public speaking is not my favorite. not at all. my heart beats fast, and i turn bright red. it's not pretty. while i enjoy leading informal small groups, standing up in front of a crowd with all eyes on me is one of the last things i'd pick to do.but, i definitely notice and am sensitive to a lack of visible, up-front female leadership, especially in the church and christian ministries. when i was a youth pastor in pittsburgh, i attended a monthly networking meeting, and i was one of only two women in the whole city who wasn't a spouse or a volunteer in a ministry led by a man. not only were most of the youth pastors men, they were also mostly middled-aged. as a twenty-something youth leader fresh out of college, i would have loved to have had female mentors to show me the ropes, but there just weren't any.
my heart longs to see women using their gifts in the church--not only teaching children's sunday school or providing hospitality at coffee hour. i believe that Scripture reveals that women, like men, can also be gifted as pastors, teachers, or evangelists, and i desire for the church to encourage young women to discover and use their gifts to serve the Kingdom of God in a variety of creative way. girls should grow up seeing women in leadership as a natural thing.
so, when i was asked to speak at camp's worship in an intentional effort to diversify our speaking roster, i didn't want to turn it down. (even though, of course, i did!) and that is how i ended up giving the sermon this morning at camp's worship service in the chapel of the pines.
because of fourth of july, our one-week camp went an extra day, meaning that kids who would ordinarily have gone home were there for worship, too: 300 kids and 100 staff. (my heart!)
my text was Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus calls Simon Peter to follow him, and he leaves everything to do so. i got to talk about how God chooses us, even though we are ordinary and sinful, and equips us for ministry.
i know for a fact that he does.
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
(photo: america)
