Sophia Network

Transforming Youth Ministry Conference - 10 May 2014

Keynote Speaker:
MARK YACONELLI

Author of: ‘Contemplative Youth Ministry’, ‘Practicing The Presence Of Jesus’ and ‘Wonder, Fear And Longing’

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Working with young people as a volunteer?
Working as an employed youthworker?
Want to start up youthwork in your context?

Then this conference is for you!

All the way from the US we have influential key note speaker and author, Mark Yaconelli, and a whole host of experienced speakers. The day conference will run in the style of ‘TED talks’ so you don’t need to limit your options. You will get to hear everything and then will be resourced to take your thinking further

SATURDAY 10 MAY 2014

10-4.45PM

£15 (incl. lunch)

St Barnabas, Erdington

Talks on:

Pornography

Youthwork in a rural context

Self harm

Schools work

Developing a vision

 Communicating effectively with young people with disabilities

Connecting with other faiths

Mentoring

Thinking theologically

For more info and booking form, click here.

Sophia Network Update - April 2014

We really hope you were challenged and inspired by our Gender in the New Testament series throughout March. The traffic to the Sophia website and Facebook and Twitter posts show that many of you got involved in the discussion. Thank you to all who contributed; it is great to see members of Sophia discussing these important topics.

(You can still access all the reflections on the the five themes - Jesus & and the women he met, Wives & husbands: the issue of submission, Women & teaching: what did Paul mean?, Only the tea-makers? Women in the early church and Is Jesus a Feminist?  - on the Sophia Network website).

In April we go back to our normal format and we have some good articles for you around the theme of leadership.

• Jennie Fytche – writes an article on the importance of listening well especially for leaders

• Wes Sutton – Director of Acorn Christian Healing foundation talks to us about his views on leadership

• Nel Shallow – writes a devotional on vision and leadership

• Karen Beal – writes a book review on Jenny Baker’s new book Equals – well worth a read

• Amy Rotherham – writes a book review on Tom Marshall’s book Understanding Leadership

So enjoy the April update and have a great break at Easter, remembering with us the message of Good Friday and the hope of Easter Sunday.  Let’s celebrate all that Jesus has done for us and the fact that the news of the resurrection was first entrusted to a woman to proclaim. ‘He is Risen, He is risen indeed’.

Happy Easter

Sharon

Sharon Prior

Co-Founder of Sophia Network

(Image courtesy of Katherine Rush).

PS You can sign up to receive our monthly e-news direct to your inbox - just register here and become part of our community.

Just Listen!

'At least once in every person’s life there is a need to tell our story and know that we have been heard.'

As you settle down to read this article, perhaps with a cup of coffee in hand, I would like you to pause for a moment and think about when you were last listened to and really heard.

Life for you may be really busy; modern technology has revolutionised the way we communicate with one another, whether it be in our personal lives or in our work lives. It is so quick to text someone, e-mail, or use social networking sites to update people on the every day things in life, isn’t it? Just with these helpful symbols “J” and “L” we can tell our friends a little of how we feel about the news we have received. Not only can we communicate with someone nearby: we can talk to people all around the world, taking just seconds to give the information which previously would have taken days or months to be communicated.

However, do we really listen? In December 2012 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation released findings of their research stating that 60% of young people experience loneliness at some point in their lives. Recently I listened to someone who said:

“I am going through a hard time, I am living alone, and I feel like I am staring at the roof and the four walls. I can contact friends on my phone or by text or e-mail, I have over 600 friends on facebook but it’s not the same as seeing people face to face. I hate the silence, I put my music up loud to drown out the silence and make it feel as if someone is with me.  It seems like the world is going on outside my little box and I am not part of it.”

This young person was in her 20’s, wanting to connect at a deeper level with people. Social networking was leading to isolation rather than connecting her with the world.

The Mental Health Foundation also supports the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and their research. Furthermore, The Lonely Society Report states that 60% of those between 18 and 34 experience loneliness. This report goes on to highlight how loneliness impacts both physical and mental health and wellbeing; this is young people experiencing hurt and pain.

Take a look at this Peanuts Cartoon from the Los Angeles Times and see what Lucy and Charlie Brown think about the importance of listening.

Needing Someone to Listen

Human beings are created to be social beings. The person who I was listening to needed these three things: to tell her story; for her voice to be heard; and her concerns to be listened to.

Really listening well means so much more than just hearing words and noting information. It’s about being with someone, caring for and valuing the person you are listening to. It is about giving them time and space to speak and then as a listener responding in a way that shows them that they have been heard.  It’s so much more than a quick text or a “J”. It is a gift, providing a safe place for someone to come as they are and tell their story.

Once there was a Managing Director of a large business. He was desperately trying to chair a meeting where an important decision needed to be made; however, when he looked up from his notes and glanced around the board room table, he saw every member of his meeting either tapping away on their laptops or texting on their smart phones. Were people listening well enough to make good decisions? Was the managing director being listened to? Perhaps this is something you can identify with. Are there moments at work when you are not listened to, or you don’t listen? Maybe this is a challenge to consider; a change in attitude to listening can transform this type of situation completely.

I wonder how much work place misunderstanding and stress is down to poor listening.

Perhaps it’s time to reflect a little. Take a moment to complete this sentence:

When I am not listened to I feel...

Now, have a go at this one:

When I am listened to I feel...

Have you begun to see the contrast between the two? Maybe now it is easier to grasp the importance of being listened to, whether it is at home, at work or in social situations.

 Encourage Listening

Acorn Christian Healing Foundation enables people to have the opportunity to become good listeners through the training courses that are on offer. Christian listening is about listening to others; it is also about listening to ourselves and listening to God. Listening well helps us to improve relationships, grow as people and deepen our spirituality.  It can be life changing stuff. Being taught how to listen can bring with it empowerment, clarity, self esteem, and promotes healthy lives and relationships.

Listening is a skill that can be learnt and developed and Acorn has developed courses to do just this.  This is listening which enables the listener to access a presence which understands and does not judge. It is listening which offers attentiveness to the other, and invites confidence, so that by the end of the time together the speaker feels they can fully express themselves. This could bring support and hope in at a time of hurt and pain. However, it isn’t a skill designed to sort people out instead it is designed to:

• Help people to get out what’s locked in
• Help people to move forward
• Help people identify feelings
• Affirm people by reflecting back their own words.

Picture this scene.  A young person comes home from college, really excited by a new opportunity she has been given at school. She rushes in the kitchen and tells her mum who says “that’s nice dear” and then speeds over to her younger sister who is on the Wii and grunts back ”not now”. The moment is gone.

Have you ever had one of these times yourself? Times when you are desperate to share something which is on your heart, but whoever you’re sharing it with just isn’t listening to you. Can you identify the feelings? What if the person you were sharing with had come alongside you, offered you space, security, was reflective, and respected you for what you were giving them the privilege to hear? Acorn Christian Listening can teach you to listen in that way.

Become a Listener

Once listening training has been completed you will then have a skill to use within relationships, within with the work place and within the community you live in.  People who listen well can transform the lives of people who have a story to tell, stories which need to be heard.

I’ll share with you some comments from Acorn Course participants.

• “There is much more to listening than everybody thinks.”
• “I have learnt how important it is for people to know that they are being listened to.”
• “I understand now the value of being able to listen without interruption.”

This form of listening does make a difference to those of any age who have a story to tell. It makes a difference to those who are hurting and in pain. Research by a number of organisations such as The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Child line, The Mental Health Foundation, and Age UK all recognise good listening makes a difference to people’s health and well being.

Find out more on www.acornchristian.org

 

 

Q & A with Wes Sutton, Director of Acorn Christian Healing Foundation

Trustee Jennie Fytche met up with Wes Sutton to ask him about his views on leadership. Wes is the new Director of Acorn Christian Healing Foundation.

Wes tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am married to Mary, who is finishing off a PhD at the moment and is an amazing lady. We have 3 married children who are all wonderful and 7 grandchildren – they too are all amazing and I regularly learn what is really important in life from them. I play the cello, support Chelsea and am finishing off a Masters Degree. I love Italy and Italian food.

How did you become Director of Acorn Christian Healing Foundation? What other leadership roles have you had?

Apart of my leadership/discipleship journey has been the awareness that I am not a 'settler' - this does not mean that I only stay a short time, the shortest period I have done is 6 years; the longest 19 years - but I like to focus on how and why communities, people, organisations can and should grow.

I trained/worked as a teacher, then worked as a staff worker for Youth for Christ in NE London, was the senior pastor of a growing Charismatic Church, was the Oasis Church Network Leader for three years and ran a church consultancy before joining Acorn. I have also been the Chair of Governors at an Academy.

In all these roles I have been privileged to have the opportunity to lead teams of staff and volunteers into imagining and establishing a fresh reality - something that causes the pulse to race a little bit more than normal. 

It means that I deal in change and growth, rather like an entrepreneur, but I would not use that term to describe myself, because I have worked with some really great entrepreneurs in my time and only do a part of what they do.    

I came to Acorn through a friend finding the job description on their website and saying 'if I was writing a job description for you this would be it'. Through the process of talking with the team here, it became very clear that this was a God arrangement - it fits exactly the interests and skills that I have gained over the years, and the needs of Acorn at the moment.

Acorn Christian Healing Foundation, is an organisation that has been in existence for quite some time? What was its original vision, how has this developed and evolved? What is it about this vision and subsequent ministry that has stood the test of time?

Values are really important - in fact without values you do not truly have a vision. Bishop Morris Maddocks and his wife, Anne, started Acorn as a Christian Healing Ministry, believing that Christian healing was "Jesus Christ meeting you at your point of need". He focused on making Christian healing both safe and effective. He partnered with the medical profession believing that miracle and medicine were not in opposition, but that God worked through both and in both.

They found that the skill of 'Effective Listening' was essential to bring people into wholeness and so Acorn focuses on delivering Healing, Listening and Reconciliation, and teaching others to do the same.

It has stood the test of time because it resonates with the reality that people still experience. People need to find, and live, in a sense of wholeness in the entirety of their whole lives, so having their story and their pain listened to and acknowledged, receiving faith-filled and compassionate prayer and ministry and being enabled to find reconciliation, just makes sense.   

Do these things with integrity and compassion and it will endure.

As a Christian Leader how significant to you believe having a vision for ministry is? What is it that makes a vision work? Why do you think that sometimes visions flounder?

Vision is utterly essential - without it the whole thing perishes. But you have to understand what a vision is - it is more than a dream. A dream is a longing for things to be different - a vision is a dream with a plan!

Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech is truly inspiring, but he had more than a longing. His whole life was spent putting that dream into action. He spoke, campaigned, worked and lived it. He was opposed and oppressed for it because he put flesh and bones on the dream. He enlisted and involved others, because a vision gives people hope and a sense of having a part to play. A vision almost always results in a team.

Visionaries are also to some degree strategists - they can see how to go about it. They are not necessarily detail people, but they know how and where to start, and who to get involved.

Visions flounder when the leader or the plan lacks credibility. Opposition rarely kills a dream - look at Nelson Mandela - but the lack of a plan can.

As you have developed as a leader are there any significant people or books that have inspired you, how did they inspire you and how did they shape the leader you are today?

Leaders need to focus on two things; the delivery of the vision and the depth of their own lives.

Bill Hybels' Courageous Leadership was a significant book for me in the first area and anything by Brennan Manning was significant in the second.

The writings of John C Maxwell are insightful on the mechanics of leadership as are those of Walter C Wright on Mentoring. Add to the list The Making of a Leader by J. Robert Clinton and Resonant Leadership by Boyatis and McKee and you have a good spread of my leadership library.

All these writers taught me to reflect better on not only the issues I was facing but also the type of leader I was and the style of leadership I used. The journey has led me to consider and not instate ‘leadership without power’. How is it possible to lead any size of community or organisation without resorting to the mechanisms that rely on power?  In short how can you lead like Jesus did without forcing, coercing or manipulating anyone? The leadership of God is based on love not power!

6. What are the biggest challenges you have faced in leadership and what are some of the biggest highlights?

In pastoral ministry people dying or those with terminal illnesses are always a challenge. The impact that has both on their family and friends and then the impact it has on the whole congregation is a major leadership task. Not only are your dealing with your own grief and pain but you are having to steer many others through the same process, helping them to find comfort and some place of meaning. There are times when as leaders we must put our own needs and feelings to one side - and deal with them later - in order to serve and meet the needs of other. We cannot, must not let our emotions spill over to others and cloud their journey.

In relation to getting the job done, the major challenges are around getting the right people, in the right place, doing the right thing. Particularly in Christian ministry we can often focus on people’ hearts - being well meaning - but not on whether they are actually gifted and capable of fulfilling the role they have been given. Understanding and identifying competency is essential, once you have answered the question of their character. Character - competency - chemistry (do they fit in with the existing team?) - this is a good process that is outlined by Hybels, and one, which I follow.

What do you think are the biggest challenges that men and women in Christian leadership in the UK face today?

Authenticity - beliefs and behaviours being the same thing. You can cite lack of money, people resources, but the biggest issue is authenticity. People will follow integrity to the end.

As we close what word of advice would you give to anyone new to Christian leadership today?

The best advice I was ever given was this “Do not go into Christian leadership until you cannot avoid it” - until God gives you no option. It is not a career choice; just read Paul’s experience of being a leader and you will see there is more to it than meetings.

Secondly, once you are in leadership, never believe that you are the centre of things. It is not about you - it is about what God is doing in the lives of others through the ‘ministry’ he has entrusted to you, for a season.

Vision and leadership: Being remade whole

I asked an amazing group of women to say, in one word, what they felt was the most important characteristic of leadership; love, listening, charisma, integrity, wisdom, empathy, courage, trust, servant heart, encouragement.

Only one word appeared twice; integrity.

This ancient word has at its heart the Latin ‘integer’ meaning, literally, untouched or whole.

Leadership is draining and, as leaders, we cannot truthfully remain untouched. As contemporary disciples, co-missioned by Jesus to serve in His Kingdom ministry, we are called by the One who has all power to ‘go out’, to serve, in His Name. But this going out, even in His power, will drain us. We can become fragmented, broken, not whole.

After the birth of our youngest son I was severely anaemic and required a blood transfusion. The labouring, contracting and birthing produced a wonder-full new life but left me powerless & drained. The original and creative work of leadership can be exhausting as we are touched and depleted by the constant genesis of preaching, caring, praying, meeting and mentoring. We are drained, spiritually anaemic, not whole.

Severe anaemia affects our ability to see. Severe anaemia damages our vision. We can become so worthily anaemic that our vision is compromised.

If we are to serve as visionary leaders, seeding and fruitful, then we must remain people of integrity. As it is, in truth, impossible to keep ourselves untouched then we must be disciples seeking to be constantly re-made whole. To be transfused; to be poured into.

Jesus knew when the woman reached out and touched the hem of His garment because He felt power flow out of Him, healing power. He bled with healing power to stem her diseasing flow of blood and He keeps bleeding love to transfuse our anaemic lives.

All I can do, as a bleary eyed leader, is to prayerfully mix my metaphors and with an open heart ask that this jar of clay become a decanter for Him; filled, poured out, filled, poured out & filled again.

Nel Shallow is a Student Presbyter with the Methodist Church and studies at the Queen’s Foundation in Birmingham.

Book review: Equals by Jenny Baker

Well, where to start? Space is limited, but as so much of this book resonated with me I wished I was reading it in the same room with a group of friends so we could discuss various issues and points that Jenny Baker raises! And one of my reasons for recommending this book to you is that I suspect many of you will have a similar reaction.  So many of the things Jenny has witnessed or that have been said to her over the years, have been said to me or people I know, for example challenging event leaders over the lack of female speakers (an issue we have covered on the Sophia website many times) and being told ‘they just don’t know any gifted women’. 

Jenny gives several qualifications at the start and throughout that are worth bearing in mind e.g. when work is spoken about, in the context of this book, it usually refers to paid employment. And it seems to me that it does consider a particular, dare I say it, middle class experience.

This book is set within the redemptive nature of Jesus and the idea that women and men both suffer from inequalities and that neither is more important than the other. Jenny says

'There is no blueprint for sharing life more equally but I hope that this book will provoke many discussions about how it might be done so that both women and men can thrive. More than that, I hope that it will be a catalyst for some creative explorations for doing life together differently, creating communities and churches where the fantastic diversity of women and men are released and celebrated, and the liberating truth of Christ’s redemption is experienced' p. xii.

