Thread by @sometimesalight

I love that churches are thinking this way. It also tells me that we can do this for women in conservative spaces whose primary ministries often function (of necessity) outside the gathered church.

https://twitter.com/ImmanuelNash/status/1399873007129083912

Here are the salient points:

1) Immanuel is not hiring Dr. Moore as a pastor/elder.
2) They are providing him a space & support to do a work that is directed outward, recognizing that it benefits the church universal.

So many women in conservative spaces are caught in the gears of local church polity & their call to ministry. Most are not interested in being named elders or pastors. They just want to do the work the Holy Spirit has gifted & called them to do.

Unfortunately, they often have to do this work w/out the support or recognition of their own churches. They minister in isolation & at best, end up forming their own support structure & at worst, foregoing it altogether.

What women in these spaces need is simply the recognition & support for the work that God has called them to do. Churches need to provide this if only at a basic level.

It can be as simple as a quiet space to study, admin support, or basic acknowledgment of the work they're doing more broadly. It does not mean controlling or policing their work so much as partnering with them.

I'm glad that Immanuel has recognized the need to extend this kind of support & recognition to Dr. Moore in an official way. I'd love to see more churches doing this for others who are also serving the church more broadly.

Because in the absence of church communities, such ministries will inevitably be shaped & shepherded by publishers, the marketplace & social media.

So, if you're leading a church & people in your congregation are acting in ministry or parachurch capacities, please find ways to support & acknowledge the work they've been called to, especially those who are working in isolation.

You are not bringing them into your org chart so much as recognizing that they are already there and that the Holy Spirit is already at work in & through them.

The key here is "in residence." Their work is not directed toward your local church, but it emerges from within your congregation. As a congregation, you are simply providing the hospitality & honor due those whose ministries orignate from among you.