By KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter, karan@nasguard.com

In a society where men and women are considered to have equal rights in terms of careers and raising a family some may find it surprising that there are females who are afraid to stand up and minister in church.

Some claim fear, while others cite 1 Timothy 2: Verses 9 -15 which states that women should not minister in church. However for women like Sister Sandra Bain of United Ministries Bahamas, a non-denominational home-based church, this is not the case.

"To me the issue of women preaching in the church has always been a disturbing one," she says. "It has been destructive to some women's call and has even caused some women to turn away from God, but I believe the Bible has always encouraged the full participation of women in the ministry and to rightfully ordain them for service in the church."

She says there are very few who realize that the Bible has done more for the elevation of the role of women than any other book or movement in history, and that in countries where the gospel has been preached, women have gained rights.

"In many ancient civilizations, Israel included, women and children were still considered unimportant and insignificant. They had almost no rights. But I believe that the New Testament promotes the worth and use of women in a way that is unprecedented," she said. "Notice the prominence given to women in Luke's gospel. Luke records the accounts of Mary and Elizabeth in chapter one. He talks of Anna the prophetess in chapter 2, the widow of Nain and the sinful woman who anointed Jesus' feet in chapter 7, Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Susanna in chapter 8, Martha and her sister Mary in chapter 10, the crippled woman in chapter 13, and the widow who gave all she had to God in chapter 21. So women are always used to teach and minister.

"Even in the book of Acts, which records the history of the early church, women are mentioned time and again. Acts 2:18, and I'm quoting the prophet Joel, even indicates that the Holy Spirit was poured out on women as well as men. So the role of women in the church should not be bound to man's ideas, but God's."

Does this liberating prominence indicate that women should be allowed to serve in the ministry?

According to Deaconess Marie Roach, it does. Roach, the daughter of Canon Neil Roach, was officially ordained into the Holy Order of Deacons on July 11, 2007 as the fourth Bahamian-born female in the Diocese of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands to enter the ordained ministry despite much opposition. She believes that women play an important role in ministry.

"When I decided to go into ordained ministry I felt that God was calling me as an individual and not necessarily as a female. I think that God calls individuals to ministry. It was Mary who was the first person that saw him when he rose from the dead. It could have been Peter. It could have been anyone else, but He chose Mary — a female. So I don't think I should have looked at it from a gender or sex point of view."

She does say that there are areas men can't go in ministry and vice versa. "Sometimes it takes a minister of another sex to handle situations differently. So I think that each gender is called to a ministry where God may need them to be. Therefore as a minister — male or female — you must know where your calling is and where you need to be. You must also understand that God will let you know where you need to be. For me, that's evangelism, social out-reach and mission work. That's my calling," says Roach, who is at St. Gregory's Parish, Carmichael Rd.

Adding that the scripture also says that there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female when it comes to the Body of Christ, Minister Necole Watson of Trinity Assembly "City of Praise", Tonique Williams Darling Highway says that in today's society gender does not matter.

"This suggests that there is no segregation in the church and that it doesn't matter who is preaching when its comes to the Body of Christ, at least when it relates to gender.

"The scripture back in the day, and in the culture in which it was written, there were some issues relating to women, and even today in our African culture we're still trying to get over that. In the past, women were not seen as important people in the world. The male figures were the important ones and they were the people that did everything. To them, women were just supposed to be servants and they were. But today that's different. The culture is now different," she said.

Watson says that Jesus died for all. "He didn't empower some and left the others unempowered. This is why we believe that women are just as empowered as men to carry the message of God."

Minister Sheila Brown, minister at New Bethlehem Baptist Church, Independence Drive, says that The Bahamas would do well to remember at this point that God has often chosen to use women to serve Him.

"My view is that God has called women as well as men to serve him," she says. "When He calls I don't think that God is just calling for men to serve His church. He calls both men and women. I think that God uses any available vessel once that vessel has made themselves available to Him. He will use you — no matter your sex."

She says she has yet to hear any objections to her preaching the word, but that she's been around long enough to hear of other people's struggles, and she doesn't think it's right.

"Your gender should make no difference. I think that no matter what you are — man, woman, boy or girl — God will use you, once you are true to Him. His words teaches us that and that's what we should teach," Brown says.