5 Ways Women Can Serve the Church

Women are an indispensable part of service in the church. By God’s good design, men and women are equal in value and have both received gifts to build up the body of Christ:

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 4:10–11)

There is an abundance of ways women can and should exercise their God-given gifts to serve the church. Here are five:

1. Love Family (Titus 2:4)

Service in the church can’t be separated from serving our families. As women learn to love their husband and children sacrificially at home, they grow in the ability to love their fellow brothers and sisters in the church. When they exercise patience with their spouse and offer a kind word to their child, they are modeling the patience and kindness so vital for church members to exercise toward one another. When they learn to put another’s preferences above their own, they are practicing the selflessness so important for a healthy church family. To love and serve our church family well begins at home.

2. Teach What Is Good (Titus 2:3)

In accordance with sound doctrine, women are to teach other women how to live in a way that honors the Word of God (Titus 2:3–5). They can do this through teaching or writing women’s Bible studies, leading a women’s small group, mentoring a younger woman, or engaging in other discipleship opportunities. In addition to teaching women, there are also numerous opportunities to teach the children and youth of the church, whether in Sunday school, discipleship groups, or special events. Perhaps one of the greatest ways women use their gift of teaching, if they are mothers, is by instructing their own children in the Holy Scriptures (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:14–15). Many faithful mothers, like Timothy’s mother, Eunice, have raised sons and daughters who, by God’s grace, grew up to faithfully exercise their spiritual gifts to serve the church.

3. Do Acts of Mercy (Rom. 12:8)

Women are a vital part of serving in a myriad of ministries in the church, especially in mercy ministries. As Tabitha was known for doing “good works and acts of charity” (Acts 9:36), so too women in the church today are involved in serving the homeless, making meals for the sick, visiting the elderly, helping families care for children with special needs, engaging in prison ministry, and knitting blankets for crisis pregnancy centers, among other things. If women stopped doing acts of mercy, the church would quickly become anemic. Oftentimes it is the gentle and quiet spirit of a godly woman that God uses to reflect His own compassion to those in need of mercy.

4. Seek to Show Hospitality (Rom. 12:13)

We should not underestimate the importance of welcoming others into our home, especially fellow believers. As we faithfully and lovingly support those in gospel ministry, as well as those who simply need a word of encouragement or a place to rest, we will find joy in helping “fellow workers for the truth” (3 John 8). Young women need older women to invite them into their homes in order to model for them what it means to love their husband and children well or to be faithful to God as a single woman. Hospitality doesn’t always need to take place in our home. Sometimes it looks like meeting at the neighborhood park to encourage a woman while the children play together or taking a walk together with the intent to make her feel welcome in our presence as we comfort and encourage her.

5. Rejoice and Weep with Others (Rom. 12:15)

In the church, members might be experiencing great joy or deep sorrow, or more often a mixture of both. Women have the privilege of coming alongside others to share in their joy or their distress. This might mean helping organize a wedding or baby shower for those joyfully anticipating a special day. Or it might mean counseling someone, whether formally or informally, through the anguish of losing a loved one or the heartache of infertility. Regardless, to display a heart of compassion when someone is weeping or joy when someone is rejoicing is to reflect the heart of Christ Himself (Matt. 11:28–30).

Conclusion

If you are a woman in the church, be encouraged. There are a myriad of ways you can exercise your God-given gifts to serve the family of God. If you are a man in the church, encourage the women in your congregation to steward their gifts well. They are necessary to help fulfill God’s plans and purposes for the bride of Christ. By God’s good design, He has graciously given both men and women spiritual gifts “for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7) and “for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12), so “that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:11).