A friend recently sent me a link to a fascinating article about former US President, Jimmy Carter. Click here to read it.
The gist of the article is that Carter, a Baptist deacon and Bible teacher, has severed his connection with the Southern Baptist Convention.
Who cares? one might ask.
But what Carter goes on to say is that it's not just about what women can or can't do in church that has made him question his allegiance. It's the fact that once one has said that women are 'somehow inferior to men', all kinds of other things follow.
He moves on to explore briefly the implications of holding women inferior to men in both Islamic and Christian traditions, and draws attention to a statement issued by the Elders, a global group of eminent leaders, that 'the justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.'
He goes on: 'we are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world's major faiths share. '
I look forward to seeing what happens. I've not noticed much media attention - have you?
Monday, 10 August 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009
More on Festivals and Deacons
I've noticed lots of commemorations of women in the Church calendar at this time of year!
25th July was the festival in the Greek Orthdox Church of Olympias. She lived from c 360-408, and was both a patron (of St John of Chrysostom) and was also ordained deacon, after being widowed. Why have I not heard of her before? After her death she was venerated as a saint, and she is commemorated in both the Greek and Roman church - on different days! Yet another woman who exercised a ministry similar to that of male deacons in the third century - before the office was phased out.
Then a couple of days ago (28th) it was the festival of Irene Chrysobalantou (pictured left), another deacon and abbess, who lived in the late 9th to early 10th century. She was born in Cappadocia to an aristocratic family, and having turned down some marriage proposals, she gave her inherited wealth to the monastery of Chrysovaluantou and entered the community. After some years of study, service and leading many others to Christ, she became abbess, having previously been ordained deacon by Patriarch Methodius.
And yesterday was the Church of England lesser festival of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, 'companions of our Lord'. Two significant women in the New Testament: one who sat at Jesus' feet, the place of a trainee rabbi - and how frustrating that we have no idea of the end of her story - and Martha, whose affirmation that Jesus is 'the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world' is one of the high points of John's Gospel.
Watch out for festivals of more recent women in August: Mary Sumner (9th), Florence Nightingale and Octavia Hill (13th), Catherine and William Booth (20th), and Phoebe, deacon of Cenchreae and patron of Paul (Romans 16:1) on 3rd September.
Let's make the most of celebrating those women who have gone before us!
25th July was the festival in the Greek Orthdox Church of Olympias. She lived from c 360-408, and was both a patron (of St John of Chrysostom) and was also ordained deacon, after being widowed. Why have I not heard of her before? After her death she was venerated as a saint, and she is commemorated in both the Greek and Roman church - on different days! Yet another woman who exercised a ministry similar to that of male deacons in the third century - before the office was phased out.
Then a couple of days ago (28th) it was the festival of Irene Chrysobalantou (pictured left), another deacon and abbess, who lived in the late 9th to early 10th century. She was born in Cappadocia to an aristocratic family, and having turned down some marriage proposals, she gave her inherited wealth to the monastery of Chrysovaluantou and entered the community. After some years of study, service and leading many others to Christ, she became abbess, having previously been ordained deacon by Patriarch Methodius.
And yesterday was the Church of England lesser festival of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, 'companions of our Lord'. Two significant women in the New Testament: one who sat at Jesus' feet, the place of a trainee rabbi - and how frustrating that we have no idea of the end of her story - and Martha, whose affirmation that Jesus is 'the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world' is one of the high points of John's Gospel.
Watch out for festivals of more recent women in August: Mary Sumner (9th), Florence Nightingale and Octavia Hill (13th), Catherine and William Booth (20th), and Phoebe, deacon of Cenchreae and patron of Paul (Romans 16:1) on 3rd September.
Let's make the most of celebrating those women who have gone before us!
Friday, 17 July 2009
A pioneering deaconess
Tomorrow (18th July) the Church of England commemorates a pioneering deaconess, Elizabeth Ferard.
I've just been reading Derek Tidball's comprehensive study of New Testament ministry, Ministry by the Book, and among other things he notes that the reference to 'women' in 1 Timothy 3:11 is probably to women who are deacons and not to deacons' wives (as the TNIV also notes - what does your Bible say?).
But it took until 1862 for a woman, Elizabeth Ferard, to be admitted to the office of deaconess. She was one of the first woman to train at Kaiserworth in Germany, and after a spell with the Anglican nuns at Ditchingham she went on to found and lead the North London Deaconess Institution, the first and only establishment of its kind. Deaconesses were appointed in Liverpool and Bedford in 1869 - and the rest, as they say, is history.
But apparently that history could have been very different. Reading a review of a book on female clergy in the Medieval West (were there any, you may ask?), I find that in the early Middle Ages ordination was for someone who would be head of a community. But in the late 12th and 13th centuries ordination became centred on the eucharist, and women who were formerly ordained, including queens, abbesses and deaconesses, were no longer ranked as ordained, although abbots and deacons were considered to be so.
