The Federal Government has been laying the foundation for a budget that seeks to get more Australians working. In the recent words of the Prime Minister (paraphrased): there are 2 million Australians that are able to work, who are not working. We need to provide incentives to these people to work. While the direct target may be recipients of welfare payments who claim they cannot or are unable to find work, there is nonetheless a growing philosophy that all adults who are physically able to work, should.

My concern lies in the area of mothers.

In recent times I have spoken to women who have felt a peer pressure to return to work, even though they would prefer to be full time mothers and heavily involved in lay ministry. I have been told of an instance of a private school encouraging a mother to go to work so that the family can afford the school fees. I have heard people talk about the financial necessity of a mother working to afford the mortgage. Other women, who have no necessity to work, have testified to feeling like they have little place in society because they choose not to. The list goes on.

My discussions about this topic seem to head in the same direction, and that is an ideological discussion about whether or not this trend is right. It is an emotive issue, so this direction is understandable. But it also means we never get to consider the enormous implications for our churches.

Women have provided the backbone for the lay ‘workforce’ of many churches for decades. Further, their participation in the life of churches has been greater than men. In part, they have been under less time pressure than their full time working husband. Our ministry models have developed to suit this culture – for example, Bible study groups for women tend to be (but are not always) during the day.

But all of this is changing, and rapidly. I am not saying this trend is right. I am not saying it is wrong. I am saying that, increasingly, it is what we’ve got. If we don’t want the fate of our churches to resemble the crippled Fukushima nuclear reactors, we must prepare for the coming Tsunami. Here are the beginnings of some ideas:

1. Develop ways for women to be involved in Bible study and ministries outside of existing models. At my own church, we have and will continue to try. But it is tough going. Even women who work part time have significantly more ‘time stress’. And that is before we introduce the single working mother.
2. While we must keep pushing and encouraging lay involvement in ministry, there is also a time ‘put the dead cat on the table’. Praise God if there are suitably gifted lay people who give up their time and energy for the sake of the Gospel. But a growing reality is that some positions that were once ‘lay run’ will need to be filled by paid positions.
3. If you have gifted people who look like they are heading back to work, there may be opportunity to employ them.
4. With more families having two incomes, it is only appropriate to expect and ask giving to increase.

My space has gone. Over to you.