There are some shocking statistics contained within its pages and there is a comprehensive section of notes at the end of the book should you be inspired to find further reading.

If you find parts of the early chapters more academic than you are used to please persevere – there is so much here to explore. The last few chapters cover very practically how we might begin to make change for example in the home or at work with real life experiences and questions to think about. Jenny points out that you may not find each chapter particularly relevant to your own situation and you should feel free to skip them – but please don’t because I feel it adds to the whole context of the discussion, it may be applicable to you one day and it might just give you an insight into an experience you have seen someone else go through. As I read the chapters on work and church, I thought about several men I know who might also identify with being marginalised, as they don’t fit the image some people have of how a Christian speaker/leader should be.

I think this book should be read by men and women, even those of us who think we’ve got is sussed when it comes to how we approach equality. I think as we read, we should allow ourselves to be challenged as each of us considers our own behaviour, particularly the unconscious stereotyping we might be guilty of and our need for control (perhaps that last one is just me!).  Jenny suggests we should be more intentional about creating opportunity to further equality in the world in general. This is a book, which encourages us to ‘celebrate the gifts, talents skills and abilities of men and women. Perhaps if we talked more about our common humanity and what we share as human beings made in the image of God, we would get less hung up about ways in which men and women might or ought to be distinctive’.

I look forward to discussing this with you on the website – book club anyone?

Karen Beal is coming to the end of her time as Manchester Development Worker with The Girls' Brigade & is settling into her post as Chaplain & Team Leader with Christians in Schools Trust, Stockport.

Book review: Understanding Leadership by Tom Marshall

The book review this month is on a book called Understanding Leadership by Tom Marshall, a man who has travelled extensively and taught in various contexts; Bible colleges and Christian and business seminars. This book offers clear guidance on topics such as trust, timing, caring, failure and honour.

The main focus is on New Testament leadership, exploring what we need to learn in order to develop as leaders with integrity. The author then seeks to identify how we can apply this to ministry within church and in our own Christian lives. Although primarily focusing on a Christian context, the leadership lifestyle that the author explores is one that I believe can be transferred to other contexts as well. This was helpful for me, as I have find myself working in contexts other than just Christian ones.

As a student with CYM, I was initially worried about having another book to read on top of all my others! But as I started to read this book, I actually found it very easy and enjoyable to read – not to mention, helpful for my essays! Although I didn't necessarily agree on everything that Marshall had to say in the book, it did give me a lot of food for thought about my own leadership style and approach. One of the main things that I found helpful was reading about 'when leaders fail'. This was encouraging to me as a trainee youth worker, but also gave me practical advice about what to do when a failure happens, and ways to avoid it happening.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone in a leadership role, particularly if they have an interest in learning more about how to be a leader from a biblical perspective.

Amy Rotherham is a third year CYM student, based in Lincolnshire. 

Jesus was not a Feminist

Jesus was not a feminist.  He was the Word made flesh, the Son of God, the Lion and the Lamb.  He cannot be labelled.  He is I Am.  His name is a verb.

As a card carrying Christian feminist (there isn’t actually a card, it’s a metaphorical card, however I am now wondering whether I should make myself one…) most people would expect me to answer this questions with an enormous YES!  But it’s not.  That’s right, I don’t think Jesus was a feminist.  “What?!”  I hear you cry. “But GLW, he championed women…” I hear you plead with me.

Jesus was not a feminist any more than he was a socialist.  Yet His teaching and His life, death and resurrection have influenced many who would hold to both feminist and/or socialist worldviews.  We cannot co-opt the Saviour of the world for our campaign or political framework. He is too big for any one world view to claim Him as their own. 

There is no consensus on what it means to be a feminist.  Feminism in all its different forms is not a united movement.  Unlike most political or social moves for change, feminism did not come about through a manifesto and was not led by one group people.  Feminism is the cry throughout history that women are people too.  It is a framework for those who believe selling sex is a valid life choice and for those who believe such work is actually exploitation; those who believe pornography can empower women and those who believe pornography destroys women.  Feminism is united only in her outrage that half the human race is, to a greater or lesser degree, oppressed.

Over the last few years I have become a disaffected Christian; struggling to reconcile my passion for justice with the apathy in the church.  Feminist spaces have felt more like home than church.  Each week in my small group I was the awkward spoon insisting the easy answers were not enough.  Then in January we shared communion as part of the group.  In that sacred act of breaking bread and drinking wine I realised; these are my people.  Not because we hold similar worldviews, but because all of us acknowledge that it is in Jesus that we live and move and have our being. 

Jesus came to bring life in all its fullness to women, men, children, communities, and relationships.  His treatment of women was radical for the society into which He was born, He treated women as people and removed the power of the father (patriarchy) through His insistence that only God Almighty held that power; the rest of us were brothers and sisters and he commanded us to call only God father and teacher.  And yet Jesus was not a feminist.  He was the Word made flesh, the Son of God, the Lion and the Lamb.  He cannot be labelled.  He is I Am.  His name is a verb.

There are feminists who would categorically refuse that Jesus could be a feminist because He was a man.  There are many more feminists who would reject wholeheartedly Jesus’ message that we must die to ourselves and be risen with Christ.  I believe that feminism is a vehicle of liberation, a prophetic message holding the Powers to account, but I do not believe the Powers will be overcome by feminism.  They will be overcome by the power of the Living God, with the message that women are people too being one part of the prophetic message of the Spirit.

@God_Loves_Women works addressing gender injustice inside and outside the Church.  She is part of the Christian Feminist Network collective.  She loves God and wants everyone to know God loves women!

This is our fifth reflection in our exploration of 'Is Jesus A Feminist?', our topic for Week V of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

This is our FINAL reflection in the series; thank you for journeying graciously with each other. We hope that you have been challenged and inspired: what did you learn? Please share with the rest of the community.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Jesus the Dynamite Feminist: Thoughts from Elizabeth Stanforth-Sharpe

Jewish men thank God every morning, saying, "Praised be God that he has not created me a gentile; praised be God that he has not created me a woman; praised be God that he has not created me an ignorant man."

Women; those creatures that cannot be counted as part of the quorum necessary for a congregation to worship, to whom it is ‘obscene’ to teach the Scriptures, who are so inferior that they can never be spoken to in public and who can be taken in polygamous marriages or thrown on the streets on a whim with no rights to divorce or redress. In the stricter households they are not even allowed to go outside. One of the rabbinic sayings sums up the whole bleak attitude; ‘When a boy comes into the world, peace comes into the world; when a girl comes, nothing comes.’

Imagine then, the jaw dropping, fury making incomprehension when Jesus begins his ministry, deliberately disregarding the social norms, counting women as equals, expounding the Scriptures in their presence, allowing them to travel with him and to take on the role of deacons. This is feminism at its most dynamite and he has not even started yet.[1]

Look at what unfolds. A wine spluttering moment at a dinner party when Jesus lovingly speaks to the gate-crashing woman with shamelessly un-braided hair and questionable morals[2], a scene of abhorrent disgust when this maverick not only touches an unclean corpse but that of a female to boot[3], within minutes of debasing himself by calling attention to a menstruating woman deemed ritually unclean, giving her both healing and dignity and, then, the revelation of himself as Messiah to a woman who wasn’t even a Jew[4], in a public place, flagrantly breaching every code of conduct in the book. This is someone who is clearly prepared to play with fire in order to give women a voice, to trust them with profound information and to honour and value them on an equal basis with men.

The examples go on and on. In the home of Mary and Martha[5], Jesus maintains Mary’s right to establish her own priorities and when a woman in the crowd compliments him with the words, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you”, Jesus pushes the envelope in his response, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it”[6], seeing her as more than a baby-making machine; a person with intellectual and moral faculties. Furthermore, he is insistent that marriage should involve equal rights and responsibilities[7]. 

Nowhere do we see the non-compromise of Jesus’ mind-set more clearly displayed than in his compassion towards the adulterous woman[8], almost certainly used as cruel bait in a trap, her sexual organs and her life compromised to ascertain what his reaction is going to be. The call is for her to be stoned to death in accordance with Moses’ instructions for a ‘virgin pledged’[9], a set of rules under which the man is just as culpable, yet he’s not there. If Jesus agrees, he is violating Roman law, which restricts capital punishment, but if he says “No” then he is contravening Mosaic Law. Jesus knows that by standing for her he is putting himself in serious danger, but he does it anyway.  

