Day 30 No voice. No more. November

I have intentionally saved the best stuff for last. Here is a great post by Rev. Laura Hunt, PhD. She makes me laugh and cry simultaneously and I love that. Please read and share. There is so much truth in this post.

Tomorrow, I will reflect on my own "black slopes" and what it has been like for me to re-engage in advocating for full access and participation of women in church leadership. 

For those of you who have been tracking with this 30 day adventure, I want to challenge you to keep on learning about the challenges that we face, our unique "black slopes." In order to give you some help and some incentives, I am doing a book give-away. Tomorrow, the first 20 people who "share" my post "Pastor Roberta Breaks the Instagram" will be entered, receiving a chance to win one of these books: 

Keener, Craig. Paul, Women & Wives, Baker Academic, 1992.

James, Carolyn Custis. Malestrom: Manhood Swept into the Current of a Changing World, Zondervan, 2015.

Johnson, Alan, editor. How I Changed My Mind about Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals, Zondervan, 2010.

(fine print of the book give-away: if you are not a facebook, twitter, etc...user and have been following this 30 day adventure on blogger, you can enter the drawing by e-mailing tomorrows post to 10 people and cc'ing me on it. The post will appear at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. I will announce the winners and send you the book in the mail. It will probably arrive before Christmas so you can enjoy reading and sharing your reading with family and friends gathering around with egg nog or fruitcake or chestnuts roasting on an open fire.)

Skiing the Black Slopes

In the early 1990s, my husband and I joined my dad, family, and friends skiing in Switzerland. On day three, Dad decided he wanted to show us the mountain he had learned to ski on, one that held special memories for him. There was just one problem. That day, the only open slopes were the black ones, those usually reserved for the very best skiers. Even though Doug and I were novices, Dad was sure he could get us down.

  From the beginning, it was an exercise in terror. Every turn presented me with another sheer, icy drop as I made my way down, skiing and falling, and skiing and falling, and falling some more. Finally, after yet another panicked stretch of uncontrolled speed ended with me and my gear splayed out across the slope, I gratefully testing my still-working arms and legs and quit. I tore off my remaining ski and yelled through my tears, “I am walking down this stupid mountain!”

  On the way down, Dad suggested that at some point we would have a good laugh over this day. My stony silence prompted him to recognize that it was still too soon. Unfortunately, he passed away before we ever got that chance. Dad said something else though, as he carried my skis and I alternately walked and slid on my butt down the rest of that mountain, something that I never forgot. “I am getting older. I live a comfortable life with lots of good eating, good drinking, relaxing with friends. It’s good for me, once a year, to go somewhere and challenge myself to do something really difficult.”

  I have remembered that. While I still feel that he was foolish to put me in such a dangerous situation by taking me onto slopes that were far beyond my competencies, I can see that he did it because he believed I was up to the challenge. He valued the sense of accomplishing something difficult more than he valued safety and certainty.

  Skiing, certainly, is not the appropriate challenge for me. I have never learned to do it well, never been particularly interested in becoming expert at it. I went to Switzerland that year mostly to spend time with my dad. But this year I got to do something else that challenged me in a way, perhaps, similar to the way my dad felt facing Alpine slopes. I went to India by myself.

  Honestly, I am a pretty fearful person. I think about car crashes when we drive, wars and famines when we listen to the news, and medical emergencies when I’m in India, specifically my own. As a woman, I feel particularly vulnerable. And I don’t think that taking every risk that presents itself is the way to go. I do not, for example, belong on ski slopes anymore.

  But someone pointed out to me that every time people in the Bible give into fear, they do the wrong thing. Abram called Sarai his sister because he was afraid for his life and thereby put both her and his future posterity in jeopardy (Gen 12, 20). On the other hand, obeying God often requires bravery. Peter stepped out of the boat, not unafraid but with the will to put one foot in front of the other and to move forward across the water, at least initially, despite the fear (Matt 14:27–31). That’s what going to India was like for me—lots of deep breaths and focused breathing; lots of putting one foot in front of the other, knowing that moving forward, even in the Lord’s will, does not guarantee outcomes, either happy, successful, or pain-free.

  In doing that, here’s what I found. I found love. God’s love met me in India at every corner. I don’t know if the love I felt was God’s love for God’s people there, somehow poured through my heart, or God’s love for me to sustain me as I pushed past my fears, or some combination of the two. All I know is that my heart feels knit together with the hearts of so many of the people I met, dear friends now, who allowed me to experience in person the trans-national, trans-ethnic reality of God’s people.

  That place at the intersection of our hesitations and God’s call is, I believe, the sweet spot. Please, church, I beg you, do not, in some misguided attempt to keep women safe, close us off from this experience, from finding God’s love, from knowing God’s love in the midst of our fear.  Some of us experience it on the slopes of Switzerland, others in India, and still others in preaching our first sermon, leading a church, or planting one. We answer the call of God, expressed through the gifts and abilities given to each of us. We step forward despite the fear, as we say “Yes,” by the skin of our teeth, into the Holy of Holies, the Love, the very presence of God. Do not bar our way.

