Are Female Pastors Trained for "Other" Churches?

女人的地位如何，我想在这个世代已无需再去讨论。不仅是社会上认可，基督教的信仰里更是认可，这从《圣经》中我们便可以发现。

也正因为如此，女人作传道已是我们习以为常的事，但培养女性作传道却并不是某些教会乐意去做的事，这是为何？

其实理由也很简单，因为婚姻的缘故，男性传道人一般离开本地的不多，而女性传道人常常会离开本地，因此很多人会认为培养男传道始终都是自己教会的，不会走，而培养女传道却并非如此，等她们嫁人了，就是别的教会的了。所以，在培养女性传道的这件事上，很多教会要再三考虑。

在此，我们想来探讨几个问题：

第一，所有教会是一家，都是神的教会。

培养人才是需要花费精力和资源的，而大多数教会花费的精力大多局限于为他们安排一些侍奉的机会，资源则大多局限于金钱。而未婚的女性传道一般在读过几年神学后，因为年龄的缘故要面对结婚的问题。因此，对一些同工和肢体来说，女性传道在神学毕业后可能没多久就嫁到外地了，这是一笔不划算的账。辛苦几年，最终却成了别的教会的传道人，简直是既浪费精力，又浪费金钱。

殊不知，所有的教会都是上帝的教会，虽然在地域上会有区别，但从性质上却并没有。我们所做的一切都是在为神做，而不是为某个人做；是为神的教会做，而不是为着某个人带领的教会做。同样，我们花费精力和资源培养出来的传道人，只要他（她）还在教会侍奉，其效果都是一样的。请时刻记住我们自己的身份，我们只是教会的管理者，而不是所有者。我们所能在教会使用的一切权利都是上帝给我们的恩典，是要为神的教会培养人才，而不是为自己带领的教会！这是在为神侍奉，而不是在为自己“拉山头”！

第二，教会的一切都应当为教会。

对于大多数的教会来说，培养人才的最主要花费就是金钱。我们来算一笔账，如果是神学本科（四年），一学年（两学期）的学费一般在5000左右，一学期的伙食费一般在1600左右（这个数额可能有不同偏差，有的教会可能不补助，有的教会可能只有几百块，也有个别教会可能超过）。如此说来，培养一个神学四年的传道人，花费就大概在3万多。当然，我们并不是要强调这笔钱对教会不重要，但和动辄就花费几十万几百万的教堂扩建、修缮等，这笔钱可能就不算什么了。很多人宁愿花几十万几百万在教堂的建筑上，也不愿意花费几万在人才培养上。反而是以神学生要有信心为理由来倡导他们应该自己解决费用的问题。这是一种可怜的光景。为什么自己不以信心来对待教堂的花费呢？这个时候他们又会说，这些物资没有钱不行。难道神学生的生活和学费没有钱就可以了吗？教会的一切都应当用作在为神之上，侍奉的人总是应该比外在更重要。

既然如此，当我们花费了一些金钱培养出来的神学生可能因为婚姻的问题到其他教会时，我们也应当顺其自然。若是他（她）真有感恩之心，在他（她）方便的时候也一定会回来，即使不能回来，也一定会默默为着培养自己的教会代祷。可能我们的教会确实因为走了一位传道人在事工上有紧张，但更重要的是应该仰望主，而不是把所有希望放在人的身上。请记住，教会不是人的，而是神的；我们不是教会的所有者，而是管理者。我们的身份充其量只是一个管家而已。

http://www.gospeltimes.cn/article/index/id/55548

I think the status of women in this generation should no longer be a topic for discussion. It is not only recognized in society, but also in the Christian faith, which can be seen from the Bible.

It is because of this that we are used to women preaching, but it is not something that some churches are willing to do. Why is that?

The reason is very simple. Because of marriage, few male pastors leave their locality, while many female pastors often have to leave. Therefore, many people think that the training of male pastors is always for the sake of their church, but the training of female pastors is not, because when they get married, they will belong to another church. Due to this, many churches think twice about training women as pastors.

Here, we would like to discuss several issues:

Firstly, all churches are one and are all of God.

It takes energy and resources to train people. However, most churches spend their energy creating some opportunities for them to serve, and most of these resources are limited to money. Most unmarried female missionaries are usually faced with the problem of marriage due to their age, after spending years studying theology. Therefore, for some fellow workers and members, female missionaries may have to marry outside their locality soon after graduation from theology school, which is not worth it; becoming a preacher in another church after years of toiling is a waste of both energy and money.

As everyone knows, all churches are God's churches. Although they may differ geographically, they do not differ in nature. All we do is for God, not for someone; for God's church, not for someone's church. Similarly, a preacher on whom we spend energy and resources to train will produce the same result, as long as he or she is still serving in the church. We should always remember our own identity as stewards of the church, not the owners. All the rights we exercise in the church are gifts of grace from God to cultivate talents for his church, not for us to lead! This is for us to serve God, and not to form a faction.

Secondly, everything in the church should be for the church.

For most churches, the main cost of training people is money. Let us do some calculation. For an undergraduate course in theology (four years), the tuition fee for one academic year (two semesters) is generally about 5,000 RMB, and the food expenses for one semester is generally about 1,600 RMB (Amount may vary: some churches may not subsidize it, some may partially subsidize, others may exceed). Based on this calculation, it costs about 30,000 RMB to train a preacher of Theology for four years. We do not mean to say that the money is not important to the church, but it is probably not a big deal when compared to the tens of millions of RMB spent on church expansion and renovation. Many people would rather spend hundreds of millions on church construction than tens of thousands training people. On the contrary, they advocate that students should solve the problem of cost by themselves on the grounds of faith, which is so pathetic. Why are church expenses not handled with faith? They say that these things (church expansion, renovation, etc.) cannot be done without money; is it possible for the allowance and tuition fees of theology students to be handled without money? Everything in the church should be used for the service of God, and the people who serve should always be more important than outsiders.

That being the case, when we spend some money to train theology students who may go to other churches because of marriage, we should also let it be. If he or she is grateful, they will certainly come back when it is convenient. Even if he or she cannot come back, they will silently pray for the church they were raised in. Maybe churches get nervous about their ministry because of the loss of a pastor, but it is more important to look up to the Lord than to put all hope in people. Remember, the church is not human, but divine; we are not the owners of the church, but stewards. Our identity is no more than housekeepers.

(The original article is published by Gospel Times.)

- Translated by Nonye Nancy