God has always loved women in equal measure to men, but Jesus demonstrated that love, vigorously promoting their cause and dignity in a male dominated society. His radical feminist views paved a substantial chunk of his pathway to Calvary.

In his resurrection power, we are called to imitate his stance.

Elizab eth Stanforth-Sharpe is a Yorkshire lass, writer, speaker, leader and coach. She is passionate about empowering people of all genders, ages and circumstances to walk forward in their lives with boldness, confidence and joy, using their unique gifts and abilities with a sense of esteem and value. You can contact her on twitter @ElizabethJS4    

This is our fourth reflection in our exploration of 'Is Jesus A Feminist?', our topic for Week V of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

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[1] Luke 8:1-3 The Greek translated here as ‘support them’ is diekonoun, the root of ‘deacon’.

[2] Luke 7:36-50

[3] Matthew 9:18-25; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56

[4] John 4:1-26

[5] Luke 10:38-42

[6] Luke 11: 27-28

[7] Matthew 19:1-11

[8] John 8: 1-11

[9] Deuteronomy 22:22-24

Championing female evangelists: Helen Franklin

We have been privileged to interview another female evangelist this week. Helen Franklin works for Scripture Union and has been an evangelist for many years seeking to spread the good news to children and young people.

My sense of call to evangelism began as a Scripture Union volunteer on a beach mission, with a growing sense of wanting to learn more and do more. Rebecca Manley-Pippert’s book ‘Out of the Saltshaker’ was a very significant book in shaping my thinking and practice of evangelism: I still think it’s the most challenging and helpful thing I’ve read about making evangelism a way of life. Although I never felt particularly effective as an evangelist, it was a deep-rooted desire in me to do all I could to help others to know Jesus. God worked on me, and on the sense of call, and is still doing so today.

The majority of my work is with children, young people and families, and over the years I have run holiday and midweek clubs, special outreach events, beach missions, and have tried to help churches to grasp the need for evangelism to be part of their regular life, and not just something that is done once a year. I am someone who breaks up the concrete in order to reach the ground that can be ploughed and sown. I am currently working with churches and chapels in Wales to help them do more in their communities to make contact with children and families who wouldn’t think of coming to church services. That includes activities in market places and high streets at Christmas, and helping churches to run Summer Salt: ‘pop-up’ missions on beaches and in parks that are based on spending time and building friendships with families through games, activities and telling Bible stories, as well as looking for ways to keep making Jesus known throughout the year.

Have I experienced indescribable joy as an evangelist? Yes. Perhaps most often talking about Jesus on beaches, where people on holiday can be anonymous and therefore ask questions and express interest in a way they can’t at home. But also seeing children hear new things about Jesus: I’ll never forget a group in Manchester to whom I told the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, realising that they had never heard it before and then seeing whole families want to know more of Jesus.

Challenges: probably the biggest is getting churches to believe that things can change, and people are still inquisitive about Jesus. The gospel hasn’t changed, but we need to change our methods of making it known! So please pray for creativity and skill, and for the Holy Spirit to enlighten the hearts of those who do know Jesus to the fact that he can use them and for those who don’t know him to be drawn to him.

Evangelism in everyday lives – I’m always challenged by Jesus’ teaching about salt and light: about who we are as people - being as important as what we say. But also recognising the need for balance between being, doing and speaking, so that people don’t simply mark Christians down as ‘nice people who are helpful’, but grasp something of God and his work too.

Helen began with Scripture Union as a volunteer beach mission team member, and has been on their staff for more than 20 years. Her work is focused on helping churches with evangelism and working to create resources and activities appropriate for children, young people and families who are not connected with church. Now working in Wales, Helen is trying to learn the language so that she can communicate effectively with children in Welsh-speaking communities.

‘Yes… and no!’ Thoughts from Ruth Perrin.

So, there’s a question eh?  And not a straight forward one either.

The answer, to my mind, depends on your definition of ‘feminist’, there are, after all, as many flavours of feminism as there are of ice-cream: First, second, third and now fourth wave, Womanists, radical feminists, biblical feminists, socialist and Marxist feminist, eco-feminists…the list goes on. Can we put Jesus into one of those camps? Can he really be part of a movement which didn’t develop until nearly 2000 years after his ascension? And given that the Bible was probably written by men, mostly about men, within a patriarchal culture can we trust its account anyway – or is it just part of the problem?

Well, I’m going to stick to my evangelical guns (no time to discuss that here I’m afraid) and view the gospel narratives as having a reliable voice in presenting some aspects of Jesus to us, and I’m going to argue, ‘Is Jesus a feminist?’

‘Yes… and no!’

Does Jesus demonstrate concern for the rights and dignity of those oppressed by human systems? Absolutely he does. Men, children and women all get treated with value, are all defended from those who want to crush and control them: the Samaritan women at the well, the woman ‘caught’ in adultery, the disreputable woman who washed his feet with her tears, lepers, the blind man shushed by the crowd. Time and time again Jesus challenged the human systems that discriminated, humiliated and oppressed the weak. But he also defended those oppressed by spiritual systems too: Mary Magdalene, the Gerasene Demoniac, the woman with the withered hand. Jesus’ concerns were not just with social but also spiritual and religious oppression - after all, he broke all the ritual and social laws by holding the hand of a little dead girl and saying ‘Talitha Cum’ – ‘little girl it’s time to wake up!’ you don’t get more liberated than that!

Jesus was a feminist in the sense that he challenged the oppressive control of the rich, the powerful and the religious. He overtly came to fulfil Isaiah 61; to set captives and the oppressed free. Jesus, for sure, took a stand against human and demonic patriarchy – it responded by killing him - but his resurrection sounded its death knell.

However, I also want to sound a note of caution. Many forms of feminism, in fighting against oppression, reject any form of authority or control over women’s lives as patriarchal. They argue that women’s authority should be internal, they should answer to no-one and submit themselves to nothing. This, I believe, Jesus would not be signing up for. He was very clear that he had come from the Father, to do the Father’s will; he was submitting to the Father himself out of mutual love. Jesus was not rejecting the Father’s authority, he was living within it, carrying out his mission in partnership with it.

He challenged human institutions and spiritual forces but he taught, modelled, and called his followers into the Kingdom of God; to submit to their creator, to allow him to shape their values, lives, identity and thus at the very  core of Jesus’ mission, and ours as his disciples, is submission to a loving, saving God. Submission is not a word many forms of feminism are happy with, especially twinned with the language of ‘Father’.

There’s more that could be said, the Kingdom is and will be shaped by the LORD, it will be under his authority, but it will not be the shape of a sinful, corrupt patriarchy. It will be the shape of justice, value, and dignity for all, and where feminism is fighting for that I believe that Jesus was and still is with us in it.  

Ruth has been in involved in pastoral ministry for 15 years primarily with the discipleship of young adults in the north of England. She is currently an associate staff member at King’s Church Durham and attempting to complete a PhD in ‘the Ordinary Hermeneutics of Evangelical Emerging Adults’. 

This is our third reflection in our exploration of 'Is Jesus A Feminist?', our topic for Week V of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Jesus thinks Women are People, Too - Sarah Bessey

I often say that it was following Jesus that made a feminist out of me.

I have a very basic definition of feminism, after all: to me, it simply means that we think women are people, too. It only means that we champion the dignity, rights, responsibilities, and glories of women as equal in importance - not greater than, but certainly not less than - those of men, and we refuse discrimination against women. That is it. And it was precisely because I was orienting my life around the teachings and life of Jesus Christ that I found myself a feminist. It was a collusion of my passions and my vocation with my discipleship.

In her stunning essay, “Are Women Human?” Dorothy L. Sayers wrote: “Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man – there never has been another.  A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them as “The women, God help us!” or “The ladies, God bless them!” A man who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything “funny” about a woman’s nature.”

There are so many encounters with women in Scripture that live in my imagination. For instance, I love Deborah and her commander-in-chief biblical womanhood. I love the midwives of Exodus who defied Pharaoh out of obedience to God and had a role in bringing Moses to the nation of Israel. I love the wisdom of Abigail, the determination of Tamar, the “yes” of Mary the Mother of God, the bold desperation of the woman with the issue of blood.

