Young Women and College Ministry

There are some issues it is difficult to be right on.  One of those is women and ministry.  Several years ago I was fussed at by some local pastors for hiring a woman Associate who was married and her husband was willing to move and find a job where she had an opportunity.  I have written in recent years about the need to have women involved in college ministry roles.  When I was a BCM Minister on a campus with a large Lunch Program featuring a speaker, I was criticized for not having enough women speakers.  The point which was a good one was that our young women needed to see and hear committed Christian women speak.  While I wholeheartedly agreed, I had difficulty finding women who were available and capable to do what we were asking.  Beth Moore where were you?

Recently, I have been fussed at just a little bit for the fact that our Wednesday night student band is often all guys.  The problem is our capable and regular gal singers graduated.  We have been able to utilize a couple of our female students a couple of times.  But, for a variety of reasons, they have not been regulars.

A friend of mine who pastors a church has women on his staff.  At his church all the staff are called pastors.  He has been criticized by other pastors who have women on their staff, but do not call them "pastors".  It is hard to be right.

Let me be clear; this is NOT a discussion about women and ordination.  This is about how do we best help young women honor the Lord, serve and see other women who honor the Lord and serve?  The criticism we get is simply a good reminder that we need to be aware and looking for ways to utilize our young women and we need to continually be looking for ways to provide them role models of women who love the Lord and serve.

Trust me...you will not get it perfectly right in everybody's eyes.  But, that does not mean we should not be wrestling and working with it.  God uses men and women.


Arliss Dickerson is the author of five books on college ministry available in eBook format on Amazon.com for 99 cents each.  His book, FIXING A BROKEN COLLEGE MINISTRY, is also available in paperback.  Also, check out Arliss' Facebook page, "College Ministry Resources by Arliss Dickerson".