The Canadian Study Commission on Doctrine wholeheartedly affirms the denomination’s position on women in ministry. The Commission further recommends that leaders across the denomination explore the barriers that continue to hinder women and find ways of removing those barriers to release women for more effective leadership and ministry through the Free Methodist Church.
This is the mandate on the recently formed Women in Leadership Study Commission. The team is comprised of Lisa Bickle (Barrie), Amy Bratton (Saskatoon), Jan Kupecz (Kemptville), Merlette Schnell (Calgary), Dr. Catherine Stonehouse (Kentucky), and as a resource to the team, Dr. Karen Strand Winslow (APU – Los Angeles). The team has just begun their research and will be providing an interim update in April of this year. This group is comprised of teachers, pastors, leaders, writers, and philosophers, many of whom has already participated in doctrinal studies, having written on the subject of women in leadership, developed curriculum, and experienced firsthand, some of the challenges and hindrances to women stepping up and into their God-given roles in the Kingdom.
Jesus calls us all, women and men, to make disciples and build the kingdom of God. The FMCiC has already affirmed this biblical truth and stated its doctrinal position, so the focus of this team will not be on doctrinal or theoretical topics but on very practical ways that will not only help women engage, enlarging our pool of leaders, but will bring the FM church into ever-increasing harmony with the principles of the Kingdom of God, even as it is in heaven.
The committee welcomes input from all our FMCiC sisters and brothers as we seek to marry what we believe with what we practice. Let’s reaffirm the richness and liberty of our Free Methodist roots and doctrine, wholeheartedly and honestly.
Jan Kupecz