But when I think about Jesus, there are two rather quiet, often uncelebrated stories that always stand out to me. Of course, he had deep relationships with many women - Mary, Martha, his mother, Mary Magdalena, the Samaritan woman at the well, and so on - but these two quiet stories in the midst of the Gospels often go unnoticed.

When Jesus healed the woman who was bent over and crippled in Luke 13:10-16, he did it in the synagogue, in full view. When the Pharisees pushed back at the healing because it took place on the Sabbath, he called them hypocrites because they would rescue an ox or a donkey on the Sabbath, but they couldn’t see the glorious Sabbath work of rescuing a “daughter of Abraham” on this day. And here’s my favourite part: Jesus called her “daughter of Abraham,” which likely sent a shock wave through the room. It was the first time that phrase had been spoken. People had only ever heard “son of Abraham” – never daughters. But at the sound of Jesus’ words “daughter of Abraham” he gave her a place to stand alongside the sons. In him, we are part of the family, we always were.

The other seemingly small moment came in another synagogue, on another day. In Luke 11:27-28, while Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, a woman called out from the audience, “God bless your mother – the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!” Yet Jesus replied to this common blessing by saying, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Women are not simply or only blessed by giving birth to greatness, no, we are all blessed when we hear the Word of God – Jesus – and put it into practice. We do not rely on second-hand blessings in Jesus.

Sometimes I think that it’s in the small mundane moments that we really see it. Maybe not many people noticed it, but the women of the Gospel narrative ministered to Jesus, and they ministered with him. Women were simply there – part of the revolution of love, sometimes unnamed, sometimes in the background, sometimes the receiver, sometimes the giver – just like every other man in Scripture, to be engaged by Jesus in the midst of the story.

Jesus thinks women are people, too.

Sarah Bessey is the author of "Jesus Feminist,” a disarming and beautiful invitation to the Kingdom of God waiting on the other side of the Church's gender debates. She is an award-winning blogger at www.sarahbessey.com, an editor at A Deeper Story, a contributor for SheLoves Magazine, and a passionate advocate for global women's justice issues. One of those happy-clappy Jesus-followers, Sarah is a recovering know-it-all, a voracious reader, and a devotee of British television. She lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada with her husband and their three tinies.

This is our second reflection in our exploration of 'Is Jesus A Feminist?', our topic for Week V of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Is Jesus a Feminist? Thoughts from youth leader Tami Zacharias

At a time when Jewish men thanked God daily for not making them a woman, Jesus shone forth as a beacon of hope, consistently advocating for the full equality of women, even in the face of opposition.

The word ‘feminist’ can be off putting for many people, especially Christians. It tends to conjure up images of wild man haters, female domination at the expense of men, people who ignore all gender differences, or even women who refuse to shave and wear bras. If this is the case, then it becomes a scary and even sacrilegious thing to talk about Jesus as a feminist.

However, there are both men and women who self-identify as feminists that do not fit with any of these images. In addition, the actual definition of a feminist is very different than these prevailing stereotypes. Dictionary.com describes a feminist as someone who advocates for the “social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.”

So with that definition in mind, was Jesus a feminist?  Well, Jesus never labeled himself as one mainly because the word feminist did not exist in his time, but did he fulfill the definition of a feminist?

Yes.

Jesus grew up in a culture and society very different to ours today, and so a cursory reading of the Gospels does not readily reveal a feminist Jesus, unless the cultural and historical background is taken into consideration.

In Jesus’ day, Jewish rabbis were not to talk in public with women who were not relatives. Women were relegated to the home where they were to be obedient to their fathers, and after marriage, their husbands. A woman’s legal and economic rights were limited, and while a man could divorce his wife, a woman could not divorce her husband. Women were essentially second-class citizens.

At a time when Jewish men thanked God daily for not making them a woman, Jesus shone forth as a beacon of hope, consistently advocating for the full equality of women, even in the face of opposition.

The Scriptures are replete with examples of Jesus acting as a feminist:

• He had deep theological conversations with women. (John 4:1-42)
• He received financial support for ministry from women. (Luke 8:3)
• He had close friendships with women. (John 11:5)
• He chose women as his disciples. (Luke 8:1-3; 10:39)
• He supported women as evangelists. (John 4:1-42)
• He used feminine imagery for God. (Luke 15:8-10; Matt. 23:37)
• He selected women as the first witnesses of the resurrection. (John 20:11-18)
• He re-interpreted laws to protect women socially and economically. (Matt. 5:27-32)
• He saw women first as human beings with the capacity to worship God, not as wives or mothers. (Mark 3:31-35; Luke 11:27-28)

The list goes on, but it seems clear that Jesus fulfills this definition and the true spirit of a feminist. Intentionally going against social norms would not have been easy…

So if Jesus was a feminist, what are the implications for us today?  1 John 2:6 (CEV) says, “If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ.” It’s clear then: as followers of Christ, we need to be like him. We need to stand out in our culture as people who, like Jesus, consistently advocate for the full equality of women. It may not be easy, and will likely involve being misinterpreted and judged. That’s okay; it was the same for Jesus. And while we are at it, why not also reclaim the word ‘feminist’ for what it really means: someone who advocates for the equal rights of women.

Tami is a youth leader and trainer with OM Lifehope in Halesowen. She's originally from Canada, and enjoys reading, spending time in nature, and having deep discussions around topics like gender equality.

This is our first reflection in our exploration of 'Is Jesus A Feminist?', our topic for Week V of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Roman 16's Women of Influence - Margaret Blakey

In the church in which I grew up the Bible really mattered.  It was always open.  Obviously it was open in services, but if you met outside of church the Bible was always open, too.  If you ate a meal with another family, then the Bible was open.  If you met in a home, then the Bible was open.  If you travelled in a car, then the Bible was open.  It mattered. 

But as I have travelled my journey I have discovered verses that I didn’t really know existed.  I have found words of scripture that were not part of that immersing in the Word of God.  One such passage is Romans 16.

I am sure that Romans 16 was read aloud from time to time, but I suspect that I, along with others, glazed over at a long list of names whose gender wasn’t instantly obvious. Our ears will have pricked up to the obvious acclaim of women who ‘worked hard in the Lord’, but our imagination will have seen woman busy preparing food, being in the background, facilitating. 

These early church women were women of influence.  They were often affluent and had authority over a household which will have included significant numbers of slaves.  Phoebe is described as a ‘diakonon’ (root of our modern word ‘deacon’) and ‘prostates’ (patron) of Paul and others.  Phoebe used her finance and position to enable Paul to preach to the church in Corinth.  Phoebe was a facilitator, but not in a quiet, behind the scenes way, but in a determined and courageous manner.  Phoebe used her authority, status and finance to enable the gospel of Christ into her community. 

What did it mean for these women to ‘work hard in the Lord’?  Like Phoebe, I am sure that they used their positions and skills to spread the gospel and equip the church.  Paul describes Persis as ‘a dear friend’ and Rufus’ mother as ‘being a mother to me’.  He clearly loved and respected the contribution of these women.  Meanwhile, he describes Junia as ‘outstanding among the apostles’ – who can doubt that this woman had a significant role sharing the word of God in her community, so much so that she was imprisoned for it?

What does it mean for us to ‘work hard in the Lord’?  We, who have access to world class education. We, who enjoy the majority of the world’s wealth.  We, who often have the skills needed to take on positions of authority.  We need to broaden our horizons beyond the confines of our own culture and history.  We need to determine to understand the word of God in the context it was written and then understand our own context as only being a very small part of a global context, with lives, cultures and needs so very different and so often far greater than our own.  The Bible was written for all of us.

Those women in my childhood who tirelessly prepared buffets for large groups of people ‘worked hard in the Lord’.  My mother, who still cares for the elderly in her neighbourhood ‘works hard in the Lord’.  I know many women church leaders, pastors and missionaries who ‘work hard in the Lord’.  Whatever your theological viewpoint, Paul bestowed great honour on the active women of faith in Romans 16.  As women, we need to listen to Gods calling on our lives and step out with courage and conviction to ‘work hard in the Lord’ whatever that means for each of us.

