10. Invite a female pastor from your community to share her story and lead a Bible study at your youth group. Often, seeing biblical equality in action is the best way to prompt people to explore the biblical support behind it.
9. Plan a youth group (or friend group) field trip to a women’s shelter or safe house sponsored by a church/Christian organization in your area (contact the center first). Most shelters offer educational programs about issues related to why women are there (homelessness, abuse, neglect) and opportunities to serve the women and children who call the shelter home.
8. Take an older woman in your church out for a cup of coffee or a meal. Ask them about their experiences growing up in the church, how they’ve exercised their gifts, and what they hope for young people today.
7. Have your youth group take a look at God’s view of “leadership” in the Bible. Start by listing the qualities people look for in a leader. Then read about women such as Hannah (Judges 4), Deborah (1 Samuel 1:1-2:10), and Mary and Martha (John 11:17-44) and see what your youth can identify in the stories.
6. Use mission reports from your church or denomination to learn more about what is happening in other countries. Spend an hour praying for issues that impact women most directly (persecution, abuse, health, war, etc.) and ask God to open the doors for women to witness to their families and communities around the world about Christ’s redeeming message.
5. Plan a visit with the leaders of your denomination (or your pastors) to see how your denomination or church runs on a daily basis. Ask about specific positions’ duties, how they identify people’s gifts and distribute tasks, and where the leaders sense the Spirit leading change in the future. One of the best ways to encourage young people to explore ministry is to expose them to people in it!
4. Pick some of your favorite praise songs or hymns and take a deeper look at the words. Do they fully express the fundamental equality of men and women of all ethnic groups, all economic classes, and all age groups in Christ? Do they use pronouns that may make a visitor wonder if they’re left out of the message? Plan a night of music that celebrates God’s vision for the world, as expressed in verses like Galatians 3:28.
3. Choose a female Christian historical figure and do a little research into their lives. How did they practice their faith? What Bible verses did they cling to in times of trouble? What did they do when they encountered challenges to exercising their gifts? If you don’t know of any women, try one of these: Aimee Semple McPherson, Katharine Bushnell, Dorothy Day, or Lilias Trotter (visit equalitydepot.com for biographies on these women).
2. Encourage each person in your youth group to try out their gifts by rotating who is in charge of certain parts of each meeting, such as making announcements, leading Bible study, praying, providing snacks, etc.
1. Have an honest, respectful conversation between young women and young men in your youth group about how we can support one another in living out our God-given callings. End the talk with some action steps and a reading of 1 Corinthians 12 and 13.
