Plenary Session: How Hierarchy Leads to Abuse
Cultures of hierarchy maintain authority by claiming ontological distinction. The power and dominance inherent in hierarchy, which directly conflict with ontological equality, perpetuates abuse. This session will examine the abuse that results from hierarchical human relationships and the biblical response to dominance.
 

MaryKate Morse (PhD) is professor of leadership and spiritual formation at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, the director of strategic planning for the University, and author of Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space, and Influence. Morse is a recorded Quaker minister and a trained spiritual director. She has planted two churches with pastoral teams in Portland and also participates in conference retreat ministries. Morse is married to Randy and has three adult children and two grandchildren.

Plenary Session: The Line in the Sand and the Altar of God: Authentic Servant Leadership
Without power no one listens to you. Without serving few follow you. Servant leadership and power are necessary for influencing Christ like change, and yet both are often misunderstood and misused. Leadership and relationship failures, apathy, power struggles, injustice, and disgruntled and quarreling faith communities tell us we have much to learn. A fresh look at Jesus, and his presence and posture, will help us "see" how power and service really do go together and how that partnership can radically change our lives and communities.
 

Philip B. Payne (PhD) is the founder and president of Linguist's Software and author of Man and Woman: One in Christ. Payne was a supervisor of New Testament Studies in the University of Cambridge Colleges and has been a visiting professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Bethel Seminary, and Fuller Seminary Northwest. He and his wife Nancy were missionaries in Japan with the Evangelical Free Church for two terms.

Plenary Session: The Biblical Foundation for Mutual Submission and Shared Authority Between Men and Women in Church and Marriage.
This plenary session surveys the exegetical (Gal. 3:28; 1 Cor. 7; 1 Cor. 11:11-12; Eph. 5:21-33), theological (12 Pauline theological axioms that imply the equality of man and woman in Christ), and practical (Paul's women colleagues in ministry) foundations for mutuality between men and women in Scripture. It also surveys and responds to the primary objections to biblical mutuality: 1 Cor. 14:34-35, 1 Tim. 2:12 and "male headship."
 

Beulah Wood (BA, BD, DMin, GCTS) taught with her husband, Brian, in south India and Nepal until he died in the mountains in 1980. She then developed as a writer while raising her four daughters in her home country, New Zealand. Now making her base in Bangalore, India, since 1997, Beulah is an adjunct professor at South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Study (SAIACS), teaching preaching and theology of family. Family and gender issues have become for Beulah a ministry passion—she has an urge to see mutually respectful relations between men and women, and parents and children, in all countries. She also desires to empower Christians with understanding to pass this message further into their communities.

Plenary Session: Gender and Inheritance
Hidden behind much patriarchal thinking is a pervasive patrilineal worldview. The belief that the family line is a male line and that males own and inherit the resources, has colored nearly all our cultures in the past and still accounts for much oppression and sidelining of women. Beulah will speak from her experience in south Asian culture, recognizing that, within families, women often become the perpetrators of discrimination against females. Does that happen to some extent near all of us? The Bible culture too is patrilineal. How shall we view that?

Workshop Speakers

Morven R. Baker (DMin) is a licensed clinical counselor in Ohio with a private practice specializing for over twenty years in women's issues, particularly sexual abuse and domestic violence. She has given workshops on these topics in the US and abroad, and has contributed to The Long Journey Home: Understanding and Ministering to the Sexually Abused and More Light on the Path: Daily Scripture Readings in Hebrew and Greek. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Baker has lived in Canada, the US, Great Britain, and South Africa. She can pack in her sleep.

Workshop Session: The Impact of Incest on a Woman's Image of God
Most Christians do not hesitate to call God "father," "brother," and "comforter," yet there are those among us who struggle in shame, trying to comprehend these terms as "safe." As children who were molested by a trusted family member or friend, their understanding of God has been negatively impacted. This workshop assists those who care for the female incest survivor to understand how sexual abuse, most specifically incest, can affect her image of God, and how to help restore what was unjustly stolen from her. 