Margaret Blakey is a musician, deacon and worship leader, as well as a wife and mother.  She grew up in a strict brethren church and her writing reflects her journey from a complementarian viewpoint to an egalitarian viewpoint. She is still on this journey. You can follow her on her blog and contact on twitter: @GaretKey.

This is our final reflection in our exploration of 'Just the tea-makers? Women in the early church', our topic for Week IV of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Discovering a vibrant, inclusive Christian history - Charlotte Hendy

Women: A controversial biblical topic. Why did Jesus have no females among his 12 disciples? Should women remain silent? Which side of the debate is Paul on?

Having just graduated from a theology degree, these are questions that I have grappled with time and time again over the last three years. I have constantly asked what does my faith mean today? And what does it mean for me, and for who I want to be? These questions are rooted in the history of Christianity. Our God is timeless. What He said to women in the early church is still pertinent today.

There were times in my degree when I was challenged, but overwhelmingly I discovered a vibrant, inclusive Christian history that began with Jesus and includes me today. The history of women and their place in Christianity may have been varied, but through my studies I have found that women were pivotal in their roles within the early church.

The beginning of Christianity, those first days, that phenomenal spread of the gospel… How did it happen? Were women even involved? The answer to this question is YES! Women not only were a part of this exciting period, but they played a fundamental role.

In the Bible, it is the female disciples who witness the empty tomb and resurrection. This is hugely significant, because women were actually seen, in that period, as unreliable witnesses. Not only this, but the strength of their faith is contrasted to that of the male disciples; in Luke 24:9 women go and tell the male disciples about what they have seen, just as they have been instructed, but in verse 11 we read that the male disciples do not believe them.

From this point, it is likely that the exponential growth of Christianity in those early days is the result of early female Christians, for whom it was easier to go underground and spread the Good News.

We also know that the earliest Christian gatherings were in the form of house churches. These took place within homes, and as this was very much the woman’s domain, it gave women an equal opportunity to have great influence in this early stage of the Christian church. Lots of the early debates were about hospitality and family life, and it is difficult not to imagine women having a key role in these.

When we read both Acts and the Epistles of Paul, women are portrayed both as prominent wealthy figures, but also as missionaries and leaders. Some led local house churches, and Priscilla (Romans 16) took part in mission alongside Paul. In Acts 16, Lydia is the first convert to Christianity in Europe, and in Acts 17, many prominent Greek women are attracted to the Christian faith.

Repeatedly in the early Church, we see women playing a significant role, either alongside, or above, the men in their community. All of this is remarkable and yet it becomes meaningless unless we ask what it means for us today.

That is a question I constantly ask myself- what does this mean for me and how, therefore, do I want to live my life? With the backdrop of such prominent women figures in Christianity, I am spurred forward every day, with the confidence that in no way am I inferior because of my gender. But, on the contrary, we ‘are all one in Christ Jesus.’ (Galatians 3:28)

Charlotte Hendy studied theology at Oxford University and is now the Vice-President for Welfare and Equal Opportunities at Oxford University Student Union. She is also the Youth Co-ordinator for Girls’ Brigade Europe and the facilitator of the Oxford 18-30s Nexus community.

This is our fifth reflection in our exploration of 'Just the tea-makers? Women in the early church', our topic for Week IV of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Priscilla and Lydia - Pam Smith

Every week for one whole term at primary school, our teacher – a local lay preacher - told us the story of St Paul’s travels. The stories of sea voyages, shipwrecks, earthquakes and jailbreaks, which made Christianity sound exciting and dangerous.

I did not notice the lack of women in the story, but I did not expect there to be any. It was an adventure story! As far as I knew, grown women did not have adventures.

The Acts and the Epistles together tell the stories of many churches being started and mentored by Paul and his companions in mission. Women are mentioned throughout, but I can see why my primary school teacher left them out, because most of them feature only briefly. In the stories many different groups of Christians are talked about, and women are mentioned as deacons, co-workers with Paul, and mentors. The number of different women who appear indicate that women were widespread among the earliest churches and important enough to be named both by Luke and Paul as part of the central group of workers who received the Gospel and preached it.

Priscilla and her husband Aquila were tentmakers who had left Rome when the Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews. They first met Paul in Corinth and he lived and worked with them for a while before they all set off to Ephesus together. While Paul travelled on, Priscilla and Aquila stayed in Ephesus and continued teaching people about Jesus, suggesting that they were founder members of the church, which began there.

It was the custom to name the man first when talking about a married couple, but Priscilla is named first several times, indicating that she was as highly regarded as her husband.

Priscilla does not have a separate ‘women’s’ ministry, but ministers and teaches alongside men. She should remind us that exercising leadership in the church is not ‘unnatural’ for women, but a situation that was familiar in the early church.

While Priscilla ministers as part of a couple, Lydia’s husband is not mentioned at all. Lydia is ‘a dealer in purple cloth’, a rich woman in her own right who is decisive about her response to the Gospel when she hears it preached. Lydia meets Paul and his travelling companion Silas in Philippi when they talk to a group of women who are gathered by the river for prayer. Lydia is so struck by what she hears that she and her household are baptised. She urges Paul and Silas to stay with her, and is not frightened to invite them back after they have been set free by the Roman authorities who imprisoned them. By this time she has gathered a community of ‘brothers and sisters’ at her house.

As a socially and financially secure woman who is open to the Gospel, Lydia reminds us that women have leadership gifts, and that churches grow when those gifts are exercised.

Priscilla and Lydia remind us that the adventure of following Jesus starts when we hear the gospel, and can lead us anywhere. Willingness to serve Jesus and his church in response to the Gospel is not confined to one gender. 

Pam Smith is the priest in charge and web pastor of i-church.org. Before she was ordained, Pam worked in women’s health, prison chaplaincy and education. She is a keen user of social networking. Pam’s book on online mission and ministry is due out in 2014. Contact Pam on Twitter: @revpamsmith.

This is our third reflection in our exploration of 'Just the tea-makers? Women in the early church', our topic for Week IV of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Priscilla: Whole-hearted and willing to be counted - Clare Hendry

She was a woman who would not be interested in arguing over what a woman can or cannot do in the church or who was the more significant person in the relationship – her or Aquila, but instead be passionate about serving God whatever the cost.

Why Priscilla?  Being given the choice of any woman in the early church to write and reflect on is not the easiest of tasks. Although they are not numerous, the ones mentioned each have something that we, in the 21st century, can learn from. But for me Priscilla is someone that stands out for her whole-heartedness for the Gospel, something that we all need challenging on today.

Priscilla, also known by her more formal name of Prisca, as Paul often referred to her in his letters, was married to Aquila a Jewish-Christian, who came from Pontus and was a tentmaker. They are first introduced in Acts 18:2-26  and later mentioned in Romans 16:3, 1 Cor 16:19 and 1 Tim 4:19

The great debate around this lady is what kind of role she played in the early church. Of the six times that Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned. Priscila is listed first four times. It was unusual in those times for a woman to be named first. Some commentators have argued that this is because she was the more significant figure in the partnership, so Paul and Luke must have done it to show that she was more important. I agree that it was unusual but there is a different take on this, which I think makes more sense. Elsewhere when Paul is talking about the church that meets in their home Priscilla is mentioned second (1 Cor 16:19). This coincides with Paul’s teaching on the order of husband/wife relationship in the home (Eph.5:22-23), which is the other place where Priscilla is named second. Surely if Paul and Luke were putting her first because she was the more significant they would have done it every time. So what is going on here?  In those days when women from a higher social class married a man from a lower social class the name of the woman would sometimes come first. Priscilla was such a woman.

Which of the two possible explanations is right for why Priscilla is sometimes mentioned first? I don’t think we can say for certain.  Furthermore the teaching that Aquila and Priscilla did was in private, in their home so whilst it was clear that Priscilla certainly taught (with her husband) and was a woman, who was intelligent and well taught, it is rather a big jump to say therefore women can lead a church. So if you want to argue that you need to look elsewhere for your evidence.

But what is clear is that Priscilla played an important role in the early church both in a teaching role and also in hospitality allowing a church to meet in her house.  Paul also refers to the fact that she and Aquila risked their lives for him. So she is well worth taking some time to look at in a little more detail and to think about what we can learn from her.

