The Centre for Lifelong Learning is curating this list of resources, many created by Carey people. They are intended to address questions some churches are asking about women in ministry, mission and leadership roles. This topic is of particular interest to New Zealand Baptist churches after the 1976 affirmation of both men and women in ministry, mission and leadership. This list will grow as resources are gathered.
Equality in leadership in Baptist churches (1-page PDF 31kB)
In November 2017 this document was distributed among New Zealand Baptist churches and presented at the annual Hui (Assembly). It outlines the New Zealand Baptist understanding and affirmation of gender equality in leadership.
Developing women leaders
Identifying and developing women leaders through mentoring (1-page PDF 35kB)
Heather Ameye-Bevers (BYM Ministry Development Co-ordinator)
This one page guide is based on the research of Janet Woodlock in the following article:
A woman’s path into ministry: how to support and develop women leaders (research paper) (27-page PDF 284kB)
Janet Woodlock (Church of Christ, Australia)
For women socialised in patriarchal church cultures, discernment of a ministry call may be misheard, disregarded, or delayed. This paper recommends specific interventions by church judicatories aiming to increase the participation of women in church ministry, particularly in judicatory systems overseeing independent churches.
Preaching resources
Examining the Twelve Biblical Pillars of Male Hierarchy (7-page PDF 195kB)
Philip B. Payne (Lecturer in New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary) unpacks twelve seemingly strong pillars supporting male hierarchy. He concludes there is no solid biblical foundation for male hierarchy, and rather, Scripture affirms instead the equal standing of man and woman in the church and in the home.
Women in 1 Timothy 2:9-14 – A comparison of Complementarian and Egalitarian views through Evangelical and Missional Hermeneutics (9-page PDF 120kB)
Christine Taylor-Agnew (Elder, Eastgate Christian Centre, Auckland) 2016.
This essay for the course MB734: Letters to Timothy and Titus (Carey, 2016), has been recommended by lecturer George Wieland. It is an exploration of the biblical text and how to interpret it in a current NZ context.
Co-workers, co-parents, co-leaders (booklet)
Dr Beulah Wood (Theologian, teacher, writer, recent overseas missionary), 2014, Baptist Women’s Union of the South West Pacific.
This booklet is a brief summary of the biblcal arguments for women and men to be co-workers in churches, co-parents in families, and co-leaders in all of church and family. Copies available for purchaise from Beulah Wood.
God made me lime green – What does the Bible tell us about the women who worked with Paul? (link to Baptist Magazine website)
Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey), 2017 Baptist Magazine article.
In this article, Sarah Harris considers how the apostle Paul viewed women.
Gifted and called – What does the Bible tell us about the women who walked with Jesus? (link to Baptist Magazine website)
Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey), 2016 Baptist Magazine article.
The Bible tells us about women who were disciples, leaders, teachers, prophets, and preachers. What can we learn from them? In this article, Sarah Harris considers some of the women who walked with Jesus.
Discovering what God wants: women’s roles in the church (Thinking Biblically)(4-page PDF 333kB)
Dr George Wieland (Director of Mission Research & Training, Carey), 2013.
What may women do (and not do) in the church and its ministry? This is part of a bigger question: what does God want for his church in its mission of making the wisdom of God and the wonder of his salvation visible in the world (Eph 3:8-10)?
Exegesis: Women and Ministry in the Church (42-page PDF 455kB)
Dr Csilla Saysell (Lecturer in Old Testament, Carey), Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey), and Elliot Rice (Co Pastor, Papanui Baptist Church, Christchurch).
This document looks at: Genesis 1-3, Jesus and women, toward an understanding: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36, We acknowledge Paul’s female co-workers: Romans 16:1-5, 6, 7.
Videos
Good Hermeneutics: Timothy 1:2 – “Women should remain silent in the church…” (link to YouTube video)
Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey).
This is a lecture suitable for cell groups, pastors clusters, young adults, etc.
New Zealand Baptist Women pastors talking about calling and leadership (link to YouTube video)
This video was filmed in 2017 and tells the story of several women pastoral leaders.
