Reflections on the place of women in the church

7. March 2025

Text: Berit H. Nilsen / Photo: Natalie Nielsen for BCC

It is worth celebrating what has happened in the 20 years that have passed since we first gathered for a sisters’ conference – a conference for women aged 13 to well over a hundred years.

Every community has a culture, which is often characterized by tradition and “unwritten rules.” This is also the case in BCC. And we all have a responsibility to contribute to a positive development in the times we live in. To achieve this, it is important to know our history. But we must also be interested in shaping our future.

God needs both women and men as co-workers

The Bible is our basis and guideline, and we have a doctrine that springs from it. Based on this, we are keen to find out what God’s plan and will is for the church. In BCC, we have worked actively to develop the church, and in this regard the sisters’ conferences have been an important initiative. Because we don’t believe it was God’s intention that 50% of the church should be inactive in life and ministry.

Paul is clear that in Christ women are not superior to men, but neither are men superior to women (1 Corinthians 11:11). He wrote, for example, about a diversity of ministries, where both women and men were useful coworkers, and he himself had an extensive collaboration with several women in his ministry.

Jesus in no way excluded women from His close circle of friends. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the women first. And it is quite interesting that He gave the women not only permission, but also responsibility, to preach the gospel of Jesus, His death and resurrection, when He says: “… go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'” (John 20:17.)

He took a stand against those who wanted to limit women’s rights in church life

The founder of our church, Johan O. Smith (1871-1943), was concerned about the fair treatment of women, and he assigned women to important tasks in the churches. In the early 1900s, he took a stand against those who wanted to limit women’s rights in church life by referring to God’s word. He pointed out, among other things, that Paul recommended that the church in Rome accept Phoebe in the Lord, for she was a servant of the church whom they should appreciate and support in all things (Romans 16:1-2).

Further history shows that the issue of the place of women in the church gradually entered a more negative development culturally. This is recognizable from several denominations, where the culture in many places became restrictive instead of facilitating expression. This also characterized our church for decades.

A cultural revolution

But then there was a clear shift about 30 years ago. Many of us clearly remember how liberating it was when Kåre J. Smith, who took over as spiritual leader at the time, began to take steps to get the church back on a healthy track – also in terms of women’s place in the church. Since then, we have experienced a gradual and positive development in our culture. We call it a silent cultural revolution.

In recent years, we have worked actively to return to the way the church was from the beginning, both in this and several other areas. And we are already seeing results. Today, both women and men are active in various ministries to help fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission.

Nowadays, the role of elder is the only one that is reserved for men. This is not an absolute requirement, but based on BCC’s understanding of what Paul writes to the Ephesians, the Corinthians, Timothy, and Titus, men will be chosen as elders as long as there is someone suitable for the task.

We are not saying that everything is perfect among us when it comes to women’s ministry yet. We still have some way to go to change this culture. And we are working to develop not only our culture, but also our structure, to make it easier to contribute.

A common direction and concrete measures produce results

In recent years, we have taken active measures to increase the proportion of women on boards and in the Assembly of Representatives, which is the supreme authority in all practical, legal, and financial matters in the BCC Federation. To achieve this, we have held seminars for key committees and leaders, where gender balance is mentioned as an important factor when assessing candidates for various positions. Furthermore, the nomination committees, which are tasked with nominating people for key positions, have been challenged to recommend female candidates for positions that were previously often held by men.

The local churches’ annual general meeting, which consists of all members of the individual local church, has been encouraged to strive for gender balance in elections to key roles.

Unfortunately, it turns out that women are more likely to turn down positions than men, so it takes extra effort to work with our culture. An important factor for us is that the Elders, which is the supreme body for faith and doctrine, has actively supported developments in this area. If there is to be a change in our culture, all leaders must be united in their belief that this is something we want, otherwise it won’t happen.

We have also worked to train youth workers, which is already proving to be positive in terms of getting the female half of the congregation even more involved. Both young women and men are mentors who have responsibility and care in youth work. In this way, we want to build a healthy culture that we believe will continue to show results in new generations.

The main thing is to accomplish something for the cause of God’s kingdom

We believe there is great potential in getting as many people as possible to become active coworkers in the churches, because the main purpose of our commitment is to share the message that Jesus brought, and to accomplish something for the cause of the Kingdom of God.

And one thing is certain: Both women and men with a burning commitment to Christ and to the church are needed here. We congratulate the church on the 20^th anniversary of sisters’ conferences and look forward to being part of the further development.