At my current church I have YET to feel that my gender has been an issue.  At my former church, my gender was an issue from time to time.  That's kinda weird because my current church is in a denomination that has the reputation of being gender-biased and my former church was in a denomination that professed to be gender neutral. 

At my former self-described gender-neutral church, I was paid less. It was assumed that I was next in line to take messages and do secretarial duties for pastoral and business staff if the secretaries were not available.  I also ran one of the largest ministries without administrative support of any kind.  I do not think I am above any of those duties. I'm saying that the males were paid more, rarely took messages and did not do secretarial tasks. I always thought it was the position of Children's Minister that was treated differently.  Looking back on it now, I see that it's because Children's Ministers are usually female and that is why there was a disparity.

At my new church in the denomination with the gender-biased reputation I am paid equitably and told that I am NOT expected to answer the phones. I am expected to focus my specialized skills on ministry responsibilities not secretarial services.  The secretary supports me in the same way she supports everyone else on staff.

It's surprisingly refreshing to be treated like "one of the guys"  where one might expect just the opposite!

Lisa B from NC