After graduating from seminary, Robin and I moved to Troy, TX where I became the pastor of the First Baptist Church. We moved into the small parsonage next door to the church which was located on the access road to I35. Not exactly a quaint place to raise a young family. While moving in I discovered that the utility nook was four inches too small to accommodate both the washing machine and the dryer. As a result, we had to put the dryer out in the garage. This was particularly annoying to me because I was “the laundry guy.” Whenever I took a load out of the washer, there would always be a recalcitrant sock or pair of underwear that would drop on the way to dryer. Then, I’d have to stoop down to pick them up and inevitably drop another pair or two in the process. Frustrating!
One Wednesday evening after the church supper and Bible study, several of us were sitting around the tables and enjoying a little Baptist fellowship. Somehow the parsonage came up in the conversation and I took the opportunity to ask the question I had been dying to ask, “Why did ya’ll build the utility nook in the parsonage too small to house both the washer and dryer?” And without missing a beat, three women spoke up in chorus, “Because there were no women on the building committee.” This response caused me to answer the question listed above in the pull quote, “What else is the church missing because the intellect, and the experience, and the gifts of women are not allowed to be lived out or appreciated in the highest levels of leadership.”
If you’ve ever wondered the same thing, or what the Bible really says about the place of women in the church, check out this message where I take an in depth look at God’s original intent for the role of women in creation and the new creation in Christ.
Til next time!
Jim “The Laundry Guy”
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