Prominent Christian Leaders Speak Out Against Gender Inequality

MINNEAPOLIS - July 2004 - Christians from across the globe will gather in the United Kingdom Sept. 3-5 for a conference addressing the equality of men and women. The conference, titled "Men, Women and God: A Biblical Approach to Relationships," is sponsored by Christians for Biblical Equality; Men, Women and God; and Women and the Church (WATCH).

The event will feature the perspectives of prominent Christian leaders including Christianity Today's Book of the Year award-winner N.T. Wright. Other speakers include Elaine Storkey, author of "Contributions to Christian Feminism" and president of TearFund; David Instone-Brewer, author and research fellow at Tyndale House, Cambridge University; Esther Reed, theologian and lecturer at the University of St. Andrews; and Michele Guinness, author and popular speaker.

Among the topics addressed at the conference will be the sexual exploitation of women around the world.

"My workshop will explore the reality and the extent of sexual exploitation and violence toward women in the 21st century on both a local and global scale," said Ellen Armstrong, assistant project manager of TRUST, a Christian community project supporting women involved in prostitution in South London. "It has been said that across the world, violence against women causes more deaths and disability among women aged 15 to 44 than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents or war. Every day women are battered, sexually harassed, abused, raped and psychologically tortured in the home, workplace and society."

CBE President Mimi Haddad, who will also be presenting at the conference, notes that the inequality of women leads to physical, emotional, spiritual and economic suffering. "We have come to see dangerous results of failing to read the Bible consistently. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible teaches the fundamental equality of women and men, and mutuality we ignore at our own peril," Haddad said.

Christians for Biblical Equality is a non-profit organization of Christian men and women from nearly 100 denominations who believe that the Bible, properly interpreted, teaches the fundamental equality of men and women of all racial and ethnic groups, all economic classes and all age groups. For a press kit or for more information on the organization and its conference, visit its Web site at http://www.cbeinternational.org or call 612-872-6898.