A Cry Is Heard! Is The Church Listening?

God made man and woman, male and female, not only to belong to Him, but also to one another. Woman, created as ‘female’, is neither inferior nor independent of the male. The female cannot have her fulfillment by herself in isolation, but through her relationships in the community she is placed in. Her identity is expressed and established, through relationships with others in her given contexts. No matter what her context is, she finds true freedom through Jesus’ promise, ‘If the Son shall set you free you shall be free indeed.’ ( John8:32). Thus she is strengthened to persevere to fulfil her responsibilities patiently, through the constraints laid on her. Applying the reality of solidarity, women too will work for the good of the whole of their given contexts, even though it may mean restraining themselves from doing selfishly what they like to do. Their leadership is one of service following the characteristics of Jesus’ selfless service and servant leadership. Their relationships with other men and women will free them to give space to empower them also

The best of women’s ministry, like the men’s, is informal, domestic, and non-institutional rather than official and role- regulated. A woman leader demonstrates the life of Jesus through her selfless services of love. Thus the ordinary women’s ministry is a far larger subject than  women’s ordination to office, with only a few in it.

Our vision of our own nature and that of our community has an importance beyond our own identity. “Created in the image’ of three self-giving Persons of the Triune God, we are called to live in solidarity with others in the community, not for ourselves alone. So what we do governs everything about our relationship to the life in the world. If we truly believe that we are daughters and sons in the family of God, then we have a responsibility to nurture this sisterhood and brotherhood within this family. We are called and gifted by God to give space to one another, to help us grow and develop in unity, love by the giving away of ourselves for the good of others. We will gather to be fed, and scatter to be food for others, to be Jesus in our world.

Laity is mostly neglected in the Church. Women have regretfully testified that though their leadership qualities are sought after and used in the secular fields, ‘they shrink into insignificance, when they are in the Church’ commented a Indian woman leader sadly. In a world where women serve as prime ministers, ambassadors and business executives, as well as carry out their responsibilities in their home, some are rightly questioning the Church on the prescribed limits within which women must often serve.