Why do we have a Women's Ministry? (video pic of the week)

In some churches women's ministry is an after thought.

Some churches treat women's ministry as an accessory. You know the group of ladies that makes sure all the food is cooked, the place is cleaned and the kid's get their money for their big trip. I'm talking about real ministry.  I have been asked, a few times, about why are we separating the women from the men in ministry. "Can't they all just go to the same things?"  The very same people have no problem separating the youth from their parents. (that's a different post)

As a section representative for the Assembly of God, I meet with pastors and I hear their concerns about women's ministry, the good part, the bad part and even the ugly part, but isn't it the same concerns for every ministry?

I went to one church, a fairly large one, and met with the pastor.  Right off the bat he said "We don't do women's ministry." It must have been the Holy Spirit because I could never come up with anything so clever, my reply was "So the women hang out in the parking lot waiting for their men to get out of church?" He chuckles, I chuckle and our conversation lasted two hours.  The pastor realized whether there was a formal women's ministry or not in his church, women were ministering to each other. He also realized after looking at the demographics of his church, the majority of the congregation was women.  

I am not saying women and men need to be completely separated.  We need each other, it's the way God intended it to be.  Discipleship and mentoring necessitates separate ministries.  There are just some things that men don't get about us and that's okay.  

Here is the video pic of the week (so many has asked for it).  I believe it helps drive this point home.  

When and what are those issues that would be better served by women?  Yes, we need men's perspective (they have great perspective) how can we add value to the church when dealing with gender related issues?