In reading through Romans 16 this morning I felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to encourage and show special appreciation for the women amongst us, each of whom are loved, gifted and Christ-like. Paul wholeheartedly commends and sends warm, affectionate and loving greetings to ten women in this chapter: Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Junia, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, the mother of Rufus, Julia and the sister of Nereus. He thanks God personally for each of them, being acutely aware of their significant contributions to the cause of the Gospel as his fellow-workers; some were even his fellow-prisoners. He honours and shows deep respect for them all: for their servant-heartedness; unselfish hard work; constant help to all; readiness to risk their lives and for being a sister or a mother to him. He asks the church in Rome to welcome them in the Lord as worthy of honour among God's people and to help them in any and every way they could. He takes pains to spell out why he is so grateful to God for them.

From all of this it is hard to see how it is only in fairly recent years that the church has begun to afford women the place and voice for which they were created. God made men and women to serve him together and to share the leadership role (Gen. 1:26-28). They were to rule over God's creation, to fill the earth and to care for it as equal partners. In practice, the first man, Adam, was given the job to do and a wife to help him to do it (Gen. 2:15, 20-22). Adam's headship was made clear after they had sinned, for he was the one God first called upon to give an account (Gen. 3:9). Men should afford protection and shoulder they heavy responsibility.

They were both made in God's image to represent him together; being of equal value, status and competence. Their relationship was to reflect the love, respect, submission and mutual esteem within the Godhead; to model the Trinity. This is how God wants it to be in the home, in the local church and in apostolic teams. Using body imagery, women could be seen as representing the heart. They bring and sustain life, foster relationships and build grace-filled environments as well as using all the gifts God has given them.

The challenge today is to find creative ways of implementing the joint-rule of Genesis 1 and to provide opportunities for gifts to be used. Some are forming leadership teams that include both elders and women leaders. The buck finally stops with the lead-elder, but almost all decisions can be reached in team. I think this is being excellently modelled in GodFirst and we should all be truly grateful to God for this and count it a privilege to belong.