While I'm aware of controversy around women's ministry in the early years of the Church, I had no idea that ordination for some women was also current around 1000 years ago. But there were various changes in thinking in the 12th century. And according to the author of this study, published by OUP in 2008, Gary Macy: 'Within a fifty-year period, the centuries-old tradition of the ordination of women had been reversed and denied.'
Another well-hidden secret. How recent it is (I remember it happening in 1987) that women who had been deaconesses could be ordained and be 'deacons'! But there were women deacons in the early church! And women deacons 1000 years ago!
Such are the vagaries of history - or should I say the persistence of patriarchy?
I've just been reading Derek Tidball's comprehensive study of New Testament ministry, Ministry by the Book, and among other things he notes that the reference to 'women' in 1 Timothy 3:11 is probably to women who are deacons and not to deacons' wives (as the TNIV also notes - what does your Bible say?).
But it took until 1862 for a woman, Elizabeth Ferard, to be admitted to the office of deaconess. She was one of the first woman to train at Kaiserworth in Germany, and after a spell with the Anglican nuns at Ditchingham she went on to found and lead the North London Deaconess Institution, the first and only establishment of its kind. Deaconesses were appointed in Liverpool and Bedford in 1869 - and the rest, as they say, is history.
But apparently that history could have been very different. Reading a review of a book on female clergy in the Medieval West (were there any, you may ask?), I find that in the early Middle Ages ordination was for someone who would be head of a community. But in the late 12th and 13th centuries ordination became centred on the eucharist, and women who were formerly ordained, including queens, abbesses and deaconesses, were no longer ranked as ordained, although abbots and deacons were considered to be so.
While I'm aware of controversy around women's ministry in the early years of the Church, I had no idea that ordination for some women was also current around 1000 years ago. But there were various changes in thinking in the 12th century. And according to the author of this study, published by OUP in 2008, Gary Macy: 'Within a fifty-year period, the centuries-old tradition of the ordination of women had been reversed and denied.'
Another well-hidden secret. How recent it is (I remember it happening in 1987) that women who had been deaconesses could be ordained and be 'deacons'! But there were women deacons in the early church! And women deacons 1000 years ago!
Such are the vagaries of history - or should I say the persistence of patriarchy?
Friday, 10 July 2009
Do Christians believe in equality?
This is one of the questions asked at a consultation I attended recently.
At the Sophia Network's consultation, Thriving in Ministry, there were a number of provocative questions asked. Do men and women thrive in ministry? Do Christians believe in equality? What barriers are faced by women in youth work, or in other kinds of ministry in the Church?
Unfortunately I missed 2 of the presentations, but in the morning I enjoyed the opportunity to take a wider view. In 2009 we are still celebrating a number of 'firsts' for women, and the number of women for example featuring in the sports pages of newspapers or as FTSE 100 Directors or even MPs is lamentably small.
Within the areas I'm most interested in, I was reminded that there seems an increasing emphasis in some churches on segregated ministries (good for women to develop as leaders - as in the days of women's mission societies? Bad in terms of integration, real leadership, and fully accepting women as leaders).
One of my own beefs is Bible translation, and that came up too (click here for a link to a downloadable article on why Bible translation matters - scroll down to 'Inclusive Language Bibles').
And for me, one issue which struck me was self-imposed constraints. I am passionate about helping women take their place alongside men as leaders in the Church - but I'm subject to the same pressures as other women. How much more could I have done so far if I was not sometimes thinking, 'but I don't think I can do that'?
For many women that's where role models, mentoring and networking comes in. Congratulations to the Sophia Netywork on passing the 300 member mark, and for their creative programme of events. As we all work together, one day maybe we will help the world to see that Christians do believe in equality - in the sense that we believe women and men are equally called, equally gifted, and can be leaders in God's church.
At the Sophia Network's consultation, Thriving in Ministry, there were a number of provocative questions asked. Do men and women thrive in ministry? Do Christians believe in equality? What barriers are faced by women in youth work, or in other kinds of ministry in the Church?
Unfortunately I missed 2 of the presentations, but in the morning I enjoyed the opportunity to take a wider view. In 2009 we are still celebrating a number of 'firsts' for women, and the number of women for example featuring in the sports pages of newspapers or as FTSE 100 Directors or even MPs is lamentably small.
Within the areas I'm most interested in, I was reminded that there seems an increasing emphasis in some churches on segregated ministries (good for women to develop as leaders - as in the days of women's mission societies? Bad in terms of integration, real leadership, and fully accepting women as leaders).
One of my own beefs is Bible translation, and that came up too (click here for a link to a downloadable article on why Bible translation matters - scroll down to 'Inclusive Language Bibles').
And for me, one issue which struck me was self-imposed constraints. I am passionate about helping women take their place alongside men as leaders in the Church - but I'm subject to the same pressures as other women. How much more could I have done so far if I was not sometimes thinking, 'but I don't think I can do that'?
For many women that's where role models, mentoring and networking comes in. Congratulations to the Sophia Netywork on passing the 300 member mark, and for their creative programme of events. As we all work together, one day maybe we will help the world to see that Christians do believe in equality - in the sense that we believe women and men are equally called, equally gifted, and can be leaders in God's church.
