Christian Formation and Ministries announced a goal that the ratio of men and women on student-run ministry leadership teams ought to reflect the Biola University gender ratio, according to Barbara Miller, director of CFM.

This goal will ensure that there is a ratio of one or two men to every three women on the teams that reflects Biola’s student population, Miller said. Leadership teams that are currently not balanced with regard to gender have been more balanced in the past, according to Ralonda Dittmar, assistant director of CFM.

This renewed commitment to seeing gender diversity in ministry leadership mainly affects Biola Buddies, Say YES! and Social Justice Ministry — ministries currently led by all-female teams, according to Miller. There are only two out of 11 ministries on campus with male head leaders: Muslim Ministries and Revive, according to senior communication major and Revive ministry leader David Walton.

Gender diversity is not a new goal

“What I don’t want to paint is that this is this brand new thing. It’s only a couple ministries that this affects,” Miller said. This is something CFM has been talking to ministries about for a long time, but with the start of the new semester and with leadership applications coming in for the fall 2013 teams, they want to make gender balance in leadership teams a goal, Miller said.

CFM wants ministries to flourish and Miller said that having men and women working together in leadership reflects kingdom values. “We do value mutuality that Jesus demonstrated in his ministry and I believe this affirms people’s dignity and their callings,” Miller said.

Gender diversity in leadership brings richness, students have told Miller. It can also bring opportunities to grow through conflict, she said.

There are a couple of ministries that will have difficulty with the gender ratio commitment and are resisting the change, according to Miller.

There is an opportunity for this new commitment to cause conflict, Walton said. There’s the worry that people who are better equipped to be in a position won’t get the position because they are not a male, he said, referencing affirmative action.

Commitment to goal could cause problems for some

There is the chance that some men just won’t apply for ministry leadership positions, Walton said. He said he wasn’t sure how CFM would handle a situation in which men didn’t apply for leadership positions. If CFM gave leeway to some ministries, he said, then they wouldn’t be adhering to the rule. But he said that’s where prayer comes in.

“It’s going to be a struggle for us and it’s going to be an area that we’re going to have to leave up to God and leave in prayer and know that he’s going to supply the men that we need,” said Karly Cable, a sophomore psychology major and leader of Biola Buddies.

Part of the problem of lacking men in leadership is that there is a gap in the university’s gender ratio, according to Victoria Stasiak, a senior psychology major and leader of Social Justice Ministry.

“I think part of it is our culture definitely has made it easy for men to take a backseat in ministry and allow women to get the ball rolling,” Stasiak said.

The issue may be deeper, dealing with the identity of a man, not just the role of a man, according to Walton.

“The roles of ministers to equip the saints for maturing the body of Christ comes out of an understanding of your identity, your place in the body, and how much God loves you and I think that there is just a fundamental misunderstanding of that, especially in men,” Walton said.

However, Social Justice Ministry needs to be more gender-balanced, Stasiak said. Social Justice Ministry is lacking for men because they minister to prostitutes and deal with the perversion of sex, according to Stasiak.
“There is something that is so profound about a man being involved in that type of ministry to [prostitutes and families of prisoners],” Stasiak said.

Stasiak said she feels totally at peace about CFM’s decision, and that God will provide the men her ministry needs as well.

California School Project is a campus ministry that has an equal ratio of men to women not only on the leadership team, but throughout the team as a whole, according to Michelle Law, senior Christian ministries major and leader of California School Project.

When trying to recruit men for their teams, those in CSP stand outside of Emerson Hall to talk to residents. They also use the men they have on their team to talk to and recruit the men they know, ask the RAs to talk to the guys on their floors and give people an opportunity to respond to what God may be calling them to, according to Law. Another major tool for recruiting people is the ministry fair, like the one this last Tuesday, she said.

“I think this whole issue of men in ministry just speaks to a far greater subject of gender roles and who are we supposed to be as men and women in Christ and what does that look like when you’re living together on campus in the real world?” Stasiak said.