In this podcast episode, our host, Anthony Mullins, speaks with Mandy Smith. Mandy is the pastor of St. Lucia Uniting Church in Australia.
The following excerpt is from their discussion of Matthew 28:1-10, and it’s a fitting subject for International Women’s Day.
Listen to the full episode and read the full transcript here.
Anthony: I sometimes hear people say, Mandy, that the disciples abandoned Jesus at his death. And there was abandonment, of course, but I also see the women going to him and being the evangelists, if you will, sharing this great message. Tell us about it.
Mandy: I know a lot of women who feel called to proclaim the good news are very encouraged by this passage, especially if they’re in contexts that don’t affirm them in their calling.
I’m really hesitant to say because I always want to be welcoming to my brothers. … and I don’t want to perpetuate all of the brokenness between men and women.
And at the same time, I think it is really good to share [that] it is really painful to feel that calling and to not always be given an opportunity to share it.
… But every single time somebody has not received me or has not treated me in the way that Christ would treat me or has not recognized what God is doing in me—and I’ve had some really painful experiences—every single time, it has been an invitation for me to talk to the Lord again and to say, who are you again? What are we doing here again? Who do you say I am again?
And for anyone who’s marginalized—which is not just along gender lines, but the many different ways people are marginalized—it can be a really empowering experience if it becomes an opportunity for us to say once more, who are you [God] again? Who am I again?
… it’s often those who have been on the margins, for whom the system has not been functioning anyway, who actually have real leadership to offer in [a crisis]. And that’s how I see this passage. These women were not given much of anything really in the system. And so, when the status quo falls apart, they have something that enables them to press through.
So how do we listen to the voices who are saying, you know what? Before you were aware that the system was falling apart, it wasn’t serving me anyway, and I’ve had to function within the system according to the kingdom. How can we invite those people to be leading, as these women had the opportunity to, when Jesus was dying and coming back to life?
“I have learned what the Holy Spirit’s voice sounds like within my being and know that listening to it (even when—and especially when—it’s very hard) is the only thing that brings God’s peace that surpasses all understanding.” –Diana Mayhew
Check out this month’s GCI profile to get to know Diana Mayhew, Member and Donor Services Representative.
To read her full profile, click the image below. #WeAreGCI
Today is International Women’s Day, and we’re grateful for all the women in this fellowship. We mark this day by remembering when GCI officially recognized the gifts and calling of women as elders in 2007. We can celebrate this, while also acknowledging the struggle women have faced and at times, still face because bias and resistance toward women in leadership has not yet been fully rooted out and healed.
To honor this day, we celebrate Debby Bailey and what she represents as the first woman ordained as an elder in GCI. We asked her to share her story.
August will make 21 years I have served in a pastoral role. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined this being part of my journey. A friend had a dream in which she saw me standing in front of the congregation as pastor. I didn’t know any females in that role in our denomination. Yet, as crazy as it sounded, something resonated within me. Five years later, our congregation worked with our regional director to form a pastoral team, which included me, to lead the church. The Holy Spirit had been preparing me.
Both the congregation and I struggled with the role. A female pastor was new ground. I kept asking myself if a woman should be a pastor and then pondered whether God would open the door if it was wrong. I didn’t give a sermon for a year, until I had to as part of a preaching class led by my regional support. Unfortunately, after that sermon, a couple left the church. The wife, a friend, said she didn’t believe a woman should be preaching. Our advisory council then recommended that I shouldn’t be on the speaking schedule.
After three years, the church assessed if the pastoral team was how we would continue. I felt the Holy Spirit leading me to take a stand. I would only be considered for the pastoral team if I could function fully like the other team members—which included speaking. The congregation accepted this decision.
Over the years, I have experienced hurt and disappointment but also a lot of joy. There were many days I wanted to walk away, but every time God stepped in and made it clear I was to stay. I had the privilege of being the first female ordained as an elder in GCI. I was commissioned by Regional Director Rick Shallenberger as lead pastor in 2021. Serving as a pastor has been the most difficult, exciting, and rewarding experience of my life. Now I can’t imagine pastoring not being part of my journey.
Language is subject to cultural influence, and if you’ve ever studied the origins of words, you know how culture and technology have changed our language. If we would’ve told our grandparents thirty or more years ago that we would “google” the weather forecast, they wouldn’t have known what we were talking about. Culture also affects the language we use in Christianity, which shapes our experience and perception of God.
Many Christians only talk about God using masculine terms or father metaphors, as if this is the only acceptable symbol or picture of God, rather than a reflection of the ancient patriarchal culture of the biblical writers. But Scripture provides us with a diversity of images: masculine, feminine, and non-gendered images.
Deuteronomy 32:18: “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.” [Rock and Laboring Mother]
Psalm 27:1: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” [Light]
Isaiah 66:13: “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” [Mother]
When we exclusively use male-gendered metaphors for God, it’s easy to assume God exists as a gendered being. But John 4:24 tells us “God is Spirit,” and spirit doesn’t have a gender.
Consider biblical examples where Jesus disrupts gender norms, especially in his actions toward women and children. Jesus came to break down the cultural norms of his day that boxed God into the patriarchal system that marginalized non-Jews, women, and children. By expanding the language we use to think about God, we can grow into the awe and mystery of being in relationship with our Father/Mother God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
Prayer Light of Life and lover of our souls, expand our hearts’ ability to see your love and care in new and meaningful ways. Amen.
By Nan Kuhlman Monrovia, CA, US
Note: In GCI, we normally call God “Father” because that is the way Jesus taught us to pray, and the name by which he told us to baptize. Some people misunderstand, and think that the term indicates God’s gender, but it does not. God has roles similar to a human father, similar to a mother, similar to a shepherd, and similar to a king, but God cannot be equated with any of those terms. We continue to use the terminology Jesus gave us and seek to help people understand what the term does and does not mean.
Let’s begin this Update letter with a scriptural passage.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT)
The various church offices are a gift that Jesus himself, through the work of the Spirit, gave to the church. Note what the Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible says about church leadership:
As the apostles, prophets, and evangelists were special and extraordinary ministers, so “pastors and teachers” are the ordinary stated ministers of a particular flock, including, probably, the bishops, presbyters, and deacons. Evangelists were itinerant preachers like our missionaries, as Philip the deacon (Acts 21:8); as contrasted with stationary “pastors and teachers” (2 Timothy 4:5). [Typically] The evangelist founded the Church; the teacher built it up in the faith already received. The “pastor” had the outward rule and guidance of the Church. The bishop had regional oversight with a group of churches.
This is a general explanation of church polity, an overview of the offices and operations of the church. (GCI uses the title regional director rather than bishop.) Our specific purpose for this article is found in verse 12. The primary responsibility of all church leadership is “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.” This equipping is careful preparation for the followers of Christ to recognize and understand how they fit and how they participate with Jesus through the community of the church.
In my February 8 letter, I described the element of “engagement” as an introductory stage, where new or younger believers are being introduced to ministry practices. It is a season of exposure to the broader ministries of the church and a time for exploration. A good example of what I am describing is the nuanced differences between our Ministry Internship Program and our Pastoral Residency Program. An intern is provided with a chartered course that allows them to spend measured amounts of time learning about and participating in the Faith, Hope, and Love Avenues as they are expressed in the life of the congregation where they are interning. A Pastoral Resident is more specifically focused on learning the role and the necessary skills for becoming a pastor. It is more specific and more defined.
For the health and building up of the church, it is important that each congregation has a pathway for all the saints to find their “best fit” in their role of service in the life of the church.
Accurately assessing spiritual gifts fits into this process. There are Bible studies and inventories that we can use to help the new and younger believers discover how the Spirit is gifting them to serve. (See this Church Hack for more information.) The desired outcome is what Paul says to the church in Romans 12: If a person’s gift is service, let him serve; if a person’s gift is leadership, let her lead; etc., etc. (my paraphrase). Also keep in mind that the personality of the individual, along with life experience and internal passion, will play a part in finding their “best fit.”
Good and thorough equipping has three major components: information, imitation, and innovation.
The information that the saints are to be learning is stated in verse 13: “the knowledge of God’s son.” GCI is deeply serious about learning about the Triune God who is revealed in Jesus. We are so committed that we support two institutions, Ambassador College of Christian Ministry and Grace Communion Seminary. We are working diligently to provide our fellowship with educated pastors and ministry leaders who then can pass along what they have learned about Jesus to others. Formal methods of learning must be delivered at the local church level as well because not all GCI members will become students in our institutions of higher learning.
Learning is both taught and caught. This is where imitation comes in. Most are familiar with Paul’s expression of “Follow me as I follow Christ.” There must be veteran believers reaching out to new and younger believers. The veterans must be intentional about including others in their ministry functions as well as deeply befriending and expressing a loving, inclusive posture in the fashion of Jesus (you might re-read the February 22 Update letter about Jesus, the True Disciple Maker).
Conclusion
Why all this work and intentionality around equipping? Again, verse 13 tells us the most important answer, so that we will be “measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” Christlikeness is the end goal for all believers. A couple of consequential byproducts are unity and stability in the church—unity in understanding and doctrine, and stability in maturing believers who can speak truth in love to one another.
Isn’t this a picture of the vision we have been talking about for four years – Healthy Church? This is the “innovation” goal on the training triangle, or as I like to think of it, “transformation.” We are on the right course!
Committed to Equipping Others, Greg Williams
P.S. It so happens that this edition of Update falls on International Women’s Day. It is my joy to celebrate the amazing contributions that women have made and are making in the ministry of GCI around the world. We have a special feature article about Debby Bailey, who was our first woman to be ordained an elder. We now have dozens and dozens of female elders who are sharing their leadership gifts with our 665 congregations in the 69 countries where GCI has a presence. We deeply appreciate the presence and contributions of the women in our fellowship. Together we are serving Jesus, his church, and the mission of the gospel.
On February 3, a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. The following update and prayer request is from John Dobritch, pastor of nearby GCI Canfield.
First of all, we want to thank God that no one was killed or even injured on the train or in the surrounding community. That was a miracle.
One family in our GCI Canfield church lives about a mile from the accident. The family of four, including two teenagers, had to evacuate but were taken in for three nights by another church family.
Thankfully their house was not damaged, but there is now concern for environmental damage to the community and long-term health concerns due to inhaling toxic fumes over several days. Prayers are requested for the well-being of our church members and the entire town of East Palestine, Ohio.
Are you considering volunteering, but you have questions?
Check out our Q&A.
Q: The conference is 3+ days. Will I be expected to serve the entire time? Every session? What’s my time commitment? A: Each shift or session is 2.5 hours or less. We ask that you choose and serve for one shift. Of course, you can choose more than one shift.
Q: Do I have to create my own lessons / curriculum? A: No. We will provide a lesson and activity with all supplies for your session.
Q: How many other adults will I be with? A: Depending on the age group, you will be with at least two other volunteers during your shift.
Q: Can I request which age group I help with? If I’d rather serve with teens, can I request that? A: Absolutely. On the sign up, you will see that the shifts are organized by grade/age and times. You can pick any open slot.
Have additional questions or want to volunteer? Please send an email to home.office@gci.org
We are excited to announce that GCI clothing and accessories will be available as part of our Denominational Celebration! Represent our fellowship and reflect your personal style. Shop now, by clicking on the image below.
We chose the vendor for our on-demand store based on their high-quality and ethically sourced items, as well as their ability to ship internationally. However, please note that the shipping costs are per item. You can get detailed shipping information here.
In this podcast episode, our host, Anthony Mullins, speaks with Mandy Smith. Mandy is the pastor of St. Lucia Uniting Church in Australia.