Manfred T. Brauch (PhD) is past president and professor emeritus of Biblical Theology at Palmer (formerly Eastern Baptist) Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous essays and several books, including Hard Sayings of Paul and Abusing Scripture: The Consequences of Misreading the Bible. Together with his wife Marjean, the Brauchs have spent the past several years in ministries of teaching and medical care in West Africa, Russia, Chile, and Honduras.

Workshop Session One: Transformation of Relationships: The Biblical Subversion of the Nature and Exercise of Power
Human relationships, as well as larger human communities, largely function on the basis of the exercise of power, by means of which persons are often limited, controlled, directed, excluded, used, and oppressed. We will look at various kinds of power which characterize ordinary human—and specifically gender—relationships. Against that background, this workshop explores the way in which the Incarnation, and the life and teaching of Jesus, challenge human power relationships and empower a new kind of humanity where over-under power categories are transformed by the power of serving love.

Workshop Session Two: Imaging God: Embodying the Justice of God in Gender Relationships
Male and female are created in the image of God. As such, they are called to image, reflect, and embody the character of God. In the prophetic literature, we discover a God who desires, above all, justice within human relationships. Justice is present when men and women, wives and husbands, structure their relationships in home, church, and society in keeping with the divine intention for mutuality in the male-female relationship.

Christine Colón (PhD) is co-author of Singled Out: Why Celibacy Must Be Reinvented in Today’s Church. She is associate professor of English at Wheaton College, where she teaches courses in writing as well as in English literature. Her work on singleness and celibacy has given her opportunities to write for Christianity Today and to speak to various groups of singles and married couples on the place of Christian singles in today’s church.

Workshop Session One: Singleness and Sexuality: Glorifying God in Our Physical Bodies (co-taught with Bonnie E. Field)
This workshop begins by exploring the problematic messages that Christian singles receive both from the secular world and from the church community that make it difficult to live appropriately as sexual beings created by God who have chosen to remain celibate outside of marriage. We then turn to Scripture, church history, and contemporary Christian thought to reveal a more positive view of celibacy that embraces singles as sexual beings while supporting their choice to avoid sexual activity. Rather than viewing celibacy as a special state of grace reserved only for those who have a particular vocation, or seeing it as an unnatural repression of sexual desire, we will explore what celibate sexuality might look like and discuss why God calls us to live celibate lives outside of marriage.

Workshop Session Two: Singleness and Community: Glorifying God in the Church Body (co-taught with Bonnie E. Field)
We explore the difficulties that Christian singles often have integrating into their local churches and discuss the dangers that this poses not only for singles but also for the church as a whole. We then discuss the theological significance of singleness and examine the unique truths that celibacy teaches us about God. Building upon this discussion, we explore what singles, married couples, and church leadership can do to build a community where everyone is valued and encouraged to serve God with the gifts that he has given them: a community that not only will provide love and support to its members but also will be a witness to the secular world as it displays the power of God’s love that transcends family connections.
 

Workshop Session: Male/Female Shared Leadership: Casting a Vision for the Next Generation (co-taught with Stephanie Williams)
Two leaders of a pre-ministerial initiative for college students reveal how their theology of male/female shared leadership shapes their and students’ visions for ministry. Drawing on theological insights from Genesis and personal experience, they offer a practical theology for ministry leaders serving in God’s image.
 

Susan Dutton Fruend (BA) founded Dutton Consulting in 1996, a nationwide firm providing strategic planning consultation for businesses, nonprofits, and churches. Since May of 2005, she has started up and directed thinkmarriage.org, a nonprofit organization based in Green Bay, WI, whose mission is to uphold the value of marriage and teach healthy relationship skills. She serves on the board of directors of the National Association of Relationship and Marriage Education, and of Laugh Your Way America, LLC, a for-profit marriage ministry. She is also a certified emotional intelligence coach and a licensed relationship coach.

Workshop Session One: "For this Reason": Traditional Rabbinic Views of Mutuality in Marriage
This workshop examines the traditional rabbinic teachings on the Genesis narrative and trace their connection to Pauline thinking and the teachings of Jesus. Enlarge your vision for the blessing and sanctity of marriage!

Workshop Session Two: Mutuality in the Information Age: Ancient Truth for Post-Modern Crisis
This workshop examines profound changes occuring in the social order today, and rediscover how God's design for mutuality in marriage addresses the needs arising from this change. Learn how the church can lead the way to recovery!

Bonnie E. Field is co-author of Singled Out: Why Celibacy Must Be Reinvented in Today’s Church. She has taught English at Arizona College of the Bible and Wayland Baptist University. After working for many years as an educational consultant and curriculum specialist, Field is now teaching English as a foreign language and pursuing a desire to teach high school.

Workshop Session One: Singleness and Sexuality: Glorifying God in Our Physical Bodies (co-taught with Christine Colón)
This workshop begins by exploring the problematic messages that Christian singles receive both from the secular world and from the church community that make it difficult to live appropriately as sexual beings created by God who have chosen to remain celibate outside of marriage. We then turn to Scripture, church history, and contemporary Christian thought to reveal a more positive view of celibacy that embraces singles as sexual beings while supporting their choice to avoid sexual activity. Rather than viewing celibacy as a special state of grace reserved only for those who have a particular vocation, or seeing it as an unnatural repression of sexual desire, we will explore what celibate sexuality might look like and discuss why God calls us to live celibate lives outside of marriage.

Workshop Session Two: Singleness and Community: Glorifying God in the Church Body (co-taught with Christine Colón )
We explore the difficulties that Christian singles often have integrating into their local churches and discuss the dangers that this poses not only for singles but also for the church as a whole. We then discuss the theological significance of singleness and examine the unique truths that celibacy teaches us about God. Building upon this discussion, we explore what singles, married couples, and church leadership can do to build a community where everyone is valued and encouraged to serve God with the gifts that he has given them: a community that not only will provide love and support to its members but also will be a witness to the secular world as it displays the power of God’s love that transcends family connections.

Mimi Haddad (PhD) is president of Christians for Biblical Equality. Haddad is a founding member of the Evangelicals and Gender Study Group at the Evangelical Theological Society. She has written numerous articles and has contributed to eight books, most recently Coming Together in the 21st Century: The Bible's Message in an Age of Diversity, by Curtiss Paul DeYoung. She is also an editor and a contributing author of Global Voices on Biblical Equality: Women and Men Serving Together in the Church. Haddad is an adjunct assistant professor at Bethel University, and an adjunct professor at North Park Theological Seminary.

Workshop Session: Women as Fully Human: How Christian Faith Overcomes Patriarchy
The most prominent indicator of whether a female will be sold to a brothel, killed as a fetus, abused in her marriage or family, or denied a place of decision making in her community or church is determined not by her gender, but on the value we ascribe to gender. The single indicator for gender justice in a community begins with an idea—what theologians call ontology—that is the value we ascribe to individuals at the level of being. This lecture explores the historical devaluation of females and how Christian faith and Scripture offer a decisive challenge to gender prejudice and injustice.

Workshop Session: How the Trinity Can Inform Marriage
Mutuality and reciprocity are implicit in the Trinity. The Trinitarian relationship provides the theological and spiritual groundwork for human interactions in which differences are not obstacles but assets.
 

John R. Kohlenberger III (MA) is the author of more than fifty reference books and study Bibles. He currently serves on the CBE board of directors.

Workshop Session One: Gender Language in Bible Translations: From KJV to NIV
This workshop examines the use of gender-oriented language in the history of the English Bible, emphasizing the clarification of women in leadership roles and full participation in the community of faith. (2011 is the 400th anniversary of the KJV and the release date of the new NIV).

Workshops Session Two: "And the Church in Her House": Women as Leaders in Early Churches and the Recipients of 2 John
This workshop examines the reality of women as leaders in the early church, with emphasis on the second letter of John as written to a female church leader.

Kristyn Komarnicki is the editor of PRISM Magazine, published by Evangelicals for Social Action. Passionate about relational and sexual wholeness, she keeps related topics on her readers’ radar screens: sexploitation, gender equality, interpersonal justice issues, etc. Komarnicki has been married to her French husband (vive cross-cultural marriages!) for twenty-two years and enjoys their three sons, ages ten to seventeen, at their home in a racially mixed neighborhood of Philadelphia, where she helps youth engage their world through journalism and service projects.

