Praising God

Praising God

Welcome to SistersNMinistry

We have been called by God, from all walks of life to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in and out of the pulpit. We are apart of God's paradigm shift. A shift that is taking Ministry to a new level because the voices of Women are no longer silent.
We are SistersNMinistry.


Friday, June 25, 2010

Single and Clergy

Over the last two decades women have been called into the ministry. Some of the women are married and some are single. Most women who are married have the support of their spouses, family or friends on the journey. However, the single women support maybe family or friends.

Single women in ministry have flexibility to do more in ministry because they may not have the demands of a spouse or family but they may have other demands for instance caring for their elderly parents, supporting members of their family or working in another profession. Just because a clergy woman is single doesn't mean she want to always be in the company of other single clergy women or always at the church every time the doors are open.

Being single and clergy is not a curse, it gives us more time to focus on what God as for us to do. We have less interruptions and we are able to travel on moments notice. Then we have those days when we want to be in a relationships. Some clergy women find it hard to date because once the man find out they are a women of the cloth it changes everything.

I was told one time that most women enter into ministry to find a husband. That was an interesting comment from a single clergy male. If that was the case then many single clergy women would run into ministry with the mindset of just getting married. If we recall women went to college to get an education but also to get a husband. In the life we live in today women are delaying marriage or getting remarried.

One issue single clergy women face is dating a suitable or potential person. Dating is hard for anyone but when you add Rev, Minister, Dr. or Prophetess in the mix it makes women off limit. There are some men who are brave to date clergy women and some are clergy and non-clergy men. When it comes to non-clergy men, some of them are hesitant to date a clergy women for a variety of reasons. The main reason I've heard from some men was they are not spiritual enough and feel they may go to hell because of what they are thinking or doing.

Why is the thinking different when the clergy is a woman instead of a man. Women are open to dating a clergy man, but why are some men not as open?

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Clergy Woman and Education

When one is called into the ministry is it necessary to attend seminary or a program that will help you become more aware of the social and economical conditions of the people in the Bible?

Why is education still a stigma in certain profession especially in the church as clergy. If you decide to not obtain additional education beyond daily reading of the Bible then why are so many people getting an attitude with those who decided to go to seminary, Bible College or Divinity School?

I ask these questions because of a interesting conversation I had today. We as women must put our best foot forward in all we do. We are still in a male dominate area in ministry. If we decide not to attend seminary are we allowing others to mentor us and the pastor setting up a mini-seminary to help educate clergy?

When I started this journey I wanted to know more about the people and situations of the Bible. I wasn't sure about seminary but after my church offered mini-classes in theology and history of the Bible I wanted more. As we enter into ministry let us be open to what is available to us. Learning is a two way street, the educated and uneducated can learn from each other.

I'm always fascinated by stories I hear about the wisdom of some of our elders who never learned how to read or write but they pushed their children to get their education. In many of their times or their parents time it was illegal to learn, but they knew education was the key. The old saying is still true if you want to hide something put it in a book. When we pick up our Bibles let us also pick up the history book, a newspaper and an atlas.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Volunteerism in Ministry

How long must one be a volunteer in a ministry before asking for compensation? I ask this question because there is a vast majority of seminary trained/ordained clergy women working in the church on a volunteer basis. There is something wrong with this picture. When I completed by MDIV, I incurred a debt that still needs to paid back. Over the years since I've completed my degree I haven't made any additional income to pay down this debt. (shaking my head). Some of us are blessed to have a church/denomination to pay for our education so we will not struggle with additional debt. I know many of us do not expect a large salary in ministry, but we ought to expect some kind of compensation or position that will help relieve the extra financial burden we added to our household. We all know a seminary degree is not cheap and our current job doesn't cover the cost for this added expense. We can not tell Sallie Mae, Direct Loans, SunTrust or Citibank can we just volunteer in your company to pay this debt.

Why do some churches and pastor believe that the work of the church by ordained staff should be volunteer work? If we continue to run the church with volunteers only, the commitment over time will fade away. As I was reading in the USA Today they talked about the compensation of a position in the church doesn't even come close to the amount of debt one obtains in seminary. Also they talked about the inability of clergy securing a position in a church during these economic hard times. The interesting point of the article is that there will be a discussion in Boston about the salary of clergy and how to increase it even during these hard economic times.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Ministering to Women

As Clergy women who are not pastors, we have been drafted to work with the women of the congregation. Some clergy women do not have the gift to work with women at all. Yes working with certain gender and age group is a spiritual gift. There are some clergy women who do not get along with women at all but they try to work outside of their gift. When we do this we make a mess of things.

Have you notice when trying to work with women they are either open, closed or indifferent to a clergy woman being the leader or advisor. Most of the women do not want to work with clergy women who are younger than them because they haven't experienced what they did. Of course there are women who will work with us because they see we are gifted and really have the passion in this area to help with the issues we all face.

Before we take on the challenge let us make sure we are working within our gifts. Let us search and be honest with ourselves in the areas we are being drafted. If we know this isn't for us speak up now rather than later. We will thank God we listened to the spirit and not just our perception.
Always in the Potter's Hand
http://onthemoveministries.blogspot.com
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry