Since folks are talking about it...

Biological motherhood within the church =/= spiritual motherhood of & for the church.

Both are beautiful. Both are lifegiving. Both call us into a greater reality for purposes beyond our own self-fulfillment. But one cannot replace the other. And they are not necessarily dependent on each other.

A woman may be called to one or both & will exercise her calling out of deeper resources of faithfulness, service, & love for God & others. But while similar modes of being, biological motherhood & spiritual motherhood are distinct & cannot replace each other.

So it seems self-evident to me that regardless of how conservative a church may be, it must have spiritual mothers of & for the church in order to be a healthy spiritual family. The presence of biological mothers in the assembly are not enough.

And if that's true, then we'd also better figure out how to listen to & learn from our spiritual mothers:

"My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching." Proverbs 6:20

So by all means, work it out w/in your own ecclesiology & practice, but if your church doesn't have visible spiritual mothers who can speak into the life of the family of God & be heard... well, goodness I don't want to be around when you try to explain that to Him.