she must be silent

Let me tell you a story from when I was 10 years old:

I came home from school one day totally depressed that there were so many problems in the world. Rather than going outside to ride bikes in the alley with my sisters and friends, or pulling out toys or a book, or even turning on Nickolodeon, I pulled out a notebook and listed every problm I could see in the world.

I don't know how I got to this point, I remember circling things and drawing arrows, writing and re-writing the list*, but eventually I decided that racism was the worst problem in the world. That was what I would focus on and solve it. I didn't really take any concrete action that day, but racial and ethnic justice has been an important part of how I see myself and how I filter the world for a long time.

I have spent very little time considering issues of justice for women and girls. I would get angry when I heard statistics about income, and my heart would break for girls sold into prostitution by their families, but justice and gender were never quite the same level of importance to me as racial and ethnic justice.

And then I started Seminary, and a couple of things happened.

1. I was given a couple of opportunities to preach at church and discovered that I was fairly decent at it for a beginner and that it was something that I really really loved to do. Before it hadn't bothered me too much that there were sections of the church who argued that women shouldn't preach (based on a reading of 1 Tim. 2:12 without taking into account the unique cultural context it was written for). But now, that I was discovering this gift in me, and really feeling God's joy as I was preparing and preaching, I could no longer accept this position.
2. I mentioned casually to a guy friend of mine that I sometimes thought of getting a PhD. His response was so enthusiastic and empowering and unexpected that for the first time it became a real possibility in my life and I began to see how I had used my own gender to limit my possibilities.
3. Working for a Methodist Church and attending a Baptist General Conference (aka Converge Worldwide) school that draws from dozens of denominations I began to overhear a wide spread of views on women in leadership. But I was honored in my first quarter of sem to help plan a Community Forum on Women in Ministry and delighted that the question of the night wasn't, "should women be in ministry leadership?" but rather, "what challenges do women still face?" and "what has helped you thrive and persevere as a woman in ministry?"

This weekend I attended the inaugural meeting of a group for women in Christian leadership, Here's Sara's introduction to the group:

...I have noted a rising up in both in myself and in others around me the questions about what type of leaders we are, who we are becoming and who we will be. For many who are navigating systems that for various reasons may be either unsure, limiting, or exclusionary of women's gifting and leadership there is a sense of need for support, encouragement and/or empowerment. Thus began some reflections about what a group would look like whose mission was solidarity and support for women leaders.The dream is to be a space of support, mutuality, creativity, courage, and hope for more justice and love in the world...

The stories of the women in the group were unique. For some, they always believed that they could be anything, and seminary was the first place that they were told otherwise. For others, they had always assumed that being a woman meant being in a lower level of leadership and service and seminary was a place that they first empowering place in their lives. For some there were elements of both. I'm looking forward to finding my voice as a Jesus loving feminist.

I've been helping Steven with the High School youth group the past two weeks, talking about archetypes of men and women in dating. We used this clip from the Little Mermaid to talk about the voice that many women give up in order to get their man.



In the socially engaged evangelical blogging world over the past weeks the Deadly Viper book has been the most blogged about issue. The pimping out of Asian cultural images and ideas to tell a book about moral character has moved many to speak out against the cultural insensitivity and orientalism.

Sojourners today published an article today "walking, chewing gum" that gives voice to the sexist aspects of this book and asks the question: Is it possible to fight for racial and gender justice at the same time as we strive for the 'beloved community' or the 'kingdom of God'? I'll admit that once again, I missed this element and it's got me thinking.

The same friend who encouraged me towards getting a PhD or a Doctorate posted this on his facebook page this weekend enjoy!




*I still LOVE making lists and prioritizing and organizing ideas