Sophia Network

Sophia Network Update – March 2018

Well what a week it has been for the Sophia Network! Huge thanks to everyone who has contributed to our research. From those who participated in the original research questionnaire, to the focus group who met in January, to those who analysed the data and produced the report, to those who gathered in the House of Commons on Thursday and those who have downloaded the report and are sharing it far and wide on social media. We are a network and we aim to serve our members. We are grateful to you all for engaging and supporting us as we seek to do this and we hope and pray that the results of this research will shape the way we serve you in the coming years.

This months e-news is something of a bumper edition, with a wonderful array of articles for your engagement.

We introduce the Minding the Gap research in case you have not yet seen it.

We share our manifesto with you, and round up some of the media coverage of the launch of the research.

We share the highlights of the research in graphic form for those who find this easier to process information in this way.

Jody Stowell provides a perspective on the research findings as a woman in a leadership role.

Steve Holmes offers a theological perspective on the research.
Claire Rush shares an article with us that she has recently contributed to Youth and Children's Work Magazine called ‘Are you sexist and don’t know it?’

Tami Zacharias offers us some thoughts on the area of Trust in Leadership.

So, you might need to carve out half an hour of your time, grab a larger than usual cuppa, and maybe even some cake for a sugar boost, before you sit down and engage with all we have to share with you this month!

Happy Reading!

Vicky Thompson (Chair) 

 

 

Dan Crouch (Trustee and Editor)

Minding the Gap 2018

 

The Minding the Gap report, published by the Sophia Network, found that institutional sexism was also seen as the number one barrier for women in church leadership in the UK, identified as such by 53 per cent of respondents in the survey.

The report also highlighted a number of other barriers facing women in leadership in the Church, including a lack of female mentoring and leaders (46%); and a lack of theological understanding of women and men working in partnership for the gospel (42%).

The report surveyed more than 1,200 women about their experiences within church communities in order to paint a comprehensive picture of what it is like to be a woman in the Church in UK & Ireland.

Following the survey findings, which were launched in parliament on International Women’s Day (Thursday, 8 March), the Sophia Network is now encouraging churches to sign up to its ‘Minding the Gap Manifesto’ – eight commitments to making their congregations places of gender equality.*

Dr Claire Rush, vice president of Girls’ Brigade International and vice-chair of the Sophia Network, said: “The #metoo campaign shows that gender equality has still not been achieved, and it’s heartbreaking to see that the Church, which should be a liberating and hope-filled community, remains a place in which some women are experiencing sexism.

“Our hope and prayer is that leaders will take up the challenge posed by our research to make their churches spaces in which women can flourish by being released into their God-given giftings, becoming all that they have been created to be.”

The Sophia Network was started in 2007 and exists to empower and equip women in leadership, and to champion the full equality of women and men in the Church.

Rev Vicky Thompson, chair of the Sophia Network, said: “Many assumptions are made about women’s experiences within and relationship to the Church. But we are not aware of previous research that has tried to capture the range and breadth of women’s experiences – including the highs and the lows.

“Although we were disappointed that so many women have experienced sexism, we were heartened to see some positive results about women’s experiences of church – particularly the support they have received in their leadership journeys from male leaders.

“We hope this research will provide a useful tool to pave a way forward towards the full equality of men and women in the Church for the sake of the gospel. We are hoping the findings will also shape the future direction of Sophia.”

To download the Minding the Gap report, visit mindingthegapuk.com

Minding the Gap Manifesto

We would love to encourage church leaders' to sign up to the manifesto. If you do, please drop us an email at info@mindingthegapuk.com with your name and church/denomination.

Minding the Gap: A response - Jody Stowell

I was delighted to attend the launch of the Minding the Gap research from Sophia Network on International Women's Day. The research is significant because it gives some evidence to the reality of women's experience in church across the UK. I saw my own experience as a woman in the church, reflected in the stats and it was both hopeful and heartbreaking. It was good to see that a majority of women felt encouraged in their calling, although important to remember that there are a significant minority who are discouraged to follow God's call on their life. It isn't okay however, that a great majority of women have experienced sexism in the church environment. The important thing is that this research doesn't get lost in the good changes that have been made. It can be easy to become complacent. The reality is that unless we continue to be intentional about eradicating sexism and misogyny in the church today, at the very best we stay static, but more likely, the good advances we have made will reverse and we will go backwards. This research tells me that we must all Keep Going. 


 

Jody Stowell

Minding the Gap Research Statistics and Overview

Minding the Gap Media Coverage

The launch of our minding the gap research was shared by a variety of media organisations, you can see these at the links below.

Premier - https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/More-than-sixty-per-cent-of-women-experience-sexism-in-church

Church Times - https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/9-march/news/uk/churches-accused-of-institutional-sexism-on-international-women-s-day

Christian Today - https://www.christiantoday.com/article/two-thirds-of-women-experience-sexism-in-church/127080.htm

Keep the Faith - http://www.keepthefaith.co.uk/2018/03/08/two-thirds-of-women-have-experienced-sexism-in-church/

Chair of the Network, Vicky Thompson also conducted a number of radio interviews concerning the research.

Minding the Gap: A response - Steve Holmes

Speaking at an event in the House of Lords had not been on my bucket list—too unlikely to consider. But when friends from the Sophia Network invited me to do it, I added it, just to cross it off.

 

Sophia were launching the Minding the Gap research, the results of a survey that ran for a couple of months in summer 2017.  Over 1200 women offered their experiences of being a woman in the church in the UK today.

 

As we queued for security (it was the House of Lords...) someone asked me why I had come. I said some things about being concerned about gender issues and ministry. She asked ‘Why?’

 

The scanner beeped and we were separated, but I had a flashback in my head. Six, seven years ago, our living room in St Andrews, a friend, Ruth, senior pastor of a significant Baptist church, talking about being a part of our church, our local fellowship,  in her youth, sensing a call the ministry, being told that God does not call women. It was not so long ago; we have members who remember her.

 

I looked at my daughters, the eldest then 10 or 11, playing in the room. They didn’t notice what she said—grown up stuff—but they were growing into faith in that same church. In our congregation, things had changed; in too many others, not. I had always believed that the Bible teaches the God calls women and men indifferently; that day I pledged to get active about that belief.

 

The Minding the Gap research helps those of us who want to get active, by telling us things we might not have known. Let me highlight just three.

 

First, this matters. 1200+ responses is, surely, significant. There are women in our churches with stories they want to tell and with voices that need to be heard. We need to listen to those stories and to hear those voices, to find ways of making space so that they are no longer silenced. This research is the beginning of that, but there needs to be so much more.

 

Second, the stories are endlessly varied. There are women—praise God!—who have experienced support and affirmation and encouragement in their vocation to leadership. There are others who have not. Hateful and unloving words have been spoken and heard; hateful and unjust actions have been done and suffered.

 

More than that, these women’s stories point to the rich variety of the practice of ministry. If ordained but unpaid ministers are disproportionately female (they are...) then we should want to ask why; we should also want to ask whether it is possible to be appointed to a senior role from a non-stipendary ministry. Serving the church faithfully without payment should not, surely, be a barrier to becoming a bishop?

 

Third, these stories call us to look to our structures. Asked about the impediments to the full exercise of their ministry, most women named ‘institutional sexism’. If our institutions are broken, if our structures are sexist, solving our problems will require more than changing some men’s minds.

 

As Christians, I believe, we should hear language of institutions and structures in Biblical terms, as powers and principalities. Patriarchy is an evil spiritual reality, active and enveloping. Prayer and work will alike be required to overthrow it. We need to change things, to storm spiritual strongholds, to speak gospel truth deep into our cultural assumptions.

 

This sounds hard, but with prayer and faithful Biblical preaching and constant vigilance it can be done. Aged ten or eleven, my eldest daughter overheard Ruth tell of our church’s pulpit being closed to women. She turns seventeen next month. She has spoken twice from that once-closed pulpit already—by God’s good grace, principalities can be dethroned, and change can happen.




Steve Holmes is Principal of St Mary’s College and Head of School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews.

‘Are you sexist and don’t know it?’

Our vice-chair of trustees Claire Rush wrote on this topic for Premier Youth and Childrens Work Magazine. You can read the article here.

Reflective Leadership Corner

Three Small Words, and They’re Not ‘I Love You’

“She trusts us.” I paused as I read the comment from one of my team members in an anonymous evaluation of my leadership. Of course I was pleased, but I also wanted to know what I did specifically that would result in that conclusion. Since the evaluation was anonymous, and I couldn’t talk to the person who wrote the comment, I reflected on my actions instead.

I recalled telling my team at numerous points that I trusted them, but words alone would not elicit that statement. I kept thinking. I try to be a trustworthy person through honesty, consistency, and reliability. I do my work with excellence and admit my weaknesses. I cannot know for sure, but I think the deciding factor in the comment may have been something else.

With my team, I generally set boundaries and give training and mentoring, then let them move freely. I provide accountability through regular check-ins, but do not micromanage. I try to allow them to make as many decisions as possible, making myself available when they need help or an exception to the established structure. I have often left for work trips without being concerned about their tasks, knowing they will connect when they need to. Leading this way, at least in my context, has built trust.

Why spend so much time thinking about those three small words? Patrick Lencioni, in his book The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, lists the absence of trust as the first and foundational dysfunction. Lack of trust ultimately leads to the breakdown of the team, and a lack of success. Trust is non-negotiable to good teamwork and reaching team goals.

It is part of our leadership responsibility to facilitate trust in a variety of relationships: us with our team, between team members, and with whoever we are serving. Building trust can look different for each person, which on the surface makes it difficult for leaders to work at it. It may include things from my example above, but it may be something else. In my experience, facilitating simple conversations around what establishes or breaks trust can help build it. Many people have not taken the time to understand how trust works for them, so they make blanket statements that trust is or is not present. Helping team members develop a vocabulary around trust helps grow the trust environment. It is hard work, but without trust, there is no team.

Questions for Reflection

• Where in your life do you experience trust?
• How is the trust in your team? How do you know?
• What do you do to build trust in your team?

 

Tami lives in Canada and works for the Christian charity Operation Mobilisation. She recently finished studies in Adult Education, and enjoys conversations about feminism and tea.

Sophia Network Update - February 2018

Today we celebrate 100 years since some women (over the age of 30, who owned property and/or were married) were granted the right to vote. It wouldn't be until 1928 that women were granted the vote on the equal basis to men. This achievement was the result of generations of campaigning. Although today they are recognised as heroes, these courageous women and men were ostracised, jailed, beaten and some even sacrificed their lives for their beliefs and convictions.

It’s also a great moment for the Christian faith; many of these campaigners like Isabella Tod, a Presbyterian woman from Ulster, were motivated by their Christian faith which taught them that women and men had equal worth and value in God’s eyes. Vice-Chair Dr Claire Rush shares more about how Isabella, often forgotten by history, has inspired her today. You can read more here.

We celebrate these courageous women today but also recognise that there is still a long way to go to complete the great work started by the Suffragists and Suffragettes. Together we persist...

I don’t know how January has felt for you, but for me it felt like a very long month! I am sure February will feel all too short, particularly since this month the trustees are excitedly preparing for the launch of the ‘Minding the Gap’ research which is coming up in March.

This month we have the following contributions for your enjoyment;

Dan Crouch continues our ‘The F Word’ series with a post considering if a man can be a feminist?

We are still looking for people to form a small group to work on the blog and e-news.

We round up some of the interesting links and posts from the last month in Did you see?

Why not join us at the Sophia Network and add your voice whether male or female, to cheer on women in the church in the U.K.

Happy Reading!

Vicky Thompson (Chair) 

 

 

Dan Crouch (Trustee and Editor)

 

Did you see?

Record-setting polar explorer, 16, hits back at men who say she belongs in the kitchen.

From a Female Pastor and Theologian

The Presidents Club

Must monsters always be male?

Ten ways men can open doors for women

 

Blog Editorial Team

We're still looking for people to form a team around our blog. Could you be the person?

Created in 2007 and now a UK registered charity, Sophia Network is passionate about championing the equality of women and men in ministry.

We believe that to best serve the network creatively collaboration in our communication is essential. We are looking to form a small team around our trustee responsible for the blog, and monthly e-news, Dan Crouch.

We would love to see a team of 3 or 4 form to work together, share thoughts and ideas, and develop our blog content and approach. This is key as our blog and monthly e-news are our main methods of communicating with network.

Our blog and e-news team would work in partnership with the board of trustees to:
- Create content and develop direction
- Establish a clear and effective brand
- Build contacts and utilise existing connections to encourage a breadth of contributions for the blog
- Commit to regular Skype/face-to-face conversations to plan and collaborate
- Contribute to the blog occasionally themselves

If you're interested, or have any further questions, please contact Dan Crouch on blog.sophianetwork@gmail.com

The 'F Word' - A male feminist?

When you are involved in an organisation like Sophia, one of the questions you regularly face, as a male, is ‘why are you a trustee of Sophia Network? Surely a man can’t be a feminist!’

