good news of his resurrection.

As I celebrate these voices, I also keep telling myself there’s more we can do to demonstrate fully that we affirm and value our female ministers.

I am a female minister with the privilege of serving as an associate pastor at a great congregation that has submerged itself in the process of discerning God’s calling. As any church that never has had a female minister, we’ve had to explore new territory in recent months.

While examining what it means for the church to provide support and affirm me as a pastor, woman and mother, I realized there is much more to affirming women in ministry than simply hiring a female pastor. There is much more we could do but don’t, because we haven’t had to think about it before.

Women always have been called, but society hasn’t always allowed us to follow that calling. As we see a rise in women affirming their calling and ignoring the limitations society has placed on us, it is important that congregations start thinking about the things being overlooked.

It is great when a congregation hires a woman pastor. We also must examine our policies and ideologies to make sure women are affirmed through all of our actions. We must be proactive instead of reactive.

I have encountered a few things in the past year I believe are extremely important and would be helpful as we ask ourselves if we really are supporting our female ministers.

1. Write a maternity leave policy before it’s needed.

As I grew close to giving birth to my second child, my pastor, church leaders and I started exploring what maternity leave would look like. As I did my research, I was disappointed to find paid maternity leave basically is nonexistent in a lot of congregations. If it does exist, it typically is focused on protecting the church rather than taking care of the minister.

Bringing a child into the world is beautiful; however, it also brings a lot of trauma to the body, emotions and mental state. Affirming our female ministers means taking time to write policies that give them the time they need to recover and spend time with their growing family.

2. Be flexible.

Women wear a lot of hats. We are pastors, mothers, wives, keepers of the schedule and more, which means we must be flexible.

Historically, this has been seen as a weakness of having a female on staff. Let me challenge that: Wearing a lot of hats and still doing a great job within all roles is nothing but a strength and asset.

Allowing for flexibility in working hours and office hours will support your female ministers significantly. Is it necessary to be in the office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.? Or can ministers do some work from home where they also can watch a sick child?

Do we really need ministers in the church office all day, or can women ministers work a few hours from home, providing the ability to breastfeed their babies? Giving women ministers flexibility—should they want it—goes a long way and can lead to healthier pastors.

3. Be better and go the extra mile.

I encourage churches not to limit themselves as they formulate personnel policies. Ministers already have a hard time with self-care because of the demands of the job. Keep this in mind when creating policies such as maternity leave.

God gives grace in our lives, so let’s apply that grace to our congregational policies. Let’s not limit our grace to what corporate policies state or what the law requires. Are we not called to do more than what the world does? We are called to extend God’s grace in everything we do.

Though my focus here is on how we can support our female ministers fully, these three ideas can be applied to male ministers also. Having paternity leave is also incredibly important.

My thoughts and opinions are based solely on the care—or lack thereof—I’ve seen extended to female ministers.

I am a blessed minister. I get to follow Christ’s calling in my life in a congregation that affirms me. Yes, we’ve entered new territory, but we are doing it all with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, keeping in mind what Christ would call us to do if he were with us in the flesh.

It’s time. We must go the extra mile to live lives that not only speak of our affirmation and support towards female ministers, but also lives that put those words into action.

Cintia Aguilar is the associate pastor at Primera Iglesia Bautista de Waco and a workshop facilitator with Fellowship Southwest. Cintia is a graduate of Baylor University’s Diana Garland School of Social Work and its Truett Theological Seminary with a joint master’s degree in divinity and social work.