Day 29 No voice. No more. November

When I first watched this video, I wept. The stories were so familiar. What caused me to weep was that these male pastors were appalled at the horrible things that people had said to their female colleagues in ministry. It made me happy that there were male pastors who were shocked and horrified by words that we, female pastors, hear all the time.

The North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church is taking some bold steps in seeing that lived experience of their female pastors is different ten years from now. I'm going to post a fuller story on Saturday, December 1 with a charge and a chance for you to win a prize (a book about women in church leadership, of course) for simply sharing that post. Please watch this and consider sharing it because this is real. Notice that I have copied the Litany of Confession and Commitment here that was taken directly from NC synod's page on women in ministry.

Litany of Confession and Commitment

All (A): We confess that we are captive to our brokenness. Forgive us for the times we were silent. Forgive us for the times we were careless with our words. Forgive us for not paying attention. Forgive us for our surprise that hurtful words were being flung at our sisters in ministry. Guide us and make us new. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Leader (L): Listen, children to the truth. God has chosen to be merciful to all creation. You are no exception. Your sins are forgiven; your heart is made clean in the name of the triune God. Amen.

Read Acts 2:17-18

L: We remember Esther, who spoke truth to power to free her people.
A: Inspire us to lead as she did.

L: We remember Ruth, who made Naomi's people her people.
A: Teach us to value family as she did.

L: We remember Deborah, who was both prophetess and judge.
A: Help us be bold in our proclamation of truth.

L: We remember Mary, mother of our Lord, who bore Christ into the world.
A: Incite a movement to give voice to those who share Christ in the world.

L: We remember Mary Magdalene, who wept at the tomb and yet still proclaimed.
A: Surround us with the witnesses who, through tears, proclaim Christ to us.

L: We remember Elizabeth Platz, the first woman ordained by any Lutheran denomination.
A: Direct us to shape a different church for the next generation of women pastors.

L: We remember Earlene Miller, the first African-American woman ordained by any Lutheran denomination in North America.
A: Make us a welcoming people, open to all.

L: We remember that you created women in your image.
A: Encourage us to speak well of each other.

L: We remember.
A: Help us remember well and commit to do better.

L: God of Surprises, you call us
from narrowness of our traditions to new ways of being church
from the captivities of our culture to create witness for justice
from the smallness of our horizons to the bigness of your vision.

L: Clear the way in us, your people, that we might call others to freedom and renewed faith and that all might know the beauty and power and danger of the gospel, especially through the ministerial witness of women, who with their many gifts, can bring healing to a suffering church and people. Amen.
#novoicenomorenovember

Day 28 No voice. No more. November

Excellent untangling of 1 Timothy 2:12 here by Greg Boyd and Nikole Mitchell

#novoicenomorenovember

Day 27 No voice. No more. November

Discussion Questions to Accompany Lived Experience

(see Study Commission on Doctrine's Conversations page, link at the bottom of this post)

(image of flat BT and Rosemary removed because I think that it was the photo that broke the Instagram...just a theory) 

For Everyone
Have you ever been told, "I just don't get you" or "you are not really the person we are looking for" by a co-workers, potential employers, or bosses? How did it make you feel?

Discuss how you felt when a person in authority over you made a joke or used humor to insult or shame you.

Discuss which Bible translation you prefer. What criteria do you use in making this decision? Have you ever considered how others respond to things such as exclusive language used in Bible translations or exclusively masculine language used for church leaders? Now that you have considered this,k are you willing to change your behavior?

For male pastors
Share about a time when you asked a female peer in ministry to share her story. Did you listen without interrupting and becoming defensive?

Consider praying for fresh ears to humbly hear things such as exclusive language and human that insults for what it is (hurtful) and share with others your awareness and steps you are taking in order to be more loving toward your female colleagues.

Are there women for whom you need to become an advocate? Are there broken relationships that need healing?

For those in authority over women
Consider who the women are in your charge that need support, mentoring, and resourcing. Are there gifted women you could ask to lead in your church or conference? Who are the women you need to invite to speak at your next conference training day, retreat, camp, workshop, or class?

What are ways you can use your influence and access to champion gifted women into positions that they are qualified for and called to?

For women in ministry
Tell those around you your story. If it feels impossible or like there is no one who will listen, pray for boldness and strength and for direction about how and with whom to share.

Who are the people who can support you and mentor you? What are steps you can take to cultivate a strong and broad network of support?

#flatBT
#novoicenomorenovember
http://new.fmcusa.org/conversations/lived-experience-of-female-free-methodist-pastors/

Day 26 No voice. No more. November

Women in Ministry

by David M. Scholer

"Jesus's inclusion of and ministry to and through women within his own life and teaching were a powerful witness to the early church of the partnership of women and within its membership and ministry."

Several short videos by experts such as Dr. Joel Green are posted on the page as well. This is a wonderful reservoir of material.
#novoicenomorenovember
Access the entire Women in Ministry article on Fuller Seminary website:
https://www.fuller.edu/womeninministry/?fbclid=IwAR1pgA7YBFnhB7aXF9HAQF8Zb_FZ3n6_3YSThdfj-Yly6N6qcvj0Megcan4

Day 25 No voice. No more. November

A PRAYER OF LAMENT FOR OUR SISTERS

by Daryl L. Smith

[from EMBRACE ALL, A Free Methodist event, Indianapolis, IN]

September 27, 2018

Eternal God...
Some of us prefer to identify you as “Father”
Others of us warm to calling you “Mother”
Because we need some human, some gender identity with you.
Yet we know that you are all that a mother or father could encompass
And infinitely more.
Yet our gender issues are not somehow foreign to you.
Our gender is at the heart of who you created us to be.
You created us in your image as women and men...
Yet from those early days when the first man stole the name “adam” for himself,
the name you meant for both man and woman together…
objectifying his partner to her function of nursing and birthing…
...we humans have attempted to lord it over one another ever since.
And across the centuries that abuse of power, has most frequently been imposed on women
by men.
So when you wanted us to understand you best, you came to earth as a human...a gendered
person, as Jesus. Teaching us how to live together in deep respect for one another—and
declared the end to the functional use of women.
But as we gather here this weekend, we must grieve that all these centuries later, most times
we are still doing badly.
Whether in the White House, in the Congress, or the Supreme Court;
in our locker rooms, in our churches, or in our homes, we nearly daily excuse sexual violence
against women as “boys will be boys”…
The truth is, no excuse works to make right the sin that we men have done against our sisters
—and against YOU—against your creation plan for how we are to live in partnership with one
another.
So TODAY we join together to repent, to confess our sin…
We confess that we too long have allowed, and even endorsed leaders who use and abuse
women.
We confess that we have allowed degrading language to be spoken, yes, in our locker rooms,
but also at our water coolers, in our churches, and in our homes.
For this we confess our sin.
We confess that we have used our male (usually white) privilege to build social systems that
disadvantage women—to our status gain, to higher wages, and we have not aggressively
made way for women to work at equal pay.
We confess, as men and women—we have too long allowed slave holders of all sorts to use
women for profit.
We confess that we have not mentored and modeled healthy ways for our daughters, to
become all that YOU have called them to be.
We confess, as men and women—that we and our denominational leaders have refused to
open doors for women into ministry leadership.
We confess that in our homes we men have attempted to be king of the castle, often using
perverted scriptural interpretation to beat our spouses into submission.
We confess, we have turned our eyes away when abuse is happening, right in front of us.
As men, we confess that we have refused to listen—to acknowledge, and even mocked our
sisters’ cries for help…when they took the chance to speak up.
So God...For all of this…and so much more…we repent for our sin!
We ask your forgiveness…
We ask you to break our hardened male hearts,…
then through your Spirit, remake our hearts and minds,
into the image of Jesus in whose name we pray.
Amen.
#novoicenomorenovember

Day 24 No voice. No more. November

Learning from My Mistakes

by Charles Metcalf

Here are some nuggets from this great article. It is a must read, so access it through the link below.

"I learned the hard way that it is not enough for pastors to simple mention the church's position on female leadership once during a yearly sermon. Pastors must be intentional about continually keeping the message of equality at the forefront."
Five practical steps to do better:

1. Make a Strategic Preaching Plan
2. Repeat Yourself
3. Clearly Communicate your Core Values on your Website
4. Use a Gender-Accurate Version of the Bible
5. Take Advantage of Newcomer's Classes
6. Share Your Own Journey

#novoicenomorenovember #CBEInternational
https://www.cbeinternational.org/resources/article/mutuality/learning-my-mistakes

Day 23 No voice. No more. November

What You Get When You Call a Clergywoman

I'm going to summarize what you get when you call a woman to be your pastor. The link at the end will connect with the full post which is excellent. It also will link you with the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and the article about how congregations can better support female pastors.

We love Jesus.

We know our Scripture.

We have been vetted, then vetted some more.

We have had our mettle tested.

We have a deep, DEEP sense of call.

We are endlessly creative.

We are backed by a fierce tribe, which provides its members with wisdom and support.

#novoicenomorenovember
https://laurastephensreed.com/2017/01/17/what-you-get-when-you-call-a-clergywoman/

Day 22 No voice. No more. November

Day 22 No voice. No more. November

Great work here by Dr. Ben Witherington (notice that his is part 1 so it means that you get two for one here). Happy Thanksgiving!

#novoicenomorenovember

#seedbed

Day 21 No voice. No more. November

Six Quotes from Men on Why the Church Needs Women

Mandy Smith - Missio