Monday, 29 June 2009
Out of Africa
Earlier this month, the Diocese of Accra voted to permit the ordination of women to the priesthood. According to the Church of England Newspaper, there are a number of women who have been trained for ordination, and are waiting and ready. The diocese has yet to determine what role they will play in the life of the diocese.I'm really pleased to hear this, for a number of reasons. First, it's sheer good news that another diocese is recognising the value of women's ministry.
Then, it's significant that this is in Africa. It cuts across the growing sense of polarisation which says, to put it crudely, 'North America is liberal and pro-women; Africa is conservative - and thus does not support women in ministry?' It's just not as simple as that!
I recall that when I was at college I helped a fellow student with the writing up of his research thesis. I was fascinated by his subject, which was that Christianity brought liberation (in every sense) to women in his part of Africa. That's what I believe ought to have happened, if the gospel was recieved: women were no longer seen as second class, possessions of their husbands or fathers, but as equally children of God, equally called, equally saved, equally gifted.
So I was excited to hear of this news from Accra. Given the different cultural context, it's a much bigger step for women to be ordained in that context than it is in ours. But the gospel can challenge culture!
And just to keep up to date, here are the stats:
Of 38 provinces in the Anglican communion, only 8 do not ordain women. Two ordain women to the diaconate only, and 24 including the Church of England ordain women to the priesthood. Four provinces have consecrated women bishops.
Friday, 12 June 2009
Men women and teamwork
I've been writing a piece about men and women working together.
It prompted me to remember God's first team. 'In the beginning, God did not send a committee...!' Instead, he created a team.
It was a team of two, one man and one woman. Sadly, all too soon it went wrong, and where there had been perfect harmony, there was disharmony. I was reminded that we see glimpses of great teamwork in Deborah's leading with Barak, and in the New Testament, some of those great partnerships like Priscilla and Aquila.
It seems bizarre to me that in the 21st century the Church can't be setting the world an example when it comes to teams of men and women. Surely we can show that we can work together as brothers and sisters, without our relationships being sullied by assumptions based on gender stereotypes, or by moral lapses?
I wonder how you see it? I am disturbed by reports of how some Christian men seem to have capitulated to our sexualised culture and to see all close working with women as unhelpful. And it's funny how it always seems to be men who make up the rules, and women who suffer as a result.
I hope that we can soon come to a better place, and show how the Church is fulfilling that great prophecy in Joel, that God will pour out his Spirit on all people, and contrary to the cultural rules of 2000 years ago, 'your sons and your daughters will prophesy', and the Spirit will be poured out even on servants, 'both men and women'.
I think it's pretty clear, really. God meant everyone, men and women, to lead and minister together!
It prompted me to remember God's first team. 'In the beginning, God did not send a committee...!' Instead, he created a team.
It was a team of two, one man and one woman. Sadly, all too soon it went wrong, and where there had been perfect harmony, there was disharmony. I was reminded that we see glimpses of great teamwork in Deborah's leading with Barak, and in the New Testament, some of those great partnerships like Priscilla and Aquila.
It seems bizarre to me that in the 21st century the Church can't be setting the world an example when it comes to teams of men and women. Surely we can show that we can work together as brothers and sisters, without our relationships being sullied by assumptions based on gender stereotypes, or by moral lapses?
I wonder how you see it? I am disturbed by reports of how some Christian men seem to have capitulated to our sexualised culture and to see all close working with women as unhelpful. And it's funny how it always seems to be men who make up the rules, and women who suffer as a result.
I hope that we can soon come to a better place, and show how the Church is fulfilling that great prophecy in Joel, that God will pour out his Spirit on all people, and contrary to the cultural rules of 2000 years ago, 'your sons and your daughters will prophesy', and the Spirit will be poured out even on servants, 'both men and women'.
I think it's pretty clear, really. God meant everyone, men and women, to lead and minister together!
Friday, 22 May 2009
Women in mind
Today's a special day for me.
After lots of hard work by a couple of my colleagues, I'm finally launching two sets of downloadable studies to go with my book Growing Women Leaders.
With these studies, groups in churches who want to explore the issue of women as leaders, or groups of women who want to encourage each other and develop younger women as leaders, can get together and over three meeting can explore a number of areas raised in the book.
These studies can be downloaded free! Just click here for a link. You'll find two sets of downloads, one for mixed groups and one for women-only groups. There are separate sets of notes for leaders of the groups and for participants.
Do use them in your context - and let me know what you think!
After lots of hard work by a couple of my colleagues, I'm finally launching two sets of downloadable studies to go with my book Growing Women Leaders.
With these studies, groups in churches who want to explore the issue of women as leaders, or groups of women who want to encourage each other and develop younger women as leaders, can get together and over three meeting can explore a number of areas raised in the book.
These studies can be downloaded free! Just click here for a link. You'll find two sets of downloads, one for mixed groups and one for women-only groups. There are separate sets of notes for leaders of the groups and for participants.
Do use them in your context - and let me know what you think!
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