“Our church has wanted a female ministry intern for a long time,” said my supervisor, a male pastor of a mid-size Baptist church in North Carolina. “But to be honest, I don’t know what to do with you. I can’t go running with you, I can’t get a drink with you, and my wife says I can’t cuss in front of you. How do you want me to be your supervisor?” My status as both a welcome figure and a mysterious unknown infiltrator into a male world of mentorship was a daunting first lesson. To be fair, this Baptist pastor became a big supporter who willingly let his female intern tinker with worship. But understanding one another wasn’t easy, and we had other difficult conversations about my entrance into the realm of ministry leadership.
Congregants are still getting used to the presence and leadership of women in ministry, even though they may value ministry equality in theory. Statistically, women in ministry are rare birds. It is a common occurrence for women to encounter outright surprise whenever they enter a space as a ministry leader. Newcomers entering into the church do not assume that a woman will be the leader. Remarks like, “You don’t look like a hospital chaplain,” or “I didn’t expect you to be on this committee,” are often code for “I’m shocked a woman has appeared here.” Wearing suits and other professional clothing does not always help. And it is not immediately clear if this surprise will lead to acceptance or rejection. Female ministers constantly negotiate between gender and leadership expectations in order to do their jobs.
Surprise or discomfort with a female ministry leader is compounded by the intersectionality of difference, or what I call woman+. Female ministers experience gender bias because their working context is still predominantly male-oriented, but other important factors are at play as well. Men experience bias about their abilities, but women often receive a double portion of bias due to their gender and age, race, or married status, for example. A female minister must navigate her world as a woman+relationship, woman+age, woman+education, woman+ethnicity, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
Added to this (woman++?), is the issue of leadership style and developing leadership identity. Whether in ministry or elsewhere, women who speak up in meetings, issue clear orders, offer critical evaluations, and otherwise lead in a direct manner are often considered competent but too “bossy,” “aggressive,” and “unlikeable.” Women who respond to situations and manage the collective ethos of a group are sometimes considered likable but “not competent enough” for high levels of authority because they do not exhibit “visionary” leadership. Add on submissive terms for ministry, such as “servant-leader,” and it’s no wonder women’s leadership in the church is so difficult to untangle.
Search committees and supervisors still use gendered perceptions where masculinity is the norm, even as they espouse a desire for women to lead. In “Women Rising: The Unseen Barriers,” Herminia Ibarra, Robin Ely, and Deborah Kolb argue that organizations with good intentions of adding women to leadership positions often fail because they do not take into account the “second-generation bias” that continues to bar women even though officially the gates are open. The competence-likeability trade-off between direct and indirect leadership styles is one example of second-generation bias. Other examples of second-generation bias appear in policies, bylaws, and organizational patterns. For example, jobs that require travel, relocation, and inflexible work hours for promotion are relics of the long-held assumption that employees are males with non-working spouses. These policies can bar women with children and both women and men with working spouses from developing leadership skills and advancing careers.
In the end, I am grateful that a North Carolina Baptist pastor outright confessed, “I don’t know what to do with you” (and I will state right now that it’s okay to cuss in front of me). There’s a learning curve for everyone involved. Dismantling second-generation bias and getting used to the presence of women in ministerial leadership takes some difficult conversations and concrete policy changes. In this series of blogs, Lauren McDuffie and I will try to prepare the way. We’ll talk about why the issue of women in ministry still needs to be discussed and dealt groups. We’ll provide possibilities for supporting women once they are ministers so that they can develop their gifts and style as leaders of your congregation. We’ll also confront some of the barriers from a female perspective, and offer advice about what women can do to help themselves.
We would like to hear from you. If you have any stories or questions for us, please email us.
Laura Levens is assistant professor of Christian Mission at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky. Email: laura.levens@bsk.edu
Lauren McDuffie is the associate pastor of Morehead Baptist Church in Morehead, Kentucky. Email: lauren@fbc-morehead.org