Video: "Go, Preach My Gospel"From the very beginning of the Church of God Reformation Movement, women have been validated as equal partners in the leadership of the church. By the early 1930s over 40% of the lead/solo pastors of Church of God congregations and about 65% of all Church of God missionaries were women. This was opposite of the general cultural context of the United States in the late 1800s-early 1900s. Unfortunately, by the mid 1970s the percentage of women as lead/solo pastors dropped to almost 4%. By the turn of this century that percentage gained only an additional 2%, resting currently at 6%. Twenty-three percent of all commissioned, licensed, and ordained pastors in the Church of God are women, but many of these women have not been accepted into a place of ministry. This video, developed by the Women in Ministry Task Force of Church of God Ministries, is a call to the church to remember our heritage of gift based (rather than gender based) ministry leadership. |