Workshop Session One: Sex in the Clutches of Satan (Co-taught with Lisa L. Thompson) **
Lies, lies, and more lies. What the culture (led more by the pornography industry than we might ever suspect) tells us about sex–its content, purpose, and goal–couldn’t be further from what God created it to be. We’ll provide a brief overview of pornography, its impact on the broader culture, its false messages–and its consequences for all of us.

Workshop Session Two: Reclaiming the Beauty of Our Sexual Selves (Co-taught with Lisa L. Thompson)**
Have you personally suffered the damaging consequences of these lies? Have Christians capitulated to the lies? Do we model the truth about sex? What do Christians have to offer the discussion? We’ll talk about a Christian theology of the body and about sexual justice/reconciliation.

**Warning: These workshops will include some graphic and disturbing content. Attendees should be eighteen or older, and prepared to frankly address how sexuality is distorted by the human heart. The workshops are designed to work as a pair, and the speakers strongly encourage you to come to both. If you cannot attend both, they suggest you attend some of the other excellent workshops offered.

Jeffrey D. Miller is a college professor, and his academic interests include textual criticism and biblical teaching. Miller lives with his wife Dana (who is a children's minister) and two daughters in Tennessee. Their main hobby is hiking in the Appalachian Mountains.

Workshop Session: Saved Through Childbearing: 1 Timothy 2:15 as a Hermeneutical Caveat
Some biblical passages are difficult enough that even seasoned interpreters do not insist that their interpretation is correct. 1 Timothy 2:15, with its comment about women being saved through childbearing, is among these notoriously difficult passages. Nevertheless, this workshop surveys a few good theories about the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:15. More importantly, however, this verse serves as a humbling reminder of the vast cultural and chronological gap between the first and twenty-first centuries. Finally, it will be argued that the prior verse (1 Timothy 2:14) is just as difficult, and interpreters therefore should not demand that 2:14 be the guiding light to chapter two.

MaryKate Morse (PhD) is professor of leadership and spiritual formation at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, the director of strategic planning for the University, and author of Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space, and Influence. Morse is a recorded Quaker minister and a trained spiritual director. She has planted two churches with pastoral teams in Portland and also participates in conference retreat ministries. Morse is married to Randy and has three adult children and two grandchildren.

Workshop Session: The Economics of Body and Space: Creating Safe Places and Relationships
At times we enter a room and instinctively know if we are in a safe environment or not. The body senses and discerns its "place" in a group. The group excludes or includes automatically with little debate. This workshop describes what our senses discern and suggests ways for managing ourselves in physical space so as to create a hospitable environment where all are treated with dignity and respect.
 

Workshop Session: Justice and Equality for Women Created in God’s Image: The Scriptural Mandate for Ministry and Marriage
This workshop explores the exegetical case for justice in the standing of man and woman (Gal. 3:28; 1 Cor. 7; 1 Cor. 11:11-12; Eph. 5:21-33). It also considers and answers the primary objections to the equal standing of man and woman in ministry and in marriage: 1 Cor. 14:34-35, 1 Tim. 2:12, and “male headship.” It shows that a wife’s submission to her husband is within the context of mutual submission (Eph. 5:21-22) and that Paul by apposition in Eph. 5:23, defines “head” as “savior” and explains this as Christ giving himself for, loving, and nurturing the church (Eph. 5:25-33).
 

Ronald W. Pierce holds degrees from Talbot School of Theology (MDiv, ThM) and Fuller Theological Seminary (PhD). He married his wife Pat in 1969. They live in Southern California where Ron has taught Bible and theology at Biola University since 1976, including a course on the “Theology of Gender.” They have two children: Debi with her husband Dan, and Brett with his wife Sarah. They also have four grandchildren: Zachary, Matthew, Heidi, and Kristen. Pierce has been a passionate advocate for a biblical, gender equality since the 1980s. In addition to publishing numerous journal articles and book chapters, he co-edited Discovering Biblical Equality (InterVarsity, 2005) with Rebecca Merrill Groothuis and Gordon D. Fee, and authored Partners in Marriage & Ministry (Christians for Biblical Equality, 2011).