The reasons for being involved in Sophia are numerous and have changed in the time I have been a trustee. When I was first approached, I was a youth worker desperate to see the young women I worked with given equal opportunity in the church I served. I was eager to identify role models and mentors for them, and acutely aware of how difficult it was for many to find affirmation, encouragement and acceptance in the church. Now, as I train for ordained ministry alongside some incredibly talented, gifted and called women (and men), I am aware that I myself can influence the way women are treated through my own ministry. Now as a parent I want to be able to change the world for my daughter, that she might be able to stand on the shoulders of those women who went before her, those women I was involved in encouraging, supporting and journeying alongside. The work of Sophia is so important in this.

As a male member of Sophia’s trustee board I have an equal but different role. For me it is mostly about getting out of the way, stepping aside, recognising that I often have a platform by virtue of my gender, but sometimes I have to relinquish that space. That is hard as the editor of the blog which is why I am eager to get some people alongside me to ensure the voices of women are at the very heart of Sophia. There are spaces and conversations where the voice of women need to be heard and the voice of men quietened. If Sophia is, with integrity, going to describe itself as an egalitarian network then it is important that the voice of men forms part of this. While women do not need men to present their cause and speak on their behalf, there are contexts where my own voice can be amplified in order to speak out and share a message of equality.

I am excited for the launch of the ‘Minding the Gap’ research findings next month, not just because they will shape the direction of Sophia in the future, but more significantly because of the fact that over 1000 women contributed to the research, their voices need to be heard, they need to be amplified, their stories are important and Sophia wishes to be part of sharing the story.

So, if I am asked ‘Can a man be a feminist?’ my response is yes he can be, I would describe myself as one, but what I am actually striving to do is bigger than this, it is to be a man who is prepared to step back from the frontline, wherever I may be, in order to create space for women to step in.

Dan Crouch is a trustee of Sophia and a student training for ordination.

Sophia Network Update January 2018

Happy New Year!

The trustees of the Sophia Network would like to take this opportunity to wish all members of the network the very best for 2018.

2018 is shaping up to be one of the best yet for Sophia with several plans for this year emerging, details of which will be provided in due course. We are very excited to be welcoming some of our members on January 17 for our ‘Mind the Gap’ research focus group and our AGM.

The time has arrived for the first monthly update of 2018, so settle down with a cuppa and maybe some left-over Christmas food and savour the delights on offer…

This month Tami Zacharias offers us some more pearls of wisdom in her reflective leadership corner thinking about Living on a Feeling? Leadership and Intuition.

Chair of Sophia Network Vicky Thompson starts a new series of posts on ‘The F Word’ for us.

We are still seeking members of the Network to form an editorial team for the blog and e-news updates.

Why not join us at the Sophia Network and add your voice whether male or female, to cheer on women in the church in the U.K.

Happy Reading!

Vicky Thompson (Chair) 

 

 

Dan Crouch (Trustee and Editor)

Blog Editorial Team

We're looking for people to form a team around our blog

Created in 2007 and now a UK registered charity, Sophia Network is passionate about championing the equality of women and men in ministry.

We believe that to best serve the network creatively collaboration in our communication is essential. We are looking to form a small team around our trustee responsible for the blog, and monthly e-news, Dan Crouch.

We would love to see a team of 3 or 4 form to work together, share thoughts and ideas, and develop our blog content and approach. This is key as our blog and monthly e-news are our main methods of communicating with network.

Our blog and e-news team would work in partnership with the board of trustees to:
- Create content and develop direction
- Establish a clear and effective brand
- Build contacts and utilise existing connections to encourage a breadth of contributions for the blog
- Commit to regular Skype/face-to-face conversations to plan and collaborate
- Contribute to the blog occasionally themselves

If you're interested, or have any further questions, please contact Dan Crouch on blog.sophianetwork@gmail.com 

 

The 'F Word'

The F Word...

It never ceases to both amaze and amuse me in equal measure, the response I receive whenever I mention the F word in Christian circles. The F word appears to cause a physical recoiling in many of the women I speak to and prompts a questioning grimace on the faces of men. While 2017 saw the world embrace the #metoo movement, listening to and taking seriously for the first time the sexism experienced by women, it remains for the church a skeleton better left in the closet. The F word is still treated by many as a dirty word which should not be uttered by good Christian people, the F word is a thing of the world not a thing of the Church. I am of course referring to the word feminism.

I grew up in a world which held and still holds a woman as the head of the church of England, the very first prime minister I remember was a woman, the school subjects I studied I did so alongside boys all of us given the same opportunities. As a teenager it didn’t ever occur to me that I was unable to do something or take part in something simply because I was born a female. Now I love the church of Jesus Christ and have spent my life serving in lots of different roles but I am sad to admit that my first experience of sexism occurred inside the Church not outside of it. At the age of 16 I was given my first sermon opportunity and warned that some people may “have issues” because I am female. Later in my twenties there were some who would have preferred to employ a man rather than a woman. I have encountered many instances of sexism throughout my years working and serving in the Church, I have also encountered many fabulous men and women who have encouraged me and sought to push me on based upon my call not my gender.

