Lesson 5 Practice

You can do this exercise either about yourself or about someone in your church or someone in a different church. In this lesson, we discussed the disconnect that often occurs between a church saying they believe in women in ministry and that church’s actual willingness to call a woman as pastor. Women studying for ministry in the Wesleyan Church are welcomed in our colleges and seminaries often only to find difficulty finding a church.

In this practice assignment, either do some serious reflection about your own heart or interview someone in the church about whether you or they would ever actually call a woman to be pastor at your/their church. Your interviewee should be someone who, at least on paper, claims to believe that women can be ministers. If you sense any resistance inside, probe your heart or their heart. What is standing in the way? Tradition? Preference? Strangeness? Pride? Sexism? Open yourself or encourage them to open their hearts to the examination of the Holy Spirit.

Write up your reflections and upload them to the course.