WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

This is from the booklet entitled One in Christ: Men and Women Together in Ministry in the Vineyard …

We believe that God calls and gifts leaders within the church as He chooses and that this is not limited by gender, age, ethnicity, economic status, or any other human distinction (1 Cor. 12:11; Gal. 3:28). The role of the church community is to discern God’s gifting and calling for leadership and also to discern the maturity and character required for leadership (1 Tim. 3:1-13). In the Jesus-following community, leadership centers around serving the body of Christ in humility and self-sacrificial love (Matt. 20:25-28).

In the Vineyard, every area of leadership is open to both men and women who have the desire for humble service to the community of believers and whose God-given gifting and calling for leadership has been recognized and affirmed by the church community.

Women are serving in growing numbers as leaders in Vineyard churches. In some cases, women serve as the sole senior pastor of a church. In others, husbands and wives are teaming together to share the role of senior pastor. Women also serve as staff pastors, ministry leaders, volunteers, elders, small group leaders, and church board members. Women serve trans-locally as area and regional leaders who care for groups of pastors within our movement and as members of the executive team that makes up our National Board. There are no areas of ministry or levels of leadership closed to women in the Vineyard.

In this booklet, we explore the Vineyard's commitment to gift-based leadership, how we've arrived at this commitment, and what it means for Vineyard men and women as we serve together in the church.

For The Way in particular, this means that women can serve as MicroChurch leaders and network elders and pastors.

Here’s a link to the whole booklet - One in Christ: Men and Women Together in Ministry in the Vineyard.

Here’s a link to Karl House’s Biblical Reflections on Women in Leadership.