8.2 REFLECT
For any teaching materials, resources, or curricula you offer including those for parenting, family, children and youth, women’s or men’s Bible studies, singles ministry, or pre-marital counseling, consider:
1
Which gender assumptions are built into the teachings or curriculum? How are the men/boys portrayed? How are the women/girls portrayed? Which roles are they called into? Encouraged to pursue?
2
When illustrations or anecdotes are offered, how do men/boys appear/sound? How do women/girls appear/sound? What actions do men/boys or women/girls take in the examples given? Are there patterns in the way men/boys or women/girls are portrayed?
3
Which biblical characters are emphasized in your teachings or curricula? What roles do they play in the illustrations offered? Are they the helper? Rescuer? Protector? Servant? Leader? Are they strong? Weak? Dependent? Independent? Why?
4
When young men in your church grow up, what jobs/roles do they tend to pursue? When young women in your church grow up, what jobs/roles do they tend to pursue? Are there any patterns? What might those patterns reveal?
5
Are teachers and leaders trained to be aware of these things and to check their biases? Is this an intentional emphasis of the church?