As the pandemic continues to wage devastating effects on the health and wellbeing of the country, it is no surprise that women are bearing the brunt of the economic loss. This is clearly reflected in the most recent unemployment numbers from December. While men are starting to get back to work, men gained 16,000 new jobs according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics as women are still losing ground experiencing 156,000 jobs lost. Throughout 2020, over 2 million women left the labor force leaving the unemployment rate sitting at 6.3% for women, generally, and 8.4% and 9.1%, respectively, for Black women and Latinas, according to the National Women’s Law Center. The grim and hard reality is that the pandemic has only exacerbated previous financial hardships and professional development for women.
As for women in ministry, I suspect the story isn’t much better. Unfortunately, I can’t offer any hard data to confirm this. While I reached out to several different firms that manage ministry placement searches, no one was aware of an organization that tracked the unemployment rate for women in ministry. What I did anecdotally hear is that most of the pandemic churches were only filling essential and urgent positions. This left many women who desired transition to new opportunities feeling stuck, and women who were fresh out of a seminary locked out of the congregational job market. This led some women in ministry who were considering applying for church jobs to apply for tangential fields such as social work or find/continue secular fields until more ministry opportunities became available. It will be interesting to watch if the pandemic causes more women to become or remain bi-vocational.
One thing I have personally observed while watching virtual worship services is the diminished voice of women ministers. I suspect this is due to senior pastors, who are typically men, feeling the pressure from their congregation to preach every Sunday to “prove they are working remotely.” Unfortunately, this leads to women who are often in 2nd chair ministry positions preaching, teaching, and leading less during the worship and teaching hours. It seems it would do everyone in the congregation some good if pastors practiced the self-care they preached and took a Sunday off. Pastors need to recover from burnout and congregations need to hear multiple voices including the gifted women ministers in their congregation.
The news isn’t all bad though. The pandemic has propelled many women in ministry into purpose like never before. I can count no less than 50 women ministry friends on my Facebook timeline who have launched a bible study, prayer calls, podcasts, blogs, and other innovative spaces to do ministry online. Though the market for vocational ministry is hard, in many ways, virtual space had increased the platform for women in ministry. Women in ministry are showing up on Clubhouse and leading necessary conversations on having a prophetic voice. Women in ministry are writing challenging and critical reflections on the need for racial justice and reconciliation in this country. Women in ministry are going live on Facebook and teaching the word of God on their timelines. Women in ministry are gathering together on Zoom calls, encouraging and equipping one another for the journey ahead. Despite the statistics and lack of formal opportunities, women in ministry are making their voices heard and serving God in creative, unique, and innovative ways.
If there was ever a time congregations needed the innovation women bring, now is the time! You need our creativity and fresh ideas so churches can pivot and discover whatever the new post-coronavirus church norm will be. And it’s my prayer that as congregations begin to fill open positions, they remember and prioritize women in ministry with competitive salaries and benefits. I’ll spare you my full rant on how churches often hire women ministers because they somehow believe we are cheaper than men, so I’ll just remind you of the statistics above. Women have suffered enough with unemployment, and underemployment, please don’t have your church under pay us too!
As an empowerment coach, Natasha Nedrick activates faith-based entrepreneurs and professionals to unlock their purpose, monetize their gifts, and build wealth. Natasha also serves as an associate minister at Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia.