WOMEN IN MINISTRY IN FIEC CHURCHES
The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches wholeheartedly affirms the equality of men and women in creation and redemption which is clearly taught in Scripture. We are aware that in many churches there has been a failure to fully appreciate the biblical role of women in the ministry of the church; it is possible to be governed more by tradition and culture than by biblical principle and thus to be either unscripturally liberal or unduly restrictive in this area.
As a Fellowship we believe the Bible teaches what is known as a Classical Complementarian view of the callings of men and women. Therefore we believe that husbands have a calling to lead in the home as the head, and that men should lead in the local church in the roles of Pastor and elders. We do not believe that women should be pastors of, or preachers to, mixed congregations within the churches of the Fellowship.
However, there are countless other opportunities for women to serve in every church. We therefore wish to endorse every biblical role of ministry open to women and to promote the excellent work of FIEC’s Women’s Ministry Team in supporting pastors’ wives and other women engaged in biblical ministry. We also recognise that there is currently a wide diversity of practice within the FIEC and that churches will continue to work out this issue according to their own convictions and circumstances.
Our position is explained more fully in ‘Women in Ministry’, a document that was approved by the FIEC Annual Assembly in November 2011 and that reflects the cultural mores of the time. The document can be downloaded here.