It is 2018 and I believe that it is time for the tide to turn, we must reclaim the word feminism for the church. We mustn’t be afraid to have the conversation and learn to push past the physical recoil and the grimaces. It is time for the Church to reflect the God who made both men and women in His image. Let's start a conversation that will unearth the experiences of women in the Church in the UK. Let's provoke the Church into rethinking what this means for children’s work and youth work. How it might effect outdated employment systems? How ministerial training might be changed? How is our reading and understanding of the Bible brought to life in understanding a God who is a feminist and advocate for women? What would our churches look like if women were invested in and released into leadership? How much more valued would our single women be if they are assigned value as a child of God rather than simply marriage material? The Sophia network intends to do just that through the minding the gap research that we carried out last year. We would love you to come and join us on the journey.



                                          Vicky Thompson is the current chair of Sophia Network.

Reflective Leadership Corner

I had a feeling. A sense. A hunch. I could not back it up with objective facts, but I knew. They were bringing in a new director for our ministry, and everything in me chorused with a resounding ‘no’. I knew it was not my decision, but I tried to talk to the search committee anyway. I even tried to pray against it. Still, he came. As I planned my escape, I got to know him better, and I realized I was wrong. He was a good fit for the ministry. So much for my feeling.

The feeling came again, but this time with one of my team members. I had a growing sense something was off and I needed to let her go, but once more I could not back it up objectively. I wrestled with it for months. Was I making a big deal out of nothing? The feeling just would not go away. Slowly, I heard reports of her work. I saw results. My feeling was proven with the facts. She needed to go.

In both stories, I was grappling with my intuition. According to dictionary.com, intuition is defined as “direct perception of truth, fact, etc., independent of any reasoning process.” It is a knowing, without really knowing how you know. A gut feeling. The question is, do you trust your intuition? And if so, how much?

Proverbs 2:2-6 tells us, “Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

As Christian leaders, we face tough decisions on a regular basis. It is difficult to know the right way forward a lot of the time. Since we are flawed human beings, sometimes our intuition will be spot on, and other times it will not. We can be led astray. The point is not to ignore intuition or get rid of it, but to put it in its proper place. Following Proverbs’ advice, as we seek God’s wisdom fervently, our knowing and our feeling will become clearer.

Questions for Reflection

· How is intuition a part of your knowing?

· Where has your intuition been right? Where has it been wrong?

· How are you seeking God’s wisdom in your leadership?

 

Tami lives in Canada and works for the Christian charity Operation Mobilisation. She recently finished studies in Adult Education, and enjoys conversations about feminism and tea.

 

Sophia Network Update December 2017

The season of Advent is here. The countdown begins. This month we've got some great information and opportunities to share with you. So grab a nice warm drink, a mince pie or a slice of cake, and maybe even a blanket, and spend some time with the following:

The Network continues to seek a secretary. We are also looking to build an editorial team to oversee the blog and e-news. 

Tami Zacharias shares her thoughts on addressing weakness in our regular 'reflective leadership corner' 

Did you see it? We also gather together a few links that you may have missed in the course of the last month or two in our semi-regular feature 'Did you see it?'

Why not join us at the Sophia Network and add your voice whether male or female, to cheer on women in the church in the U.K.

Happy Reading!

Vicky Thompson (Chair) 

 

 
Dan Crouch (Editor)

Sophia Network Update November 2017

The clocks have fallen back, the nights are drawing in, and the temperatures are dropping. But don't be downcast. This month we've got some great information and opportunities to share with you. So grab a nice warm drink, a biscuit or a slice of cake, and maybe even a blanket, and spend some time with the following:

The Network continues to seek a secretary. We are also looking to build an editorial team to oversee the blog and e-news. 

Tami Zacharias shares her thoughts on addressing weakness in our regular 'reflective leadership corner'  

We also gather together a few links that you may have missed in the course of the last month in our semi-regular feature 'Did you see it?'

Why not join us at the Sophia Network and add your voice whether male or female, to cheer on women in the church in the U.K.

Happy Reading!

Vicky Thompson (Chair) 

 

 
Dan Crouch (Editor)

Did you see?

It's amazing what happens when boys are taught to respect girls

Why we need single women leaders

Female Theologians

Jo Brand challenges all male panel on Have I got News for you