Women Invited to the Boys' Club for a Talk on Debt

"Ladies are welcome to join this special event," announced the email for the NYC Business & Professional Men's Ministry's event to be held tonight at 7 pm at Harvest Christian Fellowship (3rd Floor Fellowship Hall at 130 W. 56th St.). This so-called "special event" hinges on the topic of "A Biblical View of Debt." In other words, women, listen up: debt pertains to you.

Among the NYC Business & Professional Ministry's vision statements are:

God created every person for a very specific time and a distinct work.

The Business & Professional Ministry equips men to fulfill their God-given calling.

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There is certainly nothing wrong with a men's ministry or a women's ministry, as single-sex ministries allow for focus and honest discussion on topics that pertain mainly to their gender. However, the vision statement of the NYC Business & Professional Ministry seems to imply that men's God-given calling pertains to business, and women have a "distinct work" separate from anything professional.

If one believes that a woman's place is in the home and that a man should be the bread winner, then one must also take into account that a woman will have to spend a man's money, be it her father's when she is single or her husband's when she is married. If a man is truly in charge of the family finances, women will not have the opportunity get into debt because she will not have full, unlimited access to money.

However, many women -- both single and married -- are, in fact, engaged in the business and professional world. And some men, conversly, choose to be the stay-at-home parent. Should a business and professional ministry be geared only toward men, then?

And is there validity to the notion that women are bad with money, as seems to be implied by their invitation to a talk on debt?

Janet Bodnar, Deputy Editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, says:

Within a household, women are more likely than men to pay the bills (60%), balance the checkbook (67%), and maintain the family budget (54%). But only 25% of women -- versus 44% of men -- are responsible for buying and selling stocks, bonds and mutual funds.

Matthew Kirdahy reports in the Los Angeles Times that "it’s not a question of better, just different."

Lily Fang, Assistant Professor of Finance at Instead, the Business School of the World, concludes, "Research evidence shows that as a partnership, women and men together make better [financial] decisions."