Hello friends. Another great week for CBE and our friends around the world who are joining us in the movement for biblical gender equality. Here are a few posts written this week around the web for you to read, share, and ponder this weekend. Enjoy!
“Women Pastors and Male Privilege” by Jeremiah Gibbs
“When I was in seminary I learned that many of my female colleagues hear comments about their clothing, hair, and make-up every week.
It’s easy to dismiss this as an odd reality of culture. Some of these remarks are compliments and aren’t meant to make a woman’s job harder. But consider how the constant discussion of physical appearance changes the way women pastors spend time preparing for Sunday morning …”
“We need to figure out quickly how to recognize, encourage, and spiritually lead these women. Barna and others say as many as 27% of professional Christian women are starting to choose to unplug from church all together. Why is that?”
“Why Women Matter: The Church As The Face Of God” by Megan Wildhood (The Junia Project)
“The composition of the Church’s leadership matters because it is the face of the work of God in the world, a world still yearning for the unity of reconciliation under God. The Church is God’s salt and light in the world and as such, its leadership is of primary importance. Women in church leadership is not a secondary issue because women are not secondary citizens in the reconciliation world, what Scripture calls the kingdom of heaven.”
“An open letter to the non-egalitarian Churches of Christ” by Micah Redding
“I believe that those who say women are not permitted to speak in the church are simply wrong. They have not rightly divided the word of truth. They have not understood the teachings of Christ, or obeyed the commands of Paul, or followed the example of the early church. They have fallen into severe error, and have gone against the word of God.”
“Why Aren’t More Christians Talking About Bill Cosby?” by Sarah Galo (Relevant Magazine)
“Our silence doesn’t serve God or victims of sexual violence; in fact, it serves quite another figure. As a Church, we need to speak truth to power. We need to acknowledge the horror of Cosby’s crimes. And yes, I choose to believe that he did commit crimes, not because there are many allegations, but because there was even just one.”
Recently on The Scroll
“3 Questions About Genesis” by Philip B. Payne
“Nothing in Genesis teaches that creation order establishes man’s priority over woman. God created the plants and animals before man, yet to whom did God give dominion? Was it not the one created later? In fact, the leadership of the one born later is a major Old Testament theme …”
“The Purpose of Women” by Judy Douglass
“At transition points in our lives, when we feel dissatisfied or confused about our lives, when we have dreams that seem beyond our reach, and at many other times, we wonder who we are and what our purpose is.
God has answers. And for women these answers include specifcs for all women and for each woman. Here is just a summary of those truths—the discovery and living out will be unique for each woman over her lifetime.”
“No One Ever Told me in Seminary” a poem by Kristen Caldwell
“No one Ever Told me in Seminary/Hundreds of women evangelists in the 1800s/Preached in churches, fields, forests and school houses across the United States”
What articles about biblical gender equality encouraged you this week? Share them with us in the comments!
*Note: Linking to these posts is not a CBE endorsement of previous or future written work or statements made by the authors.