Priscilla and Aquila are the only husband and wife team mentioned in Acts and the Epistles. It is generally accepted that Aquila had been a Jewish slave and then gained his freedom in Rome, which is where most likely he met Priscila, who was linked to a Roman family named ‘Prisca’.  In looking at the kind of things Priscilla was involved in, we can see she was a great model. She was a Roman woman of high standing and yet we see how whole hearted she was in serving God. Along with Aquila she had to leave Rome, because of the Edict of Claudius telling all Jews to leave. That would most likely mean leaving not just friends but also family - a hard thing to do.

It was through this move that she met Paul the Apostle who worked, with her husband Aquila, as a tentmaker. Paul not only worked with them but also stayed with them. We see hospitality playing an important part in Priscilla’s ministry not just in opening her home up to Paul but, as we see later, also to Apollos. Where Paul mentions this couple in his letters he speaks about them with great affection.

The couple go with Paul down to Syria and settle in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19) where they meet Apollos, a Jew. He was preaching about Jesus in the local synagogue. Whilst he knew a lot about the Scriptures we are told that he knew only of the baptism of John. So we see Priscilla and Aquila inviting them into their home and teaching him the rest of the Gospel. As we read about their encounter with Apollos it is clear that Priscilla is in no way inferior to Aquila in service or knowledge – they form very much a partnership in ministry. She was an intelligent woman, after all Apollos already knew quite a lot, so as she was involved in teaching him she was building on an already substantial amount of knowledge.

It is undeniable that Priscilla played an important part in the church’s ministry, but what strikes me about her and the role she played was what seems to lie beneath it – her heart attitude; her whole-hearted service of the Gospel.  She was a woman who would not be interested in arguing over what a woman can or cannot do in the church or who was the more significant person in the relationship – her or Aquila, but instead be passionate about serving God whatever the cost.

So, instead of keeping a low profile as she had to leave Rome, she was prepared to be identified with the Christian church even eventually to use her home as a place where the local Church met. In Romans Paul writes about how Priscilla and Aquila risked their lives for him (Rom 16:3).  If they were willing to put their own safety on the line for Paul and ‘the churches of the Gentiles’, they were clearly well known and had a key role not least for hosting a church in their home (Rom 16:5) and in some way they probably were involved in some kind of leadership role, but what exactly we are not told.

I think we can learn three things from Priscilla’s example:

The first thing is partnership. Priscilla and Aquila are a good example of men and women working together for the sake of the Gospel. In reading about them one does not get the sense of concern about who the leader was or who was more important, but of two people working together and complementing each other as they served the Kingdom. Whether taking an egalitarian or complementarian position, most would agree that men and women bring different things to ministry. Throughout the New Testament we see the importance of people working together. We can learn a lot from people taking a different approach from us.  We were never meant to work on our own, which is still so often the default pattern in small churches. Back in Genesis God created man and then woman because it was not good for man to be alone. We were created to be in partnership working alongside each other complementing each other and learning from each other. So whether married or not, whether working closely with your spouse or, like me, married to someone who is not on a church staff (although we do some things in church together),  it is good to be working in some kind of partnership in churches. Solo ministry does not seem to be the biblical model.

The second thing we can learn from Priscilla is the fact that she stood up for our faith. Priscilla was willing to be counted for the Gospel. She was willing to be identified very publicly with the local church. Christians over the centuries throughout the world have had to stand up for their faith, sometimes at great cost to themselves even to the point of death. In Britain generally we have not had to face such trials but as society changes and becomes more secular the challenges to us as Christians are increasing.  It is becoming more difficult to speak out as Christians or to live according to our faith. We have all read articles in the newspapers where Christians have been taken to court or tribunals for standing up for their beliefs whether it is about how they chose to run their B & B, or what they wear round their neck at work. How willing are we to be known as Christians and to take a stand for our faith?     

The final thing that I think we can learn from Priscilla is whole-hearted Gospel living. Priscilla did not just teach about the Gospel but she lived it, not just publicly but in private as well. Priscilla and Aquila invited Paul to live with them as they did Apollos.  That is not always an easy thing to do as some of you who have had people staying with you will know.  They see how you are not just in the public arena but also when you are home behind closed doors. One time, when I was on sabbatical in the States taking some courses and doing some research one of the lecturers kindly invited me to stay with them and their family.  I was in the class room hearing what he had to teach about biblical counselling and relationships and also seeing how that was lived out at home!  What are we like when we are behind closed doors at home? How willing are we to open up our homes and lives to others? We can learn so much from each other by just living side by side and doing things together. I am not advocating that we all have people to stay with us, although that might be the right thing for some to do, but we can invite people to share meals and do things with us. As a single person when I first started teaching at Oak Hill College I used to love being able to drop in to one of my colleague’s homes and have a cup of tea after a busy day, chat to his wife and  play with the children. Having not grown up in a Christian home I learnt so much from this family about what it meant to live as a Christian family.

So I hope looking at Pricilla has wetted your appetite to take more of a look not just at Priscilla but also at the other women featured in the early church and see what great riches you can learn from them. As you read about Priscilla and reflect on her role model may you, like me, be challenged by the way she lived out her faith.

Clare Hendry was formerly on the staff at Oak Hill Theological College and on the staff at St James Muswell Hill as Minister for Pastoral Care. She now works at Grace Church, Muswell Hill and does some teaching in Pastoral Theology at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. She co-authored with Lis Goddard ‘The Gender Agenda’. Clare writes from a more complementarian point of view.

This is our third reflection in our exploration of 'Just the tea-makers? Women in the early church', our topic for Week IV of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Championing the calling & gifting of UK female evangelists

Today, we asked the Sophia Network community to champion the giftings of female evangelists by sharing their names and ministry initiatives. We were overwhelmed by your response on facebook and twitter. It was wonderful to see men & woman celebrating and recognising the God-given evangelistic gifts of other women. Check out the conversations which happened on our digital spaces today and pray for these women.

Today we would like you to meet evangelists Miriam and Elaine. God is using them to transform lives across the UK. We hope that you are encouraged and inspired by their stories. Is God calling you to step forward and use your giftings?

Miriam Swaffield is the Student Mission Developer for Fusion and helps lead her local church G2 in York. She is a passionate communicator, she's driving the UK in a camper van to share the good news with students and cheer-on the local church, and she finds most things funny, awkwardly including herself.

How and why did you feel a calling to evangelism?

I have always found it normal to share Jesus, invite my friends to church and connect my Christian community with all my mates who don't know Jesus. It was only at university that the term "evangelism" became prevalent to me and people started to refer to me as an evangelist. So I did some research and learnt what one was and found it incredibly releasing to find words and scripture that described who I am and how I'd always been.

Tell us about some of the evangelistic initiatives that you are involved in?

I am currently the Student Mission Developer for Fusion and am spending the next two years travelling the whole UK, to every university location, in a bright orange camper van, check out #fusionroadtrip www.loveyouruni.org . I equip churches for student mission, share the good news in words and actions and have a huge amount of fun... the VW is an unmissable conversation starter

Is there a specific moment in your calling that you have experienced indescribable joy?

Indescribable joy happens whenever I get to share the amazing truth about Jesus with someone hungry to hear it. So some of the most elated experiences I've had have been from when a student gave his life to Jesus outside fresher’s fair with me, through to the one-off conversations on the train when you end up explaining forgiveness and hope and go on an amazing journey of the heart with a stranger.

What are some of the challenges that you face?  How can we pray for you?

I don't have many role models of young female itinerant evangelists so prayers for wisdom in how to navigate this would be great. My heart is for local church as well as being on the road, so learning how to live and lead in the present locally, whilst also road tripping is a big one I need help with.

In many ways, we are all called to be evangelists – how can we evangelise in our everyday lives?

If Jesus is your best friend then it's actually very authentic and natural to talk about your best friend with your friends. Keep name-dropping Him, keep mentioning what God is doing in you and your church community. Keep making it part of your normal life to represent Jesus and actually mention Him as you do life with your friends. This has a way bigger effect than you think. Your every day really matters.

Elaine Lindridge works for the Methodist Church in the Newcastle Upon Tyne District as an evangelism enabler. She's also an associate missionary with Fresh Expressions. She loves coffee time, talking, being with people, and time with her family (which consists of husband Stephen and two teenage children).

How and why did you feel a calling to evangelism?

