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LAUSANNE REPORTS

Developing Women for Ministry in Southern Africa: PACWA Leadership Development Program

By ESMé Bowers

The Pan African Christian Women’s Alliance (PACWA) is the women’s commission of The Association of Evangelicals in Africa, established in 1989. One of our goals is to sensitize Christian women to the role they can play in the transformation of the African continent.

Gender Stereotypes and the Church
Religion is a key factor in the perpetuation of gender attitudes and values from one generation to the next. Those who have opposed women in ministry often refer to tradition and scripture to support their views. Nevertheless women have been in ministry since the inception of the Church and have continued to fulfill their calling and ministry in spite of opposition.

One of the goals of PACWA is to develop credible Christian women leaders who can impact the continent and world through the power of the gospel. We recognize that the development of Christian women has been neglected. One way of redressing this imbalance is through training that provides time to interact with other women and identify mentors who will help them navigate the road to successful Christian leadership.

One of the goals of PACWA is to develop credible Christian women leaders who can impact the continent and world through the power of the gospel.

In South Africa the demise of Apartheid and the New Constitution with its Bill of Rights saw women empowered at all levels of society. Women in churches were asking for more opportunities to serve; however, they lacked the skills and materials for entry level leadership. Many of the courses offered were expensive, lengthy (meaning that women would have to spend weeks away from home) and not tailored to womens’ needs.

The role of the minister’s wife was becoming more demanding and many were finding that expectations from both the local church and their spouse demanded they grow together as partners in ministry with their husbands. For too long these women had to accept a lesser role even though they were fully involved in the ministry and their contribution was minimized as they had no formal training.

In 1996 I was able to do a survey at a national evangelical church conference attended by both ministers and their wives. The following were identified as hindrances to women working together with their spouses in ministry:

• Lack of theological training
• Husband’s inability to accept wife as ministerial partner; he was trained, she was not; he is called, she is just a support
• Women’s insecurity and low self-esteem
• Lack of interpersonal and leadership skills
• Poor understanding of the role women could play
• Fear of failure
• Need for healing of past hurts and rejection by male leadership

Many courses offered as refresher courses to ministers required that some previous theological qualification had been completed. This marginalized the women as there were no materials aimed at meeting their needs. They nevertheless wished to become better servants of God.

The World Evangelical Alliance conducted a leadership course in Nairobi, Kenya in 1995 for key national leaders and emerging women leaders in Africa. Thirty percent of the participants were women. At this course I noticed that women engaged with the material presented in a different way to the men and were eager to share what they had learned with other women. The women decided to work together as PACWA and tailor the course for women who needed to gain confidence in leadership so as to work with men as equal partners in the local church and other initiatives.