How to Be a Woman in Church Leadership
Video Courtesy of LifelineChurchTV
Michelle McClain-Walters has traveled to over fifty nations and inspired thousands to follow God. For many years she was the director of the prayer ministry at Crusaders Church in Chicago, as well as a house prophet and a member of the apostolic team. Her book Chosen: Appointed for Favor, Destined for Greatness was released this September (2019) — her sixth book under Charisma House, a leading publisher of Charismatic-Christian books.
With all these accomplishments, Michelle knows a thing or two about operating in a male-dominated profession. Her experience in church culture and study of godly women in the Bible have granted her a deeper understanding of what it means to be a God-honoring woman in leadership.
You Don’t Have to Be Like a Man
For Michelle, this isn’t a challenge. She loves to wear makeup and high heels. She jokes that you can smell her perfume a block away, and the more glitter and rhinestones, the better. But she also recognizes that femininity goes deeper than accessories.
In her writing, Michelle draws true feminine qualities from the Bible, learning from women such as Deborah who boldly led others in the military.
“Femininity is power and authority under control. Deborah’s lifestyle is a lesson for all women who are looking to define themselves and fully use their potential. You can be gentle and assertive. You can inspire and not intimidate,” she says.
Michelle acknowledges how, in today’s culture, it has become less necessary for a woman in ministry to adopt more masculine mannerisms to be considered equal. She encourages women to embrace their femininity, with or without nail polish.
Re-vhealed photography (LaVincent Nelson)
Your Meekness Means You Submit to God—Not Men
In her book Chosen, Michelle describes a time she traveled to another country to minister alongside a group of other prophets. She was the only woman. They shared a stage where those with a prophetic word stepped forward. But Michelle kept getting pushed further to the back.
“I just moved myself to the back and tried to stay out of the way,” she says. “God was telling me just to stand there and be silent.”
She obeyed even as the room rose with energy. Then the leader called Michelle to the front. She stepped forward and said what she felt God had been speaking to her. Instantly her words resonated with the people. Healings, deliverance, and other miracles happened right there.
Michelle was thankful that God had softened her spirit to be submissive to Him.
“If I had not listened to God, I don’t know what witness I would have given another woman who was watching and learning how to operate in predominantly male spaces. If I had not listened to God and tried to grab a mic and prophesy without His permission, I would have been in the flesh, and there’s no telling the damage my ego and disobedience could have caused,” Michelle says.
Some may encourage meekness. Some may encourage boldness. For Michelle, either can be glorifying to God when it’s under His leading.
Your Team Includes Men
God created men and women to work together. When God observed Adam alone in the garden, He said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18, MEV).
Michelle urges Christians to go back to the Bible to understand better what makes healthy man-woman relationships:
“Men and women alike were created in God’s image and likeness. Our society changes its expectations of us from generation to generation. This is why it must be His Word alone that we use to correct the distortions and devaluing of the differences between men and women. His Word for us does not change.”
By all means, acknowledge injustice, both on a larger, historical level and in the more personal sphere. However, Michelle distinguishes the difference between desiring justice and desiring vengeance. She encourages Christians to seek reconciliation in spite of past inequality and dysfunction.
As the effects from the past are being reversed, Michelle foresees more women working in ministry.
“We are being healed and delivered from tradition and religion that have held us captive for centuries. The Lord is releasing His favor and grace upon us to fulfill His purposes in the earth,” she says.
She poses this question to women: “Will we submit to the process of being trained and commissioned to fulfill these purposes?”
Michelle McClain-Walters is the author of Chosen: Appointed for Favor, Destined for Greatness (Charisma House, 2019). She is the author of The Prophetic Advantage and five books about biblical women of influence, including The Esther Anointing and The Deborah Anointing. Michelle has appeared on LeSEA Broadcasting Network’s The Harvest Show, Lifeline Church TV, and many national radio broadcasts. She and her husband, Floyd Walters Jr., currently reside in Orlando, Florida.