For a long time, women in Kenya have struggled to get leadership positions in Church ,despite being the majority in the congregation.

Girl child empowerment groups and gender equality advocates continuously fight to achieve gender parity in all spheres of the society.

Pastor Ann Njoroge of the Nakuru Bible Church says there is a lot that has changed over the years regarding the place of women in churches.

In an interview with Mtaa Wangu, Pastor Njoroge said a few years ago, women were never recognized in places of worship and only attended church services to be in the choir and perform other hospitality chores like cleaning.

“We now have more women seeking to become pastors in the church. Even at bible schools, you will find more women, something that did not happen before,” said Pastor Njoroge.

Bishop Eunice Mutai of the Family Reconciliation Evangelistic Ministries (FREM) shared the same sentiments adding that there was lack of enlightenment in the past which led to the gender disparity at the places of worship.

Bishop Eunice Mutai of the Family Reconciliation Evangelistic Ministries (FREM).

Photo credit: COURTESY

According to her, women have proved to be up to the task and have successfully held major positions in the church including leading the congregations.

The Bishop said it was difficult for female pastors to perform their roles in the past because the African culture did not allow them to speak in front of men.

“In other places, women were not allowed to own property therefore inhibiting them from opening churches as all the resources were under their husbands’ names,” Bishop Mutai added.

She commended the progress made so far, noting that men are currently receptive to the idea of their wives being leaders in church.

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How the role of women in Church has evolved

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Joseph Openda