danmpem
Puritan Board Junior
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One of the things I have been thinking about for a long time is the issue of gender-specific Bible Studies. For three years, I was a co-leader of a college men's small group, and we were the only group in the church to do an expository of the Bible (as opposed to 40 Days of Purpose video studies).
One of my good female friends told me that she had been looking for a co-ed small group, because the women's groups were far to superficial for her liking. I know that some churches solve this problem by having adult Sunday school or something similar, but at the time, my friend did not have these available to her. I had always pictured the women's small groups as being very similar to the men's. After talking with her and then asking around, I learned that it's not uncommon for them to be just how she described.
It seems that things like the ladies Bible studies are usually the result of a very poor interpretation of scripture. Instead of not allowing women to be teaching other men, it becomes women not being taught at all. I'm sure there are plenty of very God-glorifying women's Bible studies all over, it's just a shame that so many of my female friends have yet to find one. My friend was actually denied mentorship from a pastor on the grounds that she was a young lady. It really hurt that the leadership did not even want to consider working something out to stay "beyond reproach".
When I was leading the small group, one of my priorities was to give my peers something they would not get anywhere else: deep, challenging, and expository study of the scriptures. I just wish I had realized sooner how many of my friends truly felt excluded from something they desired so desperately to have.
To the ladies, do you feel I am misinformed about how women's small groups function? Is it different in Reformed churches? What do you think the catalyst is to make it different?
To everyone, I understand the need to stay beyond reproach, but what can be done so that anyone who desires to have a deeper study in the Word of God can have it with other small groups in the church?
One of the things I have been thinking about for a long time is the issue of gender-specific Bible Studies. For three years, I was a co-leader of a college men's small group, and we were the only group in the church to do an expository of the Bible (as opposed to 40 Days of Purpose video studies).
One of my good female friends told me that she had been looking for a co-ed small group, because the women's groups were far to superficial for her liking. I know that some churches solve this problem by having adult Sunday school or something similar, but at the time, my friend did not have these available to her. I had always pictured the women's small groups as being very similar to the men's. After talking with her and then asking around, I learned that it's not uncommon for them to be just how she described.
It seems that things like the ladies Bible studies are usually the result of a very poor interpretation of scripture. Instead of not allowing women to be teaching other men, it becomes women not being taught at all. I'm sure there are plenty of very God-glorifying women's Bible studies all over, it's just a shame that so many of my female friends have yet to find one. My friend was actually denied mentorship from a pastor on the grounds that she was a young lady. It really hurt that the leadership did not even want to consider working something out to stay "beyond reproach".
When I was leading the small group, one of my priorities was to give my peers something they would not get anywhere else: deep, challenging, and expository study of the scriptures. I just wish I had realized sooner how many of my friends truly felt excluded from something they desired so desperately to have.
To the ladies, do you feel I am misinformed about how women's small groups function? Is it different in Reformed churches? What do you think the catalyst is to make it different?
To everyone, I understand the need to stay beyond reproach, but what can be done so that anyone who desires to have a deeper study in the Word of God can have it with other small groups in the church?