Oct 23

Written by: Lin Wurzbacher
10/23/2010 7:48 AM 

Reality check: Being a female, non-denominational, senior pastor can feel kind of lonely at times.  For one thing, there is very, very few of us.

I have spent a lot of time through the years searching for others like me and have found so very few.

I have found quite a few husband and wife team church planters but very few solo women church planters.  There is a big difference. Though my husband is 100% supportive of me and the church, he is not, does not have the calling of a pastor.

This is truly pioneering work and very few people know nor understand that aspect of it.

I certainly don't say this because I want sympathy of any kind.  But I do want other women who are considering planting a church to be aware and be prepared that this road can be a lonely one at times. 

I prayed long and hard about whether God was calling me and our church to be part of a denomination. It would have been nice to feel and have the support of a bigger organization. But God made it clear to me that was not His plan for me and for BHCC. I don't know all the whys of His plan, I just know that it is His will.

It grieves me how so many male pastors have acted towards me through the years. I can understand that they may have different beliefs than do I when it comes to women in ministry.  I can accept that, but what I can't accept is for a pastor of Christ to use their beliefs as a reason to be rude to another human being.  It contradicts the Gospel message as far as I'm concerned.

One time I attended a pastor's luncheon and was seated at a table with 6 male pastors.  None of them would talk to me.  The speaker was Dr. David Jeremiah and the man who was leading the worship portion kept saying things like, 'men, stand up, men, sit down." The women were not addressed at all and there were quite a few in the room!

In defense of men, another local pastor (who was also a friend) came late and was seated at our table right next to me.  (An answer to prayer!) He later apologized to me on behalf of all the men gathered and seemed sincerely disturbed by the obvious rudeness towards women. (Thank you Steve Harling, I wish you were still in our area.)

There have been all different levels of 'rudeness' of this type that I have experienced through the years as a woman pastor. Some of it being very blatant, some is more subtle.  At local pastor gatherings, the subtle comes in the form of my presence being mostly ignored. It was worse when I first started the church. (Perhaps my staying power through the years has gained me some respect? )

It bothers me when I see a whole bunch of pastors get together because it seems like there's a whole lot of what I call 'mugging' going on.  The pastors of the biggest churches always have to sit at the same table together. 

The first question that pastors usually ask each other is 'So, how big is your church?' At one gathering of pastors, we went around the room and had to announce our name, name of our church and then, how many people we had.  Are you serious? This is so not how God would want it to be when pastors get together!

It seems the same tone is set at most of the 'church leader conferences' around the country.  I've lost much of my desire to go to any of these.  Every speaker is some white, middle-aged guy who built a big mega church and wants to teach us too how we too can become big, successful and  famous. What most of these guys don't tell you is that their churches are located in the Bible belt and / or often in densely populated areas and have been grown from attracting Christians from other, smaller churches.

Seriously, think about it, how many of those speakers come from churches in the Northeast? Okay, besides Nelson Searcy.

They all want to convince us if we will simply follow (buy) their formulas, become the super pastor-leader that they are, then we too will find 'success.' 

Okay, I love you John Maxwell, but you did some damage to all of us when you said: "Everything rises and falls on leadership."  I don't think God likes that statement at all.  That puts way too much emphasis on us and not nearly enough on God. And it doesn't explain how so many screwed-up, messed up, losers in the Bible accomplished so many unbelievable, supernatural, amazing things for the Kingdom of God.

What is happening to the church in America?  When did the American Dream of bigness and success hijack the vision of the church of Christ? God has called us to be set apart. Jesus Christ is the only One worthy to be center stage, not us!

A big part of my mission on earth is to be the voice that says God can use anyone He so chooses to use because it really is supposed to be all about Him and not so much about us! We don't have to build a big church to prove our worth.  Our worth was proven when Christ went to the Cross.  Please don't ask me how many people are in my church. Every time you do you are sending me a message that is coming right from Satan himself.

God doesn't call pastors to build big churches.  It turns out, that's His job.  He simply calls us to be faithful to Him and to do what He's called us to do.

Look around friend.  What has God called you to be faithful too? What resources do you have? Don't compare what you have to anyone else.  Just be faithful with the little bit that God has given you and let Him judge the results.

I am living proof.  If He can use me, He can use ANYONE! Male, female, or talking donkey.  Don't let the enemy convince you that it's all about you and how good or NOT good you are....let it be all about GOD and what He can do with the weakest of the weak!

Luke 19:17
‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’

May the Peace of Christ rule in your heart always!