wfn.org | PCT focuses on women ministers on eve of 60th anniversary

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3021 Edition

>January 18~24, 2010

PCT focuses on women ministers on eve of 60th anniversary

>Reported by Li Hsin-ren, Lin Yi-ying

>Written by Lydia Ma

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of women ordination in PCT,  Association of Women

Ministers (AWM), an organization of women PCT ministers, will hold  a series of events

starting with a thanksgiving service on June 14, 2010, at Tainan  Seminary. Other events in the

series include a retreat in March, an academic forum in June, and  a retreat where ministers

will learn how to give and receive counseling in November.

Taiwan Church News will also devote a column throughout 2010 on  the lives and ministries of

women ministers written by several women pastors with the goal of  encouraging Christians to

support and pray for their church’s women ministers.

According to PCT statistics, there are currently 358 women  ministers within PCT in contrast to

1,043 men ministers. In other words, the ratio of men pastors and  women pastors is 3 to 1. Of

these women ministers, 36 have been in the ministry for more than  20 years.

Based on personal information gathered by Association of Women  Ministers, if we include

retired women ministers, women ministers on maternity or sick  leave, and those who are

studying or serving abroad, the total number of PCT women  ministers rises to 399. Of these

women, 284 serve as pastors in PCT churches, while 44 serve in  PCT-affiliated

>organizations.

“We still don’t have enough information on women  ministers,” said AWM Secretary-General

Chen Wei-wen. She added that the association often relies on  conversations between women

ministers to discover how they are doing and what they are up to.

AWM discovered from these conversations that, of all women  ministers still in ministry, 70%

are married and 30% are single. Among married women ministers, 50%  have children and

often struggle finding a balance between ministry and family  obligations. As for single women

ministers, their main concern is personal safety if working alone  in a church building, and the

general perception that they aren’t experienced enough to  arbitrate family disputes or

>disputes between church members.

According to Chen, about 80% of women ministers are between the  ages of 35 and 50. AWM

hopes to gather more data on women ministers in the near future.  It also hopes churches will

make a way for more women ministers to serve in church ministries  so that they can step out

from the shadows of the patriarchal society they grew up in and  learn to appreciate

>themselves and stand up for their rights.

In the past, women have mostly served behind-the-scenes, support  roles. However, times

have changed and with the advent of women national leaders, more  and more countries are

increasingly focusing on gender equality in the workplace. PCT  General Assembly also

picked up on this trend and General Assembly Moderator Leonard Lin  chaired the first ever

PCT gender equality executive committee last November. The General  Assembly also urged

local presbyteries to set up independent gender equality  departments within each presbytery.

AWM hopes PCT General Assembly will soon vote in favor of closing  the gap between the

number of male board members and female board members of all PCT  affiliated

organizations. Presently, the guideline for male-female ratio for  all board of directors is 5:1 or

higher, but AWM hopes to increase this to at least 3:1 or higher.  PCT General Assembly

Executive Committee is currently studying this matter closely and  will likely submit a proposal

during this year’s PCT General Assembly Annual Meeting.

AWM reiterated that its goal is not to compete with male clergy or  take anything away from

them, but rather, to help women clergy to have more opportunities  to serve and participate in

PCT church affairs. It hopes to also garner support from male  clergy on the issue of gender

>equality within churches.

For Taiwan Church News’ column on women ministers – Diary  of a Woman Minister – refer to:

>http://enews.pctpress.org/3021/3021_5.htm

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