Any exciting change or progress from the past year?

In the past, our women’s discipleship teams struggled to think beyond women’s immediate pastoral needs – the circumstances they were in, and all the blockers to their growth. But last year, we worked hard on developing a discipleship pathway. It’s helped us think about what the next steps might be for each woman in discipleship. Perhaps attending a growth group regularly, picking up a particular ministry or doing a theology course. I’ve been really delighted to see the congregational women leaders think about who they can personally invest in, pray for and  help to grow. It’s been exciting!

What’s been your journey into ministry?

I was a high school science teacher and then was at home for 12 years having my five children. I started this role at my church without having done an apprenticeship or any kind of formal training.

What was it like to do ministry without formal training?

The first few years I felt like I was playing catch up because there were basic things that I really didn’t understand about ministry. I was surprised at what goes on behind the scenes in a church – just that people can be very difficult. As someone who was attending the church and actively serving, I still hadn’t seen a lot of the hard things. I also had to grow in my capacity to handle the Bible and open it with people.

What’s been challenging?

The biggest challenge in my role is not to do with the type of ministry, it’s to do with the part-time nature of the role. A part-time role can become quite significant all of a sudden. What do I do because it’s my job? What do I do because I love Jesus and go to this church? The line between those two things can be very murky. For people in part-time roles, you really need to strive for clarity. Know the difference between what is your job, and what other things you are happy to do because you love and serve Jesus.

What’s something you’re thinking through theologically at the moment?

The big thing for us at the moment is thinking about how men and women serve together in our church. Our church is 28 years old, and we’ve had a position paper on men and women in ministry for quite a long time. But a few years ago I ran some focus groups which highlighted the need for a refresh of this. Women expressed a lack of clarity around why we practise certain things in our church, in terms of men and women and how they serve. We started thinking about how we could bring clarity to that. 

I’m part of a working group rewriting our position paper. Our goal is to see a shift in our culture where we are embracing God making us equal but giving us different roles and responsibilities as men and women. We’d like to present a paper that celebrates the beauty of being male and female, and to see the good and healthy ways that we can serve well together. The Bible says some very clear things, but there’s also freedom in some areas as well. Paul doesn’t say much about who leads the service and what happens in certain groups and situations, so we have to work that out. It really is us trying to paint a beautiful picture of the way God’s made us and grow a rich culture based on that.

What would you like to say to women wondering if they should go into ministry?

I’m very thankful to God that he’s brought me into this space. If you’d asked me twenty years ago if I’d be working for a church, I never would have thought that it would ever happen. Ministry is a great privilege. Pray about it, investigate it, talk to people, do some training and have a go. Don’t just think: ‘Oh, it’s not worth it.’ It is definitely worth giving great consideration.

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Suellen is currently part of Reach Australia’s Team Development Program. More info here: www.reachaustralia.com.au/team-development-program