Workshop Session: What is Biblical Equality? Communicating the Vision Concisely and Coherently

Lisa L. Thompson is the liaison for the Abolition of Sexual Trafficking for The Salvation Army USA National Headquarters established to address on public policy issues and initiatives related to eradicating sexual trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. She also assists in the development of strategies for The Salvation Army to create recovery services for survivors of sexual trafficking. She currently resides in Alexandria, VA, with her two cats, Noodle and Macaroni, and is the proud aunt of her nephew, Michael.

Workshop Session One: Sex in the Clutches of Satan (Co-taught with Kristyn Komarnicki) **
Lies, lies, and more lies. What the culture (led more by the pornography industry than we might ever suspect) tells us about sex–its content, purpose, and goal–couldn’t be further from what God created it to be. We’ll provide a brief overview of pornography, its impact on the broader culture, its false messages–and its consequences for all of us.

Workshop Session Two: Reclaiming the Beauty of Our Sexual Selves (Co-taught with Kristyn Komarnicki)**
Have you personally suffered the damaging consequences of these lies? Have Christians capitulated to the lies? Do we model the truth about sex? What do Christians have to offer the discussion? We’ll talk about a Christian theology of the body and about sexual justice/reconciliation.

**Warning: These workshops will include some graphic and disturbing content. Attendees should be eighteen or older, and prepared to frankly address how sexuality is distorted by the human heart. The workshops are designed to work as a pair, and the speakers strongly encourage you to come to both. If you cannot attend both, they suggest you attend some of the other excellent workshops offered.

Workshop Session: Male/Female Shared Leadership: Casting a Vision for the Next Generation (co-taught with Dale Durie)
Two leaders of a pre-ministerial initiative for college students reveal how their theology of male/female shared leadership shapes their and students’ visions for ministry. Drawing on theological insights from Genesis and personal experience, they offer a practical theology for ministry leaders serving in God’s image.
 

Panelists

Miriam Adeney (PhD) is a professor at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, WA. She is adjunct faculty at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, and at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. Adeney is the author of several books including Daughters of Islam: Building Bridges with Muslim Women and A Time for Risking: Priorities for Women. She is married with three sons, and is a member of University Presbyterian Church.

Panel Session: The Community of the Beloved: One Body—One Church
This session will offer panelists an opportunity to address theological, sociological, and ministry issues that either build or derail the church’s loving union with Christ. This is evidenced by mutual submission to one another and through serving our world.

Panel Session: The Community of the Beloved: One Body—One Church
This session will offer panelists an opportunity to address theological, sociological, and ministry issues that either build or derail the church’s loving union with Christ. This is evidenced by mutual submission to one another and through serving our world.

Panel Session: Sex, Power, and Prejudice: It’s Impact and Paths Forward
What are the biblical and global ramifications of hierarchical attitudes? The first part of this workshop session will examine the manifestations of sex, power, and prejudice and the ways they influence gender, ethnicity, and theology. In the second part, we will examine how to move forward as effective change agents.
 

Panel Session: Sex, Power, and Prejudice: It’s Impact and Paths Forward
What are the biblical and global ramifications of hierarchical attitudes? The first part of this workshop session will examine the manifestations of sex, power, and prejudice and the ways they influence gender, ethnicity, and theology. In the second part, we will examine how to move forward as effective change agents.

Panel Session: Local Activism: Growing CBE Chapters
In many ways, chapters are the hands and feet of CBE. But what does a chapter look like? How does it work? How does a successful chapter get started? We’ll talk with chapter leaders from around the country about experiences, ideas, obstacles, and triumphs. This will be a session of brainstorming, fellowship, and encouragement—essential for anyone interested in how we as CBE members can reach out to each other and the world around us.

Caprice Hollins is co-owner of Cross Cultural Connections and serves as part-time core faculty member of Mars Hill Graduate School. She spent four years as the director of equity and ethnicity relations for Seattle Public Schools bringing more than 15 years of experience working with ethnically diverse populations, providing mental health services, facilitating culturally relevant professional development, and teaching.

Panel Session: The Community of the Beloved: One Body—One Church
This session will offer panelists an opportunity to address theological, sociological, and ministry issues that either build or derail the church’s loving union with Christ. This is evidenced by mutual submission to one another and through serving our world.

