“Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” (Acts 2:18)
“Serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13)
Pentecost Sunday is past and so my preaching has moved on to a “post-Pentecost…” theme. One of my personal ‘after Pentecost’ reflections developed from observing that at Pentecost the Holy Spirit was poured out “on my servants, both men and women…and they will prophesy” (Acts 2:18, Joel 2:28f). That led me into a brief historical foray. The Baptist Union of Scotland Women’s Auxiliary was formed in 1908 and took the words of Galatians 5:13 (“Serve one another in love”) as their motto. In 2001 the ‘WA’ became the Scottish Baptist Women’s Fellowship and took an amended motto: “Serving God in everything”. Their website closed in 2017; their Fb presence doesn’t go beyond 2023; and entering ‘Scottish Baptist Women’s Fellowship’ in the search bar of the BUS website produces ‘No results’. Women obviously haven’t disappeared or ceased to exist in our Scottish Baptist Churches, but are they somehow becoming less visible, even invisible? The BUS website says there are “around 250 accredited ministers in the Baptist Union of Scotland”, yet only a handful are in sole pastoral charge of any of our churches though a growing number are placed in various Chaplaincy roles. Have we slipped back into some sort of “pre-Pentecost” limbo as far as our women are concerned? And have we also lost that focus on ‘serving one another in love’? Has that also become less visible, even invisible? What lasting difference will Pentecost 2026 make on us and on our churches and our ministry and service?