Audray Johnson wears many hats at the local conference office: she is director of women's ministries, of health and family ministries, and of religious liberty. Though not a pastor, like others who work in the conference she has credentials authorizing her to conduct weddings and funerals and to preach in churches. And she is an accomplished speaker. But she has a special concern for the place of women in the church.

She has three goals as director of the women's ministries program:

1) She desires to see that women are nurtured in their special needs?older women have different needs from younger ones and those in professional careers. She wants to help women become leaders in their local congregations and to make them aware of resources within their reach.

2) Then she desires to empower women to use their gifts for the work of God. Sometimes this involves serving as a mentor or finding others who will become mentors. In some local churches, she says, the message is getting across and women are becoming active. One of these is the Palm Springs congregation, where the women's ministries leader is getting women involved in making baby quilts, conducting cooking schools, giving Bible studies, and many other things. She has an agenda of 10 different kinds of activities in which members are exercising their talents. Johnson is also active with seasonal "retreats" to which people come for several days to find fellowship and engage in workshops or discussions. This is especially popular with Black and Hispanic churches. As she says, "This is where the ?needle meets the cloth? in local congregations?in many kinds of activities: Bible studies, mother's helpers, outreach to the hungry, etc.

3) Johnson's third objective is to encourage women's ministries leaders in local churches to keep women's issues in perspective and be the voice for women in the local church. If, for instance, on the church board there are no women, or if the decision-making for the church is done by men, the women's ministries leader should bring the matter to the attention of the pastor.

But Johnson meets resistance from some segments of the church. In some minority groups, especially the Hispanics, it seems that the pastors are worried that women should not get too strong or demanding lest they "take over." In fact, in some of her area-wide women's ministries meetings to which many churches were invited to send delegates, Hispanic pastors would forbid their members to attend. In a recent survey conducted by the Gender Inclusiveness Commission of the conference, local churches of all types were asked about the extent to which women were given positions of responsibility, like that of church elder; and the lowest numbers were reported among the minority groups. Yet, she says, some women have been very active in things like conducting prayer breakfasts or afternoon teas to which people of the community as well as the church were invited.

Johnson pointed out that the women's ministries program really started a hundred years ago with the work of Mrs. Sarepta Myrenda Irish Henry in 1898. Henry was very active in promoting education for families in the church, and wrote, a column for the Review, and many books. She was even granted a ministerial license by the General Conference After she died in 1900, however, official recognition for the needs of women eventually lost momentum and was forgotten until the 1970s.

Following the crisis on the denial of women's ordination at the 1995 Utrecht General Conference, the officers of the North American Division decided to set up a new department for women's ministries. They did so with the stipulation that the department was to have nothing to do with the ordination of women to either the ministry or to the position of local elder in congregations.

While Johnson feels that women's ministries is not a platform for women in ministry as pastors, she does use women pastors whenever possible to give devotional talks at her women's ministries meetings. She also urges women to be open to do whatever God calls them to prepare for, including the ministry. But her primary message lies elsewhere.

When asked why the church needs women's ministries, Johnson responds that it needs women who can live up to their full potential as Christians. Someone needs to tell them that it is OK to follow their calling from God. Too many women now feel that a subservient role is the only appropriate one for them to take in the church. Some years ago she was at a conference where she related the story of an Adventist artist who had used her talents for painting very effectively in attracting people to Christ. One woman in the audience started to weep. When Johnson asked her later what prompted the outburst, she replied that she loved to do sculpture, but had repressed it because she thought the church frowned on artistry. The thought that she could have been doing things good for the church all these years was overwhelming. Johnson asked herself, How many other talents have been left undeveloped because women have thought their contributions would not be appreciated?

One of the hurdles to Johnson's work is that only some pastors endorse the concept; others are condescending or outright opposed. Unfortunately, pastors often serve as gatekeepers and control opportunities for their female parishioners to grow in their use of talents.