Women Encouraged to Use Leadership Gifts in the Church

“Women are the very lifeblood of the church. Their leadership gifts in every aspect of the work of the church are needed today more than ever before,” the Rev. Dr. Paul L. Maier emphasized in his two keynote addresses at the second biennial conference of the Women’s Leadership Institute of Concordia University Wisconsin.

Held April 4-6, 2008, at the Best Western Airport Hotel, the gathering drew 130 participants from across the country. Other plenary speakers included Gloria Edwards, a member of the LCMS Board of Directors; Linda Reiser, a member of the LCMS Board for Mission Services, and Karen Lippert, director of Women’s Ministry at Divine Redeemer, Hartland. Edwards, of Portolo Valley, CA, and Reiser, Grand Island, NE, are both past national LWML presidents.

Speaking first on “Women Leaders in the New Testament and the Early Church,” Maier, who is 2nd Vice President of the LCMS and professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University, reviewed the “whole cavalcade of women leaders” who “spill out” from the pages of the Old and New Testaments.

“Precedents set both in the New Testament and the first centuries of the church are enormously important for the subsequent history of women’s leadership in Christianity,” he continued. Despite the examples of women like Huldah, Deborah, Mary, Blandina, Paula, Helena and dozens of others, Maier noted that “Christianity has had a checkered record when it comes to involving women in the life of the church.” One reason for this, he said, is that “the church is also set in society, a society that did not even give women a right to vote in America until the 1920s!”

It’s been a long road, Maier admitted in his second talk, “How Women Can Use Their Leadership Gifts in the LCMS,” but progress has been made. Today “women may vote and hold any office in the church except that of the ordained ministry.”

Discussing “How to Be a Servant Leader,” Edwards emphasized the importance of good communication. Leaders, she said, must provide a prophetic voice and demonstrate the courage to inspire and ability to compromise. In Scripture, God tells people, “I love you. I believe in you.” Likewise servant leaders must be encouragers and “tell people you believe in them!”

In her talk on “Living Life with Passion and Purpose,” Lippert urged each women to discover the specific role God planned for her in the body of Christ (Eph. 2:10). “Knowing your purpose gives meaning and motivation to your life,” she said, adding that too many women, especially those of previous generations felt they didn’t have anything to offer. Lippert asked, “Are you depriving God of your gifts? Sometimes we have false humility; we are proud of how humble we are.”
Describing “Programming Ideas that Work,” Reiser stressed the importance of beginning with prayer – even months in advance. Then determine the goal, purpose and outcome of each event or activity and “keep it in front of everything you do.” For an event to succeed, it must be well publicized, well planned, have meaning, and contribute to society.

Programs need to change as the opportunities for mission change, Reiser continued. “We need to offer more events for unchurched and dechurched friends. If you don’t have some that fail, you’re not trying enough. It’s OK to let some things die for lack of interest.” She urged congregations to emphasize “mission minded groups” rather than “church groups.”

Besides the plenary addresses, conference participants could attend three of nine “how to” workshops on such varied subjects as making a speech, writing a devotion, leading a Bible study, conducting a meeting, recruiting volunteers, dealing with conflict, planning an event, becoming better organized and for the over-stressed leader, “how to take care of me.”

The importance of Christians being “real” and “authentic” in their outreach to today’s young people was emphasized Sunday morning by a panel of previous Donna J. Streufert Women’s Leadership Award winners. This award is given annually to a current CUW student who demonstrates outstanding leadership abilities in her studies and extra-curricular activities. Recipient of the 2008 award is Angela Krueger of Cedarburg. A lay ministry student, she is majoring in theology.
CDs of all presentations will be available through the WLI office at Concordia. DVDs will also offer visual coverage of the five plenary and keynote addresses. For more information, call 262-243-4422, visit the WLI website at www.wlicuw.org, or e-mail bonnie.treloar@cuw.edu.
Friday evening closed with a candlelight devotion developed by Dr. Donna Streufert, South Bend, IN, the WLI founder, and featuring a hymn, “Daughters of God,” written by Streufert, with music by Prof. Kenneth Kosche of CUW. Sheet music and a CD recording of the hymn recorded by the CUW Kammerchor are also available from WLI.

Saturday evening concluded with an original drama, “Daughters of the Church: Portraits of Courage” compiled by Streufert and directed by Dr. David Eggebrecht, chair of the CUW theatre program. The roles of eight women in church history were taken by actresses from Acacia Theater and other area theaters.