How do women participate in leadership and ministry roles in local churches?
We've analysed responses from current female church attenders about their involvement in church life.
Women are over-represented in local church life
In the 2021/22 National Church Life Survey 61% of church attenders were female. The fact that women tend to be more religious than men is a long term trend that has been evident in all National Church Life Surveys since 1991. It is also a pattern found in other religions across the world. Read more about theories about why this trend may exist.
One of the possible reasons given for why there are more women in church life is that, on average, they live longer than men. While this will be part of the explanation for the over-representation of women in local churches, it does not fully explain it. An analysis of the NCLS data from children aged 8 to 14 as well as those aged 15 years and over found that there was a higher proportion of girls and women in every age group from 8 years to 80 plus years.
Women and men in local church leadership roles
Church attenders were invited to identify the leadership and ministry roles they held in their local churches. Around 55% of both female and male attenders have leadership or ministry roles in local church life.
This gender analysis also shows that:
- Women are more likely than men to have roles in children’s ministry, and pastoral care/visitation roles
- Women are less likely than men to have roles in teaching/preaching, administration, and in governance roles (councils, boards etc)
- Some roles in church life have similar proportions of women and men involved. These include music, small group leadership, leading or assisting in worship services, and other roles.
Local church attenders by church leadership roles and gender
|
Leadership roles held by attenders |
Female |
Male |
|
Teaching/preaching |
5.7% |
9.0% |
|
Music ministry |
11.1% |
12.0% |
|
Children’s ministry role |
8.7% |
4.0% |
|
Youth ministry role |
2.6% |
3.7% |
|
Small group leadership |
10.9% |
11.1% |
|
Administrator role |
4.0% |
5.4% |
|
Compliance role (e.g. safe church) |
2.9% |
3.8% |
|
Lead/assist in church services |
15.6% |
17.9% |
|
Council/board/elder/deacon |
5.9% |
9.4% |
|
Committee/task force member |
4.6% |
6.5% |
|
Pastoral care/visitation role |
9.5% |
7.0% |
|
Communication/news |
3.7% |
3.1% |
|
Some other role |
18.7% |
18.3% |
|
No such role |
44.4% |
44.8% |
Source: 2021 NCLS Attender Survey (n=119,053)
