Women and Missions

On this last day of Women’s History Month 2025, I wore a shirt that says Black Women Matter…because some of y’all need a reminder…and also because it’s one of my favorite sweatshirts. It’s big and comfy, and I have a pair of shoes that perfectly match.

Anyway, with all that is going on in the world, I desperately wanted to hear from a woman of God this weekend. Not surprisingly, there are not that many women-led congregations in this city. Some of the churches I visit regularly still don’t allow women in the pulpit. BUT it was a fifth Sunday, and in the churches that I frequent, that usually is missionary Sunday. These Sundays are the few times a year that women are allowed to headline a Sunday service, so I actually had quite a few options.

Let me say this first. Many of our local churches are generally not very good at missions. They pass out tracts, they hold prayer meetings, and ever so often, they might actually send a missionary to a foreign country for a couple of weeks. I think these ladies do important work, but it makes me sad that we only highlight what they do a few times a year.

The truth of the matter is that women are the backbone in most of our churches. They are the ushers, the Sunday school teachers, the secretaries, and the accountants. They are the sermonic soloists, the program coordinators, and almost the entirety of the culinary committee. They do it all…except preach, unless the calendar is kind enough to grant us a fifth Sunday.

The truth of the matter is that women are not just vital to the missions department, but vital to the mission of the church. That’s what I needed to hear on Sunday morning. It’s great that we did this event or that, or that we helped support a shelter or build a school in a distant land. I am grateful that we can do these things, but I needed to be reminded of our worth, right here, in our own sacred spaces. What I needed to hear, and what I want all of us to know is that women are worthy of dignity, honor and respect every day, that we, too are image bearers, and that our voices matter. Not just on fifth Sunday.