Women behaving badly

In Christian history, women have often been portrayed in a bad light. I'm so grateful to those women and men who have re-told the stories, and drawn our attention to so many women who have been passed over or misrepresented.

But there are some women who were just bad - and there's not much from their stories which can be redeemed. I recently decided to avoid preaching on the 'John the Baptist's head on a platter' story. But was interested to read an excellent reflection on Herodias and Salome, on the Big Bible Project website (also an excellent place to go for bible resources).

Gold medals for women-not-to-be-followed.

Strengthened to Serve

I was intrigued and perturbed by the reading on 5th February from Mark chapter 1.

It was one of those 'in passing' moments, where one thinks, 'Wait a minute!' Simon Peter's mother in law was healed by Jesus, and then got up to serve him and his friends.

I'm not sure I've ever heard a sermon on this episode, but I was delighted to see a recent post from Nancy Wallace, via the Big Bible project. You can read the rest here:  http://bigbible.org.uk/2012/02/strengthened-to-serve-simon-peters-mother-in-law/

And as so often, when we read about women in the New Testament, there is more than meets the eye!

Are you an influential woman?

I'm reading a great book at the moment: Influential, by Jo Saxton.

The subtitle is 'Women in Leadership at church, work and beyond. Starting to read with high expectaions, I was encouraged by some words in the Foreword by Michelle Guinness, who expresses what I think many Christian women feel:

'How do we stay on the see-saw, balancing feisty, outspoken leadership with Christian grace and love?' It's a challenge, when the assumptions about what 'leaders' are like can often conflict with stereotypes of how women are supposed to behave.

Jo comes from the rising generation of women leaders, who speak at festivals such as Soul Survivor and Momentum. She seems to have left the UK and is living in the US but I hope that this book will speak to the new generation of women who see gender equality all around them but then find that in the church it is somewhat different.

Written in an accessible style, Saxton explores biblical role models such as Miriam and Deborah, New Testament women, and what the difficult passages in Paul's writings are getting at. 'What did women do?' She asks.So what should women be doing today?

I've been enjoying the book, and though I have read a few on this subject before, this is a fresh approach, Saxton quotes a number of women leaders in the church today, and there are plenty of action points and good advice woven into the chapters.

If you want an all-encompassing book which will encourage you in your leadership in the church - and beyond - this is definitely worth reading.

Women in Mind

I have an almost constant sense of deja vu.

That is to say, I have been here before. The Church has been here before.

Whether it is the latest speaker who thinks women should stick to homemaking and having babies, men and women who think women are differently constituted and therefore can't or should not be leaders, or Christians who believe that arguments for women's leadership are new, when one can document them from the time of the early Church, and campaigning and debate started in the Anglican Church in 1930: we have been here before!

Because we have been here before, I become frustrated when it seems that the same arguments seem to go round and round, while all the while there is an increasing amount of scholarship - on both 'sides' of the biblical argument, it must be said, but most of the weight of argument, including a number of scholars who have changed their minds, on the side of those who believe that the biblical case for women leaders in the Church is very strong.

There is debate among younger Christians, influenced by certain US speakers.

There is debate among Anglican women wondering if God is calling them to ordination or to another form of authorised leadership.

There is debate for Anglicans on General Synod because there are decisions to be made about women in the episcopate (women bishops).

And there is debate in many parishes, certainly in every diocese, because those making the decision want to know what is the mind of the wider Church.

So because we are here again, a reminder about useful resources.

The biblical issues about women as leaders are addressed in the book Growing Women Leaders. This book also looks at women leaders in the Bible and through 2000 years of Church history. To buy a copy, click here.

And if you want a good discussion in your church about what the Bible says, why not download the Women in Mind resource: 3-session courses for groups who want to look at what the Bible says about women in ministry. These are FREE to download from the CPAS website: just click here.

I've been encouraged that nearly 1500 people have downloaded one or other of these courses over the past year. If you've used one of them, please let me know, as I would love to refine the courses further, and to encourage others. You can email me at rward@cpas.org.uk.

The New NIV

I baulked when my devotional reading a couple of days ago invited me to pray: 'let me be a "man of peace".'

OK, so she (it is a woman!) used inverted commas, but one of her texts is Psalm 37:37: 'Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace'' Has she never realised that there are more inclusive Bible versions?

Back in the bad old days I often used to challenge speakers or write to publishers to lament their lack of inclusion, with a variety of responses. A well-known evangelist went straight to the college book room to buy a new Bible; others were uncomprehending. But I may not have to get so exasperated for much longer. The new NIV has arrived!

