Today is International Women's Day. 

In 2021, together with six other eastern Canadian Churches of Christ, Ottawa Church of Christ hosted a special Women's Day Sunday Service.

"I think our church, like many, felt that in our world, women can sometimes have a silenced voice or a misunderstood voice. I think as a woman, if you look at the ministry of Jesus, he elevated the role of the woman at a time when women were marginalized, to say the least," said Melanie Singh, women's ministry leader at Ottawa Church of Christ. "In many cases, women were considered property, and yet Jesus, whether it was through the Samaritan woman, or whether it's through his resurrection, you see how he treats women differently than his peers would've."

The theme of the service was This is My Time.

"We played around with different themes. We had a committee of women, and they felt like it was a little more relatable to what the generation today would understand. It resonated with a lot of people, especially because we tied it to the book of Esther," Singh explains. "One of my thoughts was that it seemed very self-focused, but when you combine it with the character of Esther, it's really easy to see how she could've been selfish and fearful, yet she understood that was her time. And if she was meant to die, then she would die, but she chose to live for God and choose the right thing." 

Shining a spotlight on women, especially those in the church, is something Melanie feels should've started years ago.

"I really believe as a women's ministry leader, a Christian, I believe that God always intended for women to play a unique role in the saving of mankind," said Singh. "I think men and women share a bond, a partnership. And God always intended for women to have a unique role in that partnership for saving not only women but men, as well.

Melanie hopes the message has helped encourage, refresh and inspire women to use their God-given talents to lift others, take on challenges with renewed faith and bravely be the women God designed them to be.

"We want to imitate Jesus. We want to be like him in our representation of women and have a Christian voice. It's different from the world's voice, and the Christian voice is important to define what a woman of God is." 

Today on Connections, Melanie Singh shares with us the importance of International Women's Day and why it's important to celebrate this day as a church.