Women have always played a vital part in evangelical churches.
They have been the faithful attenders, the godly raisers of children, the pinafored polishers of church steps or brasses, the diligent Sunday School teachers, the dogged prayer warriors and the humble suppliers of practical needs.
Until the last quarter of the 20th century, they performed these valuable ministries for the most part silently and un-obtrusively, taking very seriously the Scriptural injunction that they were not permitted to teach or have authority over men. In fact they were clearer about what they should not do than about what they should. It was only on foreign shores that a more prominent role for women was allowed.
