Why at major universities is Women’s Studies always directly linked to the GLBTQ organization?  Why do these two seem attached at the hip?

This link makes me sad.

My husband and I have been trying out churches in our area in the hopes of finding a church home.  After visiting a promising prospect, we received a welcome information packet for visitors that explained the different ministries and the mission of the church.  It was all well and good until I found the paper I was looking for–the paper on the church’s women’s ministry.  It looked good.  Not only do they have a general women’s ministry for women of all ages, there is also a single’s women ministry that meets at least once a month.  While I am not a single women, I have a lot of single friends who often voice that there is no real place in the church for them once they leave college.  

Unfortunately, this was all too good to be true as I looked to the description for more information.  The women’s Bible study was only offered on Mondays at 10 am.  Most of my friends, family, and myself would never be able to attend this Bible study.  Why?  Because we all have jobs, most of them in education, which is a strict, unforgiving schedule.  Out of all the working women in my life, my part-time retail job is the only one that is flexible, but my duties at work require me to be at work on Mondays from 7 am to noon.  As of last Sunday there was no other option for working women to fellowship and study the Bible with other women at that church.*  While I’m sure this was an unintentional burn, the fact remains that the very time of the Bible study excludes career woman and could be construed to be a smack to her face.  Now, I don’t believe this was this church’s intent.  I don’t want to judge a church I’ve only been to three times, but I think its evidence of a larger attitude towards women in the church culture.  

This isn’t the first time I’ve experienced a women’s Bible study that was only offered to women who did not have careers that kept them in the office during the day.  When I was in high school, my mom (a teacher) wanted to benefit from the Beth Moore Bible study that was of course only offered while she was at school.  So she decided with my bff’s mom to take initiative and set up the same Bible study on the same day but at night for career women.  Of course, the night crowd was smaller than the day crowd, but those women now had an opportunity to grow in Christ with other women in the church.  

If you look at a church bulletin most of the women serving in the church only do so in the capacity of taking care of younger children.  Most pastor’s wives I’ve met do not work, and if they do, only in a Christian setting, never out in the real world.  Yeah, the real world is a scary place, but Christ called us to be a light in that world, not to hide from it.

Just as it’s not okay for the world to punish women who choose to stay at home, it is not okay for churches to punish women who choose to have a career.  Women, just like everyone else in the world, were born unique individuals with different interests, talents, and abilities.  Not every woman is called to be a mother or a stay-at-home wife and therefore should not be seen as less of a woman, person, or follower of Christ for not following a calling she never received.  Women who stay at home or remain in the Christian setting should not be put on a pedastal above those of us who choose to go out into the world.  Neither should the working woman be above the stay-at-home woman.  Both are equal in God’s eyes and so both should be equal in the eyes of the church and be given the same opportunities to grow and serve.

*This Sunday, as I opened my bulletin at the previously mentioned church, I was pleased to find another women’s Bible study will be offered Thursday nights.