Raising Women as Microchurch Planters
Women make up 60% of our churches. I look forward with hope to the day when they make up 60% of church planters as well.
The micro church movement is demonstrating a different approach to church planting that is mobilizing a more diverse group of church planters previously untapped, or at the least, unheard of in public discourse.
The growing edge of church planting is women and ethnic minority groups. Over a decade ago, when I began planting, I knew no other female planters in Melbourne; today, I know at least twenty female planters in our city, mostly planting using a microchurch approach.
It's not without precedent. Women led churches in homes throughout Scripture. Peter went to Mary’s house where people had gathered in prayer (Acts 12:12), Lydia brought her whole household to Christ, and it became a place of fellowship (Acts 16:40), Priscilla led a house church with Aquila (Romans 16:3,5) and another church met in Nympha’s home (Colossians 4:15). Movements throughout history have also highlighted the key role of women, particularly for their community connections.
Today, we are seeing a rediscovery of this, primarily through house and microchurch networks. Microchurch planting posits fewer barriers for women’s involvement than in many traditional church planting settings, although it’s not without its challenges. If you are eager to mobilize women to plant microchurches, here are five key actions you can take!
Tell Stories of Women Microchurch Planters.
Marian Wright Edelman was credited for the phrase “You can’t be what you can’t see,” and this is as true in microchurch planting as in other fields. To step out of traditional models of church planting or even to see ourselves in leadership roles, women need to see and hear examples. These can be people they know in their own communities, they can be stories you tell of people from around the world, or even stories from history. The story of Mary Sumner, the pioneer of Mothers’ Union, has inspired many women in Australia to see a need and have the courage to step out in faith. Sumner was a woman who saw a gospel opportunity, and despite her own nervousness, she responded to the call of God on her life, starting small communities aimed at reaching and supporting mothers. Meeting pioneering women is ideal, but telling stories of pioneering women is almost as good. Our history is littered with these stories, often untold. Do your research and find stories relevant to your context of women involved in church planting. Often, our biggest limitation is our imagination. Stories and examples expand our imaginations, allowing us to be open to whatever God might be calling us toward.
Demonstrate Tangible Opportunities.
To mobilize women to plant microchurches, we need to move beyond just showing examples; we need to ground these examples in local possibilities. In conversations with women, we need to highlight the real possibilities before them. In his book Hero Maker, Dave Ferguson talks about the power of having “I see in you” conversations to intentionally call out potential in others. This is a helpful framework to use with women whom you see may have potential in microchurch planting. Often, women are already deeply involved in local communities, sporting clubs, schools, and other community spaces. What they often need is someone to reframe these as a missional opportunity. Verbally naming the community they are engaged with and calling out the potential for it to be a microchurch plant grounds stories and examples in tangible reality. Sometimes microchurches are about starting something new; other times, they are about seeing what you are involved in as an opportunity for discipleship and mission and the creation of a new faith community.
Build Flexible Processes.
When I started out building a microchurch network, I built a pathway all microchurch practitioners had to go through to launch through us. Part of this included sitting in an existing microchurch for six months before launching their own. It aimed to ensure they caught the DNA of what we were doing, but I soon noticed it was a barrier to women, especially those with children. Moving children and settling them in a community for six months, and then doing it all again six months later felt overwhelming, even more so when they had children with special needs, so they didn’t enter the process. Thankfully, one woman was courageous enough to speak to me about this.
If we want women to lead microchurches, we need to build flexible processes, flexible with methods but firm on the principles. There are lots of ways to instill the DNA of a microchurch in someone, without asking them to disturb their family rhythms. We need to develop flexibility not only about the shape of these communities but also about the processes we put around them, whether that is the process to launch, team leadership models, or training requirements. Women often work differently and benefit from a different approach, whether that be relational or otherwise … so do many men, actually! So hold to the principle, but be flexible with the process. Create Relational Networks.
Women are incredibly resourceful leaders. For the last few years, I have run coaching cohorts for women planting microchurches. I rarely need to provide content because when you get a room full of women, generally, they tend to be highly collaborative. They love to talk things through, help one another solve their problems, and share the resources they have created. Their situations are different and varied, but they all appreciate a safe space to debrief and learn together. Relational networks, like these coaching cohorts, have been key for us to see women flourish as they plant microchurches.
While they may be true of many mixed environments as well, church planting has often been a male-dominated space, either because of theological perspectives or circumstances. In her book Fearless Organisation, Amy Edmonson talks about the importance of psychological safety for flourishing teams. Psychological safety is defined as the “belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes, and the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking.” Research shows that women do a better job of creating these spaces than men.1 For women to flourish in what is often male-dominated spaces, they need safe places to share, reach out for help, and take risks. I believe this can be cultivated in mixed environments like cohorts, apprenticeships, mentoring-style relationships, or incubators, but it needs to be intentionally cultivated. Especially for microchurch planting, I think we often overestimate the training content women need and underestimate the relational support.
Address Systemic Barriers.
While microchurch planting gets around some barriers for women (for example, ordination, funding, etc) some barriers still exist. While women face many internal barriers, which Kate Coleman names in her book, The 7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership, they also face external barriers. Dealing with gender stereotypes, sexism and unconscious bias, limited access to networks, lack of flexibility, limited or risky opportunities, theological differences, and family and life stage expectations are just a few! For example, the cost for a woman to fly across the country to gain access to a training conference is often higher, as many women are still the primary caregivers for children, and so they often must consider childcare costs. One simple way you can address this barrier is to provide childcare at training events.
The best way to identify these barriers is to have a conversation with women around you about the resistance they face. Listen to the barriers that are directly affecting them without defending or explaining. Some you may have little power to change, others you may be able to change. In church planting, and microchurch planting in particular, I’ve noticed that women often benefit from sponsors. Not financial sponsors (although I’m sure many women would value that), but those who will speak up for them in rooms they don’t have access to speak into, whether that is at denominational levels, within training organizations, which are predominately male-led, or even in Christian philanthropic organizations, which are still heavily biased to supporting male-led initiatives. Women can raise their voices and change systems, but change will be quickened when men also raise their voices in unison. We will need both working together to address the many and varied systemic barriers women face. If you take the time to hear and understand the barriers women face, you may be able to partner with them in finding solutions.
Stuart Murray, the author of Church Planting: Laying Foundations, wrote these words over twenty years ago, and they are even more true today:
“Networks are replacing hierarchies, and it is recognized that women are often more comfortable within networks and flexible structures... Evangelism is increasingly operating through dialogue rather than monologue, in small groups rather than in large auditoria and this is a context where women are often more skilled and effective than men.”
Women are often connected deeply into local communities, and in a world where trust for traditional male pastors has been rocked by scandals, community trust is often higher for women. Their relational approach, ability to create safe spaces, and approach to evangelism make them very effective microchurch planters, much like Mary, Lydia, Priscilla, and Nympha. We need to tell stories, demonstrate opportunities, build flexible processes and relational networks to support women to lead microchurches, all while addressing the barriers that often limit or prevent their leadership.
