Feminist Reflections on Mission and Leadership: A Uniting Church Minister’s Perspective

By Jan Reeve

A culmination of ten years of work, Feminist Reflections on Mission and Leadership, by author Jan Reeve, documents and celebrates some of the journey of ministry for ordained women leaders in the church.

Coming from an educational background, she provides an overview of the impact of feminist understandings of God on the mission and leadership within the Christian church. Reeve also reflects on the experience of ordained women leaders within the Uniting Church in Australia during the past forty-four years as well as some of her leadership experiences and challenges.

“Jan Reeve’s work, grounded in the history of women’s involvement in the life and leadership of the Church, focuses on the ways in which the Uniting Church has both enabled and damaged women as they have sought to respond to the call to ordained ministry over recent decades. The real gift of this book is Jan’s willingness to share her own story of ministry with all its joys and struggles. This book is a reminder of the gift of women’s ministry and a call to take this gift more seriously, to make appropriate safe and fair environments for women to exercise the ministry they are called to fully. This call for just and supportive communities will also help guide the Uniting Church in its journey to become more inclusive and listen for the many diverse people God calls to discipleship and ministry.”

—Rev Sharon Hollis, President,

Uniting Church in Australia. February 2022

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 27, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664255982

Jan Reeve

Jan Reeve has been an ordained minister within the Uniting Church in Australia for twenty-five years and lives in Sydney, Australia. She combines her feminist beliefs with her Christian faith to reflect on the changes and challenges for women called to lead in the church and wider community. In addition to serving in many church roles, she is a Professional/Pastoral Supervisor and Supervisor-Trainer with an extensive supervision practice.

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Copyright © 2022 Jan Reeve.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-5599-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5600-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5598-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022901522

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/16/2022

DEDICATION

For my mum Gwen who encouraged me to go forward

into wherever God was leading me, thank

you for your faithful life.

This book is dedicated to all the women who have

humbly served Jesus Christ in their lives

especially those who trailblazed leadership

within the Christian Church.

For those who continue to live out their

calling with the joy and privilege

this is, regardless of their reception—keep on the journey!!

CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1 Feminist perspectives on God and the mission of Jesus

Chapter 2 Reflections on the participation of women leaders in Church history.

Chapter 3 Feminist perspectives on leadership and Church leadership

Chapter 4 The role of women in Church leadership: a history of ordained ministry within the Uniting Church in Australia.

Chapter 5 The experience of ordained women ministers in the Uniting Church (1980-1995)

Chapter 6 My early years of ministry leadership in the Uniting Church (1997-2003)

Chapter 7 Changing face of mission and leadership in the early 2000s (2003-2011)

Chapter 8 The experiences of current women ministers serving today (2011-2021)

Chapter 9 Changes needed and qualities for leadership for future women ministers

Chapter 10 Reclaiming the vision of equality in leadership in Christ

Appendix 1

Bibliography by Chapters

INTRODUCTION

Feminist reflections on mission and leadership:

Where have we been and how are we travelling?

The development of this book has been in my mind and heart for many years. As a woman Minister of the Word of the Uniting Church in Australia New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory (NSW/ACT) Synod, I have been looking back on twenty-five years of ministry formation and ministry experience within the Uniting Church. During the time of my studies for my Master of Ministry degree back in 2008, there was a growing desire in me to continue to grow and be equipped for my ongoing ministry, which began back in 1994 as a candidate. The rapid rate of social change and the continuing relocation of the church from the centre of society in the Christendom model of church to the margins of society, have continued throughout Australia since the 1990s, but even more so in the 2000s and beyond

I am amazed that in the current social and political context in Australia, I am finalising this book against a huge backdrop of outrage by women about ill treatment and violence against women across society. This has exploded and needs addressing by all governments and organisations, and requires deep reflection on basic respect for gender equality and people’s value as equals.

Many people have come and gone in ministry, even within the time of my service. It is interesting to look back and observe with hindsight the ways in which we, as part of the church institution, have been slow to accept and respond to the impact of social change and shifting values.

One of the strengths that has been evident in this time of rapid social change is the way in which women have found their rightful place in ministry leadership in a variety of church settings. Women have their unique gifting and calling, which is equally as valid and valuable as it is for men whom God has called. Having grown up in the 1960s and 1970s in Australia as a child of the women’s liberation era, it is not surprising that my pathway into adulthood and ministry has been about permission-giving for women. This period also saw lobbying for significant changes in church practices due to the re-discovery of Jesus’s ministry with women and the rise of the feminist theological movement in the 1980s and 1990s.

For those who are in the first half of life today, this may seem irrelevant or unnecessary to recall. Much of that change has been embraced and forms the foundation and practices of our world and church today. Indeed, other organisations within society, including political organisations and business and community services organisations (or parts of them) continue to support women in leadership on many levels, although the glass ceiling still seems hard to break in many places. That is not to say that all is well, or there isn’t room for improvement or renewal, but women in many spheres are much better off in terms of access and equity than they were forty years ago.

For those in the second half of life, there is much to be remembered and shared about the journey that has taken place, and the wisdom and lessons that have been learnt, in order to create a future that is life-giving and Christ-centred. For those who have the privilege of leadership in the mission of God to lead the church into the future, I hope that these reflections will encourage you to understand the past and how we’ve come