I didn't grow up in the church and came to faith as a teenager, so I remember what it's like to not know the love of God. I was utterly amazed when I first realised God loved me and I think because of this, I've always wanted other people to know this love too. As a new Christian I didn't call this evangelism - I just presumed it was all part of being a follower of Jesus. 

Tell us about some of the evangelistic initiatives that you are involved in?

Last October I worked with teams of people, placing them with local churches to work with the local people on a week of mission and outreach. It really was one of the most encouraging things I've been involved in for a long time. It was just brilliant to see people stepping out in faith and realising that they can do something! If you want to know more about it go to my blog here.

I also work with a team looking at creating community  that can explore spirituality in an online world. We've set up a fresh expression called d-church. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter. This gives people the opportunity to think about life and faith, and I'm always particularly thrilled with posts or messages that come from people who wouldn't class themselves as Christians, but appreciate a forum to discuss spirituality. 

The next thing I'm working on is a project to encourage people to do something different on a Sunday in October. I'm calling it 'get out of church Sunday'. The idea is that folk get out into their communities and share faith and love as they serve others. 

 Is there a specific moment in your calling that you have experienced indescribable joy?

When my daughter was very young I remember one evening getting up in the middle of the night to settle her cries. As I cuddled her I was thinking about how much I loved her and that I'd always protect her. I knew that nothing could stop me from loving this little bundle of life. In the quiet of that moment I felt the presence of God and heard him say that he felt the same way about me. The good news suddenly took on a new significance for me and I felt so incredibly precious - I knew then that my highest calling was as a child of God. 

What are some of the challenges that you face?  How can we pray for you?

I find that more opportunities present themselves than I am able to reasonably cope with - so I'd be delighted if people would pray that I discern well the things that God is asking me to do and be able to say no to the rest. 

In many ways, we are all called to be evangelists – how can we evangelise in our everyday lives?

I see evangelism as a shared journey between friends. In every step of that journey we can share faith and demonstrate love. If we appreciate the friendships then we will share faith in a way that respects and truly cares about others. Our love of others should be our prompt to want the very best for them. Oh, and never be so busy doing church orientated work that we neglect to share faith in our homes. Teaching our children (whether that be our own children or nieces, nephews etc.) to love Jesus should never be side lined or forgotten about. 

Let's keep praying for these women.

Let's keep advocating for each other's God-given gifts - regardless of our gender - in our words and actions every day!

 

 

 

Aquila & Priscilla: The Power of Partnership - Jenni Catron

In their brief story we see very little about gender and much more about partnership.  It seems that Aquila and Priscilla kept their focus on their calling to ministry rather than focusing on acceptable gender roles.

Hospitable, flexible, faithful, knowledgeable, teachable, sacrificial.  These are the traits I observe of Priscilla in the brief accounts of her leadership in scripture.  Several times throughout the New Testament we see Priscilla and her husband Aquila partnering with Paul to help establish the early church.  They joined Paul in moving to Ephesus where they stayed to train new believers while Paul continued his journeys.  Priscilla and Aquila were also instrumental in teaching and training Apollos who would become a key part of establishing the early church. 

But perhaps what is most striking about Priscilla is her relationship with her husband.  They are one of the few couples throughout scripture that exhibit a true partnership.  They worked together in their tent making business. They traveled together in accompanying Paul.  Together they coached Apollos about his zealous teaching.  They opened their home and provided training and worship for other believers.  They were true partners in their commitment to living out God’s purpose for their lives.

In their brief story we see very little about gender and much more about partnership.  It seems that Aquila and Priscilla kept their focus on their calling to ministry rather than focusing on acceptable gender roles.

What stands out to me from their example is the importance of husbands and wives sharing a vision for ministry.  Notice that Aquila and Priscilla were not vocational ministers.  They operated a tent making business to support them, but it is obvious from their story that teaching and equipping believers was their driving motivation.  They shared this purpose together and I believe that shared purpose allowed their ministry work to flourish.

To some degree I envy the seemingly simplistic focus that Priscilla and Aquila shared.  Scripture does not tell us if they had children so we do not know what additional layers of complexity could have distracted them from being leaders in the early church.  But whatever hurdles they faced, they obviously were purposeful to structure their lives to allow teaching and equipping believers to be their primary focus.

Aquila and Priscilla’s lives provide reason for us to consider our modern lives.  How are we partnering with our spouse for Kingdom impact?  Do we have a shared vision that is more than juggling schedules and paying bills?  How frequently do we talk with our spouse about how our lives intersect with the “great commission”? 

Priscilla’s example is a reminder that we as women can have an equally significant impact in ministry.  We are equally called and we are equally gifted.  Our responsibility is to be faithful to where we are placed, respectful to the leaders who surround us and committed to using our gifts for God’s greater purposes.  

Jenni Catron is a church leader, author and speaker. Her passion is to lead well and to inspire, equip and encourage others to do the same. Jenni blogs at www.jennicatron.com.  Her new book, CLOUT: Discover and Unleash Your God-Given Influence is available now.  She loves a fabulous cup of tea, great books, learning the game of tennis and hanging out with her husband and border collie.  

This is our second reflection in our exploration of 'Just the tea-makers? Women in the early church', our topic for Week IV of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).

Co-workers in Christ - Anna Tate

‘Women are nothing but machines for producing children.’ – Napoleon Bonaparte.

For most of the girls and women that I know – statements like this make us both cringe and feel anger to some degree. Thankfully, society appears to have moved on from thinking this, but the early church no doubt held such opinions about women.

Paul gives us an interesting insight into his feelings towards women and their role in Romans 16.  This passage is titled ‘Personal Greetings’ and, as you would expect, it is one where Paul writes greetings to people, interestingly more than a third of which are women. Not only does he mention their names, but also he goes further in detailing how their faith and generosity have impacted him on his journey. The first name he mentions is Phoebe who is given a particularly informative description, which would perhaps suggest that she had a significant impact on him;

‘I commend you to our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the Church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.’ (Romans 16:1-2, NIV)

In these verses Paul is very direct in asking the Church to help Phoebe in any way they can, which suggests that he holds her in high esteem. Phoebe had the responsibility of carrying Paul’s letter from Corinth to Rome and this is not a task which Paul would have taken lightly; it is most likely that he would only have entrusted such a mission to someone who he knew that he could absolutely trust and the fact that Phoebe was given this role speaks volumes about Paul’s feelings towards her.

This passage is a friendly and polite signing off of Paul’s letter. When we write messages today very rarely would we finish them without some sort of greeting; ‘I hope you’re doing well!’, or even, ‘Lots of love, hope to see you soon!’  The fact that Paul names so many people so specifically would suggest that these people were of particular significance to him on his journey; chances are that around this time he was meeting a number of people and was no doubt bombarded with lots of names and stories. The way in which he adds short descriptions to each name also suggests that these were people with whom he spent significant time or shared experiences with.

I believe this passage has a lot to say about gender roles in the Early Church; further through the passage Paul mentions Priscilla who he recognises as risking her life for him and who also, along with her husband Aquila, holds Church meetings in her house. Mary, who he describes as working hard for the Church and Junia, who has been in prison with him. These acts that Paul describes in short sentences speak volumes about the role that these women played and it is clear that they were valued members whose contributions were cherished.

For the 21^st century Church my interpretation of this passage would be that women and men both have much to contribute; granted this isn’t new thinking around this topic but if you look back at the passage it is interesting to note the way in which Paul describes Priscilla and Aquila in verse 3 as ‘my co-workers in Christ Jesus.’ (Romans 16 v 3 NIV)

He makes no differentiation between their gender, but groups them together in this simple phrase. Perhaps what we can take from this is that there is no gender which can contribute more to the Church than the other, each individual, regardless of gender, has unique skills and talents to offer and once we move out of the gender stereotypical boxes it can be amazing to see the impact that will follow.

Anna Tate is a Youth and Children's Worker in Belfast, NI. She loves to see young people challenging themselves and reaching their full potential.

This is our first reflection in our exploration of 'Just the tea-makers? Women in the early church', our topic for Week IV of our Gender in the New Testament series. What do you think? Share your thoughts by commenting on this blog, discussing on Facebook or tweeting @sophianetwork using #genderinNT. Let's join in the discussion together.

(Image courtesy of Paige Larson Photography).