by Pastor Chris Kumpula
It can be easy to forget that many women were not voting members of their local congregations a century ago. For a number of reasons, Lutheran churches granted suffrage to women earlier than many other American church bodies. Since the beginning of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations (AFLC), women have had full voting rights within both the local congregation and the national conference. More importantly, we recognize the leadership of women through service in the local congregation going back to the church's beginning.
Women serve the MISSION.
From the very inception of the Christian church, women have played a pivotal role by leading through their acts of service and dedication. It was Mary and Elizabeth who dedicated their time and attention as mothers to raising Jesus and John through childhood. Many disciples who followed Jesus were women. And in the first days of the church, women were not only caretakers of the home but also vital participants in the spiritual and communal life of the church. They provided critical hospitality to traveling apostles, supported the needy, and were instrumental in the establishment of early Christian congregations. Servant-leaders like Phoebe and Priscilla showed profound commitment to their faith and a willingness to further the church's mission, whether inside its own community or outside the church reaching women and children needing the love of Jesus. The steady expansion of the church through its first centuries was due in part to the gifts used by women of God in mission.
Women serve as a unique INDIVIDUAL.
The most fundamental manner of Christian service is through individual vocations: whether at work, as parents, as wives, or as neighbors in the community. Women at Zion are free to use their gifts serving as individuals to meet the needs of others. It doesn't matter if these Christ-glorifying efforts are directed toward fellow believers in their church family or toward unbelieving neighbors in their community. This organic activity of individual women is the often invisible, yet critical work of Christian mission missed by the casual observer. We want women who individually show the love of Jesus through what they say and do.
Women serve in voluntary GROUPS.
Women are free to organize to better cooperate in using their God-given gifts to serve the body of Christ. However, the congregation does not have the right to impose undue obligations that would encumber willing service. Within the parameters of Scripture and good order in the congregation, women may freely associate and disassociate with voluntary working groups within the congregation. While membership in the local congregation itself carries biblically mandated expectations for participation, support, and service, individual ministries and groups cannot obligate members in this same way. Every group must aim to freely serve Christ as the head of the church and commit to unity on His terms.
Women serve through organized COORDINATION.
We are grateful for willing women who are able to deploy their leadership gifts for organization, communication, etc. to facilitate good order in the coordination of women's ministry activities. While stringent organizational rules can suffocate ministry initiative or unduly restrict the freedom of the saints, the structure and systems of formal ministry boards can be helpful. Our boards are intended to lend the accountability prescribed by Scripture. While working through these structures can take patience, Scripture assures us that some of this patience will pay off in meeting our mission.
Women serve in mutual COOPERATION.
Mutual cooperation in the body of Christ is a fundamental principle of our congregation and church body. We partner with others to facilitate ministry work that could not be accomplished as an individual congregation on our own. This cooperation takes one of three forms:
National ministry partners: AFLC district churches plan a number of events in western North Dakota, and we cooperate with free and living congregations nationally to support AFLC missionaries, seminary training, our Bible college, church planting, and more.
Local church partners: Zion cooperates with other churches outside of our own church body in Tioga and the surrounding region. We support outreach events, mercy work, and other activities in partnership with other evangelical and biblically conservative churches.
Parachurch partners: We cooperate and support various parachurch (a ministry that is not a local church) partner ministries who work in specialized ministry areas. These partnerships can be local, regional, or international.
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