While many women at various stages of ministry leadership had sought out Kadi Cole to learn from her years of experience, Cole was struck with a rise in numbers over a few months of men seeking her out. They wanted to know how they could best help develop women in their churches and ministry teams to become better leaders. This prompted her to survey thousands of women from high ranking executive leaders in churches and Christian organisations to small congregation Sunday School volunteers and a handful of brave male church leaders. The results of this survey shape the framework of her book Developing Female Leaders.
This book is for church leaders of all church sizes and theological stances, young women looking for where they might fit, and current, longtime women leading in various roles in the church. It challenges all leaders and readers to take a look at their assumptions about women serving in the church, form their conclusions on sound theology and lays out a series of best practices to develop women leaders wherever you land on the theological and practical application spectrum.
While reading the book, I was greatly encouraged that we are excelling at many of the recommended best practices in our local AFES branch at University Fellowship of Christians.
In a series of blog posts, I will engage with the best practices Cole recommends and suggest areas where I believe that AFES Hobart is safe but may need to be stretched and where we may need to step up our development of female leaders. Below is the first best practice:
Best Practice #1: Seek to Understand
Why aren’t women leading in the church when there are so many areas open to them to serve? Cole urges men in leadership to ask these questions and intentionally listen. There are a variety of factors at play. There may be no clear role models for women to follow. Stereotypes keep her from seeing a place for her in church leadership. Even if there is no glass ceiling in a particular role, there may be a “sticky floor” where a woman’s own timid behaviour is keeping her from stepping up. Cole urges leaders to ask questions of women they’d like to see leading in the church and intentionally listen to find out what is blocking their path.
Here are a few she recommends:
Have you ever tried to lead anything at our church?
Do you enjoy leading here? Why?
What opportunities do you think are available to you?
What roadblocks have you come up against when you’ve tried to lead?
How does your own internal thinking impact what you lead?
How can we, as pastors and church leaders, support you in your leadership?”
AFES - It’s not enough for us to put out job descriptions for student leaders and staff and say that they are open to both men and women. We may need to actively pursue women and listen to them to learn what may be holding them back, whether within themselves or cultural/institutional barriers they have experienced.
Upcoming Best Practices:
2. Clearly Define What You Believe
4. Integrate Spiritual Formation and Leadership Development
6. Create an Environment of Safety
7. Upgrade Your People Practices
Developing Female Leaders: Navigating the Minefields and Releasing the Potential of Women in Your Church, Kadi Cole, Thomas Nelson, 2019, 224pgs.