Why bother with women's conferences?

In the run-up to women’s conferences, I often hear the ‘why bother?’ question. I think the underlying thoughts are that Christian conferences generally are useful—but why do we need to have a conference just for women?¹ And why do we need to have only female preachers at a women’s conference? Don’t we just want the best preacher for the job, regardless of whether they are male or female?

These are fair questions, but I want to humbly suggest that there is real value in creating a context for women to preach to women.

Why bother with female preachers?

Well, they set a helpful example. They show that teaching the Bible seriously is not a task reserved exclusively for men.

Women benefit from seeing a godly, gifted woman set an example of what it means to handle the word of God correctly (2 Tim 2:15). This example is set in small groups and one-to-one contexts in the local church too. But I think there’s something uniquely helpful in seeing women doing up-front public teaching in the appropriate setting. This dispels any misconception that women should not engage with doctrine or think theologically. When women only hear men handling the Bible well, they sometimes forget to consider that they too are instructed to actively participate in word ministry (Col 3:16). And because women’s conferences tend to attract women from a range of different churches, this is especially helpful for women who don’t see the Bible handled well by men or women on a weekly basis—it might even be their first taste of expository preaching.

Also, female preachers can also apply God’s word directly to women in a way that men sometimes can’t. A female preacher has a perspective and credibility that enables and allows her to apply God’s word to women in a particular way. In regards to issues of submission, for example, a woman can speak from the experience and challenges of her own relationships. It’s helpful to have a context where a woman can authoritatively instruct other women on issues that are unique to them.

I think this is an important outworking of our acknowledgement that gender is created, and that men and women are different by nature. That said, not all Bible passages lend themselves to a direct application specifically to women, and I think there’s a lot to be said for women’s conferences that recognize that the whole counsel of God is relevant to women, and thus avoid dealing solely with passages that directly involve women or address themes that more obviously affect women.

Why bother gathering women?

By gathering women to hear and be taught from God’s word, we demonstrate that women are valued, and that their spiritual growth matters. This is an expression of ‘positive’ complementarianism. Often complementarianism is expressed in negative terms of what women shouldn’t do. But having a conference where women teach and learn is an important acknowledgement that their spiritual growth is crucial for the health of the whole body. It is a celebration of what is good and right for women to do.

Not all women’s ministry should be done in isolation from men. In fact, often the most mature complementarian ministry is done with men and women working together in partnership in the local church. Nevertheless, to have a particular event where women teach and learn is one way (among many) that we can show women’s ministry is vital. And practically speaking, it can sometimes be women who miss out from sitting under the word of God Sunday by Sunday, or at a mixed conference, with obstacles like childcare getting in the way. So having an event especially for them can give some women the ‘permission’ they need to break from regular life to be refreshed in God’s word. The reality is that for many women, that space and time needs to be intentionally created.

For all the benefits of women’s conferences, we have to realize it’s the systematic and expository preaching of a pastor week by week over the course of years that creates the environment for a mature faith that lasts. Women’s conferences aren’t the crux on which Christian maturity hangs, but they really are important and useful. By their mere existence, they demonstrate the importance of the ministry of women, and they have a huge capacity to encourage and equip women in this most important task.

1. For more on why Christian conferences are generally helpful, see this article on the Gospel Coalition website.↩