wfn.org | TCN: PCT studies gender inequalities among pastors

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2984 Edition

>May 4~10, 2009

>PCT studies gender inequalities among pastors

>Reported by Wang Show-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan Committee for Women Ministers held a  conference on women ministers on April 27th in Chiayi

and invited all women who are concerned about the topic of women  ministers to attend. Attendees discussed how to promote and

encourage women ministers, how to attain gender equality, and other  related issues. The committee plans to equip and strengthen

women ministers by promoting counseling, theology, and spiritual  formation in the near future.

During conference discussions, participants pointed out that there  remains a great deal of inequality between female pastors and

male pastors when it comes to pastoring at local churches, appointments,  or fulfilling one’s responsibilities at presbytery offices or

general assembly offices. For example, women pastors often miss staff  meetings because they need to take care of a sick child or

other emergencies. In contrast, male pastors rarely have the same  problem.

According to committee chair Rev. Chen Mei-hui, the inequalities women  ministers face nowadays is reflective of greater

inequalities women experience in Taiwanese society. Therefore, women  ministers must not only overcome these inequalities for their

own sake, but also for the sake of other women so that women can receive  equal respect and treatment as men.

The committee has already invited two counseling experts from the US  this year to further strengthen women ministers. It plans to

partner with Presbyterian Bible College in Hsinchu to train at least one  pastor who will go around Taiwan and help different

churches whenever their women pastors take time off to rest or study.

Reminder to our readers ------------------------------- Don’t forget that you can also get our weekly news and read past  news anytime by visiting our website: http://enews.pctpress.org/

------------------------------------------------------

>********************

Taiwan Church News is published weekly in Taiwan's local languages.

You may translate and re-use the articles only if you acknowledge the  source as "Taiwan Church News" and list the names of the reporter and  writer.

Contact us before reprinting any of our articles. You may direct  comments and questions to: enews@pctpress.org

To read TCN weekly news, visit our web site: http://www.pctpress.org   (Chinese)

>http://enews.pctpress.org/  (English)

>********************