What happened to women’s ministry?
In far too many churches, it’s become a space for sentimentality. We see many women’s programs that seek to coddle rather than to commission. There’s no shortage of tea, crafts, or encouragement, but there’s a critical shortage of doctrine, dominion, and discipleship.
On this week’s episode of The Household Reformation Podcast, Austin and I lay out what we believe to be a biblically faithful, spiritually urgent, and gloriously powerful vision for women’s ministry. This post will hit the key points, and give you a field manual to carry into your own church, household, and community.
Two Ditches to Avoid
Let’s be honest: most churches have veered off course in one of two directions.
1. Therapeutic Minimalism
Everything is soft. Everything is sentimental. It’s less about Scripture and more about vibes. Women gather, share stories, sip coffee, and leave unchanged. No doctrine. No demands. No discipleship.
2. Theological Rebellion
This is the equal and opposite error. Here, women begin studying theology with a spirit of pride and subversion. They angle for pulpits, sow division in their churches, or use theological knowledge as a weapon against biblical order.
The solution isn’t to avoid theology. It’s to submit to it.
We need women who study the Word so they can obey it. If rightly ordered, they will seek to build homes, disciple the younger women, help their husbands, and raise the next generation in the fear of the Lord.
The Bible’s Vision: Builders, Keepers, Warriors
Titus 2 is our ground zero. Older women are to teach younger women. That means studying theology with the intention of obedience.
Here’s what faithful women are called to do:
Build houses (Proverbs 14:1)
Keep homes (Titus 2:5 – workers at home, not spectators in it)
Make war (See: Jael, Deborah, Abigail, Mary, Priscilla)
The call on Christian women is not to become men, but to become fierce in their feminine obedience to Christ.
What the Church Must Do
If a church wants to honor Christ, it must equip women for these God-given roles.
That means:
Teaching doctrine clearly and regularly
Facilitating multi-generational discipleship
Honoring motherhood, homemaking, hospitality, and submission
Preparing women to teach and train other women
Calling young women into responsibility, not Instagram slogans
Calling husbands to shepherd their wives
If your women’s ministry isn’t training women to love their husbands and children, it’s not a ministry. It’s a distraction.
A Word to the Men
Brothers, this is your battle, too.
Your wife, your daughters, your sisters in Christ, they will flourish or flounder based in part on how you lead.
Don’t dismiss women’s ministry as irrelevant to you.
Pray with your wife.
Praise her for her work.
Protect her space for study, worship, and discipleship.
Partner with her in raising the next generation.
Biblical masculinity creates room for biblical femininity to thrive.
Final Exhortation
Women’s ministry isn’t supposed to be a waiting room. It’s a warfront. It’s not to be soft, but strategic.
The Lord is raising up women who build. Who keep. Who fight. Who pass the baton to the next generation, not just with words, but with wisdom, strength, and sacrifice. Let’s not sideline or sentimentalize them. Let’s equip them to obey.
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Let’s raise the standard.
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