By Laura Mott Tarro, who has been my graduate assistant at Northern Seminary now for four years. Laura is a wonderful Christian, wife and mom, student, and pastor — and I am asking you to read this and consider how you can participate, and even support, women church planters. Laura pastors Bethany Covenant.
The Reins of Leadership
A core memory of mine is a conversation I had with my youth pastor when I was fifteen years old. We were driving in his car. I don’t remember where we were going or what we were talking about, but I do remember at one point he turned to me and said, “I feel like you are trying to pull the reins of leadership out of my hands.”
I was stunned. What was he even talking about?
I was raised in the church, and I deeply loved Jesus. I was the Hermione Grainger of Sunday school. I learned Reformed theology in elementary school from a woman dressed as a tulip and I could explain all five points of Calvinism whether or not you cared to listen.
A conversion experience at summer camp in middle school led me to think: I want to give my life to this. Everyone should know this good news. There is nothing more important I could do with my life than to help other people find Jesus. My commitment to follow Jesus included a commitment to ministry, whatever that might mean.
I grew up in a complementarian church that limited the roles of women. Women were not allowed to read Scripture from the pulpit. A heated debate occurred when it was time to hire a new worship director about whether directing a choir constituted “leadership.” Women did not lead. In middle school the youth were separated by gender for Bible study. The girls learned about the importance of godly submission and humility. The boys played basketball in the gym and studied the leadership qualities of Bible heroes. High school girls who read the Bible on their own and peppered their youth pastor with questions were in danger of “pulling the reins of leadership” out of the hands of God-ordained leaders.
The Sin of Selfish Ambition
Throughout my young adulthood, I felt the weight of this tension. I knew God had given me leadership and teaching gifts, I knew I had some sort of call to ministry, but I was constantly bumping into invisible limits. Over the years I heard a lot of thinly veiled comments about the sin of selfish ambition.
At my Christian college, I studied philosophy and became a Young Life leader. I found that I loved the challenge of taking the heady concepts I learned in class and translating them for students. This ministry felt vital and important. I discovered a deep passion for evangelism and discipleship.
In my late twenties, I came to some conclusions about my call to ministry. After several years of fulltime ministry in both church and parachurch settings and a master’s degree from a complementarian seminary, I thought I had to choose between the gospel and using my gifts in professional ministry. I chose Jesus. I told God that I would be the best ministry volunteer ever, but I would never again work in professional ministry. My husband and I settled into our new town, I began to proofread academic books for Christian publishers, I became a mom and a fulltime ministry volunteer. This status lasted for thirteen years.
The Call to Courage
Then God began to interrupt my carefully constructed life. It started with simple requests to help people learn about the Bible and navigate church. I remember texting a friend a list of books to help her teach her children about Jesus. Afterwards, I got in my car, and I felt God say to me, “You teach her.” God began to remind me that this is what I was uniquely designed to do. I had written an evangelistic Bible study in seminary. I had years of experience teaching others to read the Bible for the first time. I went home and told my husband, “I think God wants us to start a community Bible study.” And so, we did. We started a Bible study for beginners in a community center where my friend led an Awana program in the gym.
Within the space of a few years, God’s call became more specific. The call was to become a pastor and to start a church. I was nervous and fearful of what this call might mean. I knew that it carried with it relational risk. I would be misunderstood. I was willing, but I would need convincing. I wondered if I was capable and qualified. I asked my husband what if he would be upset if I told him that God was calling me to pastor and plant a church. He responded, “I’d be upset if you decided not to.”
Ambition to Serve
When God called me to plant a church, I thought it was a joke. I thought I must have heard wrong. I only knew one female pastor and I had never met a female church planter. Still, I knew that when God calls you to a thing, you do it, even when you are scared.
I am planting a church in a donut shop in our town. Along the way, I joined a support network of six gifted female church planters. These women are tenacious, creative, and compassionate pastors. They are ambitious to serve the people God entrusted to their care. They are called to lead and to teach from their unique social location. For all of us, ministry has been a winding journey with significant obstacles.
We have been in ministry for decades, served without titles, with fewer resources, and with less pay. We have struggled as planters to find churches willing to partner with us financially. It is difficult to find mentoring from established church planters and pastors. We still hear echoes of the message that our motivation to serve in this way is selfish ambition. The networks that exist were not created to include us. Instead, we need networks and collectives designed to support female pastors and other marginalized voices. Would you consider financially supporting the one network that exists to meet this need: Mosaic Collective.
Thank God for Laura Mott Tarro! And thank you, Scot, for bringing her story to us. May her tribe increase!
When I began to speak of my call to pastoral ministry I was told by one influential woman in our church that I was neglecting the ministry of my family. When I was led to plant a church I was told by another that I was trying to earn God's love. Fortunately, I was in an egalitarian church and this didn't come from my senior pastor. But the support of the majority body of believers certainly wasn't behind me. And financial support was nonexistent. Women in most church contexts face those obstacles of support and seeds of doubt planted within us regularly. Praying for change and the full inclusion of women's gifts released into the body of Christ. And I'm praying with and for you Laura.