This article is also available in Swedish.
Christian women’s conferences and events are not commonplace in the Nordics. And yet, in Autumn 2024, we had two! TGC Norden held a well-attended conference in the Faroe Islands, and I personally attended Utrustad : Kvinna in Sweden by TGC Norden’s sister organisation, Rotad. It was Rotad’s first ever women’s conference, on the topic of how we can read and understand the Bible for ourselves. Nancy Guthrie went through a Bible timeline and gave us an abundance of tips and tricks on how to track biblical themes. There was a palpable joy in connecting with other attendees, as well as a real hunger for the Bible. We were clamouring over Bible Study books on the book stall, and one thousand books on a range of topics were sold!
But large-scale, one-off conferences or gatherings of women are one thing. Is there a place for regular, local, single-sex Christian gatherings in the Nordics? Women’s only Bible studies and small groups are common in the English-speaking Christian world, but much less so here. Is there value for local churches to prioritise women’s ministry in this way?
Why we should meet together
Being a Christian isn’t a journey we are called to undertake alone. We make a personal commitment to follow Christ, but after that we are to walk together in community following Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews wrote:
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:12-13, NIV).
See what he does here? He says that we should watch ourselves to ensure that we don’t turn away from following Jesus. If this wasn’t hard he wouldn’t need to write it: it is just too easy for us to have sinful, unbelieving hearts and to actively turn or gradually wander away from Jesus. This is so relevant in Sweden! So many of us know people who used to be on fire for Jesus but have now lost their passion for him, or walked away from the faith altogether.
How great that God gives us the solution! “Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” We need each other to survive as Christians. We need to encourage one other to keep persevering in following Christ. When? “Today”! That is, we need encouragement every day. What the Bible means by “encouragement” is not empty reassurances that we are good enough, or that we need to love and accept ourselves more. Rather we need active encouragement to keep obeying Christ in every area of our lives. We are called to honour one another when we have been faithful and obedient, and to challenge one another when we are at risk of turning our back on Jesus and giving in to sin. How? We can only do this if we deeply trust and know one another.
But how do we do this? Small talk over coffee after church is clearly not going to cut it. We need each other in a much more profound way than many of us feel comfortable with.
Women meeting with other women
In the book of Titus, Paul gives instructions to Titus on how to care for people at different ages and in different life stages. Paul has advice for how he should teach older men, younger men, older women, and slaves. Interestingly, he writes that it is the older women who should teach the younger women, not Titus himself:
“Teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God” (Titus 2:3-5 NIV).
This can feel very alien and a little old-fashioned to our modern ears. We live more gender-neutral lives in the Nordics, compared to the Roman world. Household chores—being “busy at home”—are shared, and it is normal for men to take extended parental leave. Marriage has lower value, and long-term relationships outside of marriage are common.
And yet Paul’s instructions here are still clearly relevant to us. Those who are married and/or have children benefit from advice and practical support from sisters who are at the same stage or further on. Although men and women are often equally involved and invested in child-rearing in the Nordics, nevertheless practical tips on breastfeeding can best be delivered by someone who has done it! Mums and dads often relate differently to their children as well.
Single women need companionship and encouragement from other sisters to stay obedient to Christ on what could otherwise be a solitary walk. Women at any life stage may need support to be self-controlled and pure as regards sexuality. Since there can be awkwardness and a risk of temptation in mixed-sex environments, I would argue that these are key reasons for meeting just as women.
Titus 2 also itemises how we spend our time, manage our anger, and is unapologetic in mentioning our temptation to gossip, slander (v.3) and to be unkind (v.5). Although women aren’t unique in these struggles, there may be some gender-typical ways in which anger and gossip are expressed that we can support each other in. Ironically, the closer we become to each other as sisters in Christ, the greater the risk of expressing these to each other, but working through conflict can also be sanctifying.
Putting it into practice
I would like to suggest that there are two main ways that women can walk with other women in our churches.
Firstly: it is great for women to meet with other women to pray and read the Bible together in groups on a regular basis. I have been so encouraged by gatherings of women which dig deep into what the Bible says and how to apply it to our lives, and where we have wrestled with big theological topics. Both men and women can (and should!) be theologians: if older women are to disciple younger then they need to know their Bibles inside and out. Prayer times which focus primarily on what we want or need can lack depth; instead we should be praying for growth in godliness, for deeper repentance and joy in salvation, and for the expansion of God’s kingdom. My church’s women’s group has seen so much spiritual and relational growth by setting aside time to properly get to know one another’s history and sin struggles. We have spurred one other on in our faith, sharing the joys and pains of life and together bringing them to God in prayer. Alongside fulfilling a biblical mandate for women discipling other women, I have observed (as at the Utrustad: Kvinna conference) that women are often very happy just to meet with other women. Not all women feel like this, but we shouldn’t feel guilty if we do!
There is of course value and joy to be had in both single-sex and mixed-sex gatherings. I have personally benefitted so much from studying the Bible in a mixed-sex environment, and have loved the opportunity to get to know my brothers on a deeper level. And yet since in our Nordic culture people often find it difficult to open up to each other, conversations may be more honest and sincere in single-sex contexts.
Secondly: there is still a place today for older women to meet with younger women. In this regard, one doesn’t have to be biologically older, just spiritually older. I have personally benefitted from older women who have come alongside me in my Christian journey, with whom I have been able to confess, cry and rejoice. They have patiently loved and supported me, listened, and offered advice. I am now (in my 30s) seeking to be one to younger women: it’s a privilege and a responsibility to be a good role model and provide good counsel. I am no expert: I don’t “know it all”—I’m still receiving counsel from older sisters myself. Most of us should aspire to be a “middle sister”, both supporting and being supported.
If you have been a Christian a few years, is there a younger believer you could get alongside and mentor in a formal or informal way? You may feel inadequate or unqualified—like me!—but so long as you are seeking to obey Christ in your own life and are feeding yourself regularly from the Word, you have the potential to be a support! Why not invite someone out for coffee, read a passage from the Bible together and share some prayer points? It doesn’t need to be more complex than that. If you’re a younger believer, be brave and ask an older woman to mentor you! Most women will be honoured to be asked. And if they say no, please ask someone else!
Don’t know where to start?
Rotad is having another Utrustad : Kvinna women’s conference in Gothenburg from 24-25 October 2025. Carrie Sandom will be speaking on the Book of Job and helping us think through the experience of suffering as Christian women. Why not come? Bring a friend, make a friend, find a mentor, find a mentee, or pick up a study guide to work through with another woman. Women encouraging other women is Christian community in action: come and join us in it!