Revising the NIV has been a difficult business. I can remember a meeting at Hodders back in the 1990s, which resulted in the 'NIVI' (1996) - the 'I' standing for 'inclusive' . It was intended as a revision, but became an addition to the 1984 NIV, because a conservative N American lobby was strongly opposed to it. Then in 2002/2005 we got the TNIV, again meant to be a revision, but becoming yet another addition to the 'original' NIV, which held its place in the popularity stakes and pew version.

Now, the 2011 NIV is the NIV! It's published this month, but is already available at http://www.biblegateway.com/

It's reassuring to read that the Committee on Bible Translation worked with Collins Dictionaries to look at changes in gender language. As a result, many of the gender language changes introduced in the TNIV were verified and retained, some revert back to the 1984 edition, and some have been handled differently.

To give some clues, plural is used to avoid use of 'he' or 'him'; 'mankind' is used, not 'humankind'; 'God and man' as a pair appears, but human beings collectively are 'people' , not 'men'; Junia is female and an apostle, and Phoebe a deacon.

So now scholars are eagerly assessing whether the new NIV is a success - and that will depend on one's starting point!

In a recent post for CBE, John Kohlenberger reckoned this is a major improvement to the 1978/1984 NIV. A review in Priscilla Papers is pleased too, though slightly worried that it could have been better. I think that in the current climate, the Committee have done well, and that we will be well served by this new edition of what has become such a popular translation in evangelical circles.

To look at test case passages try: Psalm 68:11; Romans 16:1-2; Romans 16:7; 1 Corinthians 11:2-12; 1 Timothy 2:5; 1 Timothy 2:11-12; 1 Timothy 3:11.

For more technical info go to BibleGateway for a link to the note from the Committee with more examples; or Robert Slowley has a site with full texts of the 1984 NIV, 2005 TNIV and 2011 NIV book by book and verse by verse.

How Jesus developed women as leaders

I don't really like blowing my own trumpet. But I was quite chuffed when the post delivered a book which includes one chapter by me: 'How did Jesus develop women as leaders?'

Depending on your perspective, that might seem like a really odd question. Or it may be that you've already read my article on it on the web - in which case you might like to read the new, more full version here.

The book is called Apostolic Women, Apostolic Authority: Transfiguring Leadership in Today's Church, edited by Martyn Percy and Christina Rees, published by Canterbury Press in December last year. The book was designed to collect up papers from a pre-Lambeth conference held at Cuddesdon in 2008, but these were supplemented by a number of other papers written (or edited) for the book, and mine is one of those.

I've just finished reading the book and it will be reviewed soon; there's plenty of varied material in it and I found many of the chapters very valuable. There is lots throughout about 'power'; a great chapter on women in the Bible and church history; a perspective from the US on the deployment of women, which raises issues I've been contemplating, about lack of women called to larger churches; Jane Hedges' research findings on whether women are up for senior posts; 'size matters', a piece of research on the lack of women leading larger churches; a good chapter on spirituality; and an excellent piece by Lis Goddard on the need to transfigure episcopal ministry into something more collegial and collaborative, and how this might also benefit women who currently feel marginalised.

My article - well, you can read it! It might not appear at first that there is anything to write about how Jesus developed women as leaders. But read the biblical text more closely and there's lots going on. The women who were 'with Jesus'. Mary and Martha, the woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, the women leaders emerging as leaders in the early church. And how women were included alongside men - not in the 'twelve', but very close to them, and certainly included in both learning experiences and commissions to ministry.

It's very apparent to me in the current climate, where some women are facing a backlash (?) of teaching that says we should not be leading in the Church, that we need to read what the Bible is actually saying rather than reaching for those old 'proof' texts (without looking at translation, context and recent interpretaion), and lobbing them over the parapet at women.

Funny too how men can lob stuff at women (why do they make up the rules?), but if we respond we're being over-sensitive, ambitious or 'aggressive'!

The stories of our lives

A couple of days ago I had one of those serendipitous moments. I was talking to someone about one thing, and then the conversation turned:

'I'm writing a series of songs based on the women's stories in the Bible.' That's certainly not something I hear every day, so I wanted to know more.

Charity Quin is a singer/songwriter based in Suffolk. She's writing these songs, which focus in particular on the meetings with Jesus, where he interacts with women across religious, cultural and racial divides....

He seemed to come from nowhere
He seems to fill this space
Now he's asking me to draw him water
He walks across the lines -
of gender and of race...

There are other songs too, about women's lives now, and a take on the prodigal son - who is a daughter.

I know from talking to many women that some of the great stories in the Bible which are about women are not that well known. I have more books on my shelves than most about women in the Bible. But this sounds like a great idea, and I hope the songs will be heard.

Charity Quin's latest album is called 'The Patience of the Fisherman', and clips can be heard at http://www.charityquin.com/ and www.myspace.com/charityquin