Panel Session: The Community of the Beloved: One Body—One Church
This session will offer panelists an opportunity to address theological, sociological, and ministry issues that either build or derail the church’s loving union with Christ. This is evidenced by mutual submission to one another and through serving our world.

Allyson Jule (PhD) is associate professor of education and co-director of the Gender Studies Institute at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, Canada. Jule has particular research interests in the area of gender in the classroom as well as gender alongside religious identity. She is the author of A Beginners Guide to Language and Gender and Gender, Participation and Silence in the Language Classroom: Sh-shushing the Girls. She co-edited Being Feminist, Being Christian: Essays from Academia. Jule also serves on the executive council for the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA).

Panel Session: Sex, Power, and Prejudice: It’s Impact and Paths Forward
What are the biblical and global ramifications of hierarchical attitudes? The first part of this workshop session will examine the manifestations of sex, power, and prejudice and the ways they influence gender, ethnicity, and theology. In the second part, we will examine how to move forward as effective change agents.

Charity Kroeker is development associate and chapter coordinator at Christians for Biblical Equality. In September of 2010, she coordinated CBE’s first ever one-day conference, in partnership with the CBE Greater Chicago Chapter. She is a recent graduate of Bethel University, where she studied English Literature and Writing.

Moderator: Local Activism: Growing CBE Chapters
In many ways, chapters are the hands and feet of CBE. But what does a chapter look like? How does it work? How does a successful chapter get started? We’ll talk with chapter leaders from around the country about experiences, ideas, obstacles, and triumphs. This will be a session of brainstorming, fellowship, and encouragement—essential for anyone interested in how we as CBE members can reach out to each other and the world around us.

Evelia M. Naranjo (ThM)(BS) practiced structural engineering, after graudating from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, in Los Angeles. Five years later, she left the engineering field to honor a strong desire to teach math, science, and Bible at a Christian middle/highschool in West Los Angeles. She now works as a construction consultant and lives in downtown Chicago. Naranjo is president of the Chicago CBE chapter and was a co-lead in organizing the 2010 Chicago CBE conference "Women and Christian History: Building on a Legacy." She is a member of Willow Creek Community Church-downtown Chicago campus.

Panel Session: Local Activism: Growing CBE Chapters
In many ways, chapters are the hands and feet of CBE. But what does a chapter look like? How does it work? How does a successful chapter get started? We’ll talk with chapter leaders from around the country about experiences, ideas, obstacles, and triumphs. This will be a session of brainstorming, fellowship, and encouragement—essential for anyone interested in how we as CBE members can reach out to each other and the world around us.

Moderator: Sex, Power, and Prejudice: It’s Impact and Paths Forward
What are the biblical and global ramifications of hierarchical attitudes? The first part of this workshop session will examine the manifestations of sex, power, and prejudice and the ways they influence gender, ethnicity, and theology. In the second part, we will examine how to move forward as effective change agents.
 

Panel Session: Local Activism: Growing CBE Chapters
In many ways, chapters are the hands and feet of CBE. But what does a chapter look like? How does it work? How does a successful chapter get started? We’ll talk with chapter leaders from around the country about experiences, ideas, obstacles, and triumphs. This will be a session of brainstorming, fellowship, and encouragement—essential for anyone interested in how we as CBE members can reach out to each other and the world around us.
 

Panel Session: Sex, Power, and Prejudice: It’s Impact and Paths Forward
What are the biblical and global ramifications of hierarchical attitudes? The first part of this workshop session will examine the manifestations of sex, power, and prejudice and the ways they influence gender, ethnicity, and theology. In the second part, we will examine how to move forward as effective change agents.

Moderator: The Community of the Beloved: One Body—One Church
This session will offer panelists an opportunity to address theological, sociological, and ministry issues that either build or derail the church’s loving union with Christ. This is evidenced by mutual submission to one another and through serving our world.
 

Panel Session: Local Activism: Growing CBE Chapters
In many ways, chapters are the hands and feet of CBE. But what does a chapter look like? How does it work? How does a successful chapter get started? We’ll talk with chapter leaders from around the country about experiences, ideas, obstacles, and triumphs. This will be a session of brainstorming, fellowship, and encouragement—essential for anyone interested in how we as CBE members can reach out to each other and the world around us.