On the co-leading of bible studies

So, this could be one of those posts that touches things that are a little sensitive, though perhaps not so much to those who read this blog (not that I know who many of you are, though). But, the thing I wanted to talk to my minister about (and I hadn't managed a chat in passing at church earlier so we arranged a time to discuss it) was about women leading mixed bible studies, and what exactly was the church “line” on this. I am from that far end of the spectrum that had something of a question mark over whether or not and how this should be done, but in conversation with a couple of others from the congregation at church I realised that they were at the other far end of the spectrum and didn’t see a problem with women preaching in church (and that became an awkward awkward conversation, but I knew that their views wouldn’t be representative of the leadership of the church I attend) so, I was just after some clarity on how exactly the church viewed the whole thing, as I am co-leading a bible study this year, and have “lead” (or facilitated, as I prefer to call it) the study once so far.

In preparation for this catch up I listened to a sermon my minister preached on 1 Tim 2:8-15 (after the women’s pastor suggested this). I found this so excellent, that I am sharing it here. I was going to type up some of the notes I took on this, but as Paul Dale says in the sermon, he sticks more closely to his own notes for this particular sermon in case people think they hearing him saying things he didn’t say, so I’ve decided that if I don’t write it out verbatim, perhaps I shouldn’t give you bits, in case some of it is shared and misrepresented (and I don't especially wish to start a conversation on this topic apart from this sermon). But, if you find this of relevance, do yourself a favour and listen to this sermon, where this passage is handled so very well. I was encouraged by the position given and how it is reached, and with what is said about women in mixed bible study groups near the end (and there's even some discussion on the women and childbearing verse!).