Complementarian to Egalitarian (link to YouTube clip)
Dr Myk Habets (Dean of Faculty, Head of Carey Graduate School & Lecturer in Systematic Theology, Carey)
In this video Myk Habets shares his own personal story from complementarian to egalitarian.
Male Leaders on Developing Women Leaders in the Baptist Churches of New Zealand (link to YouTube video)
Five senior leaders in the Baptist movement of New Zealand share why they are egalitarian and how they have developed women leaders in their own contexts. The challenge is for the local churches to do the same.
Stories and articles
What does God think about girls and women? (link to Baptist Magazine website)
Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey), 2016 Baptist Magazine article.
In this article Sarah Harris unpacks how 1 Timothy 2 can be an empowering text for women in the church.
Commander to the Commander, Apostle to the Apostles – God’s upside-down Kingdom (link to Baptist Magazine website)
Dr Beulah Wood (Theologian, teacher, writer, recent overseas missionary with Tranzsend and Interserve), 2017 Baptist Magazine article.
One-third of the leaders mentioned in the New Testament are women. In this article Beulah gives examples of four significant leaders in the Bible who were women.
NZ Baptist’s brick wall: women in leadership (link to blog post)
Dr Mike Crudge (Director, Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning, recent Baptist pastor), 2014, Blog post: mikecrudge.com
In this blog post Mike responds to Thalia Kehoe Rowden’s post Women in Ministry: the church’s missing workforce, with solutions around training women for pastoral leadership.
New research shows women can make a difference (link to blog post)
Dr Mike Crudge (Director, Carey Centre for Lifelong Learning, recent Baptist pastor), 2014, Blog post: mikecrudge.com
In this blog post Mike discusses a way men can help to increase the opportunities for women in ministry, mission and leadership.
Learning to Lead – shaped through pain and joy (3-page PDF 158kB)
Ingrid Shaw (Pastor Atawhai Community Church, Nelson), 2016 Baptist Magazine article (pg 10-12 v.132 no.6)
In this article Ingrid Shaw shares her personal journey into becoming a pastoral leader.
Women in Ministry: the church’s missing workforce (link to blog post)
Thalia Kehoe Rowden (Writer and recent Baptist Pastor), 2014, Blog Post: Sacraparental.com
In this blog post Thalia gives an overview of gender in the Bible, and outlines what could be done to enable more women to be in ministry, mission and leadership roles in New Zealand Baptist churches.
Call committees
Married couple co pastoring guide for call committees (2-page PDF 27kB)
Tracey and Ben Wakefield (Co Pastors, Paraparaumu Baptist Church)
This document is a guide for pastoral call committees and their engagement with married couples who may be applying for co pastor roles.
Elders
Women, leadership and the Scriptures (16-page PDF 209kB)
David McChesney (Regional Mission Leader: Bay of Plenty/Eastlands Baptist Association), 2009.
This paper was written while David McChesney was pastor at Westlake Church, Nyon, Switzerland. The purpose was to examine issues surrounding the appointment of women to leadership roles in the church – in a church that had never had women elders or pastors. After a couple of years working through this issue together, the church now has a mix of men and women elders.
There is more information on the Baptist Churches of New Zealand intranet webpage e.g. maternity/paternity leave, sexual harassment etc.
Books
Co-workers, co-parents, co-leaders (booklet)
Dr Beulah Wood (Theologian, teacher, writer, recent overseas missionary), 2014, Baptist Women’s Union of the South West Pacific.
This booklet is a brief summary of the biblcal arguments for women and men to be co-workers in churches, co-parents in families, and co-leaders in all of church and family. Copies available for purchaise from Beulah Wood.
Other publications by Beulah Wood on women in ministry, mission and leadership:
The people Paul admired – the house church leaders of the New Testament (2011), Wipf & Stock.
Man and Woman, one in Christ: an exegetical and theological study of Paul’s letters
Philip B. Payne (Lecturer in New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary).
Does Paul teach a hierarchy of authority of man over woman, or does he teach the full equality of man and woman in the church and home? In this book Payne answers this question, and concludes that Paul’s theology, instruction, and practice consistently affirm the equal standing of men and women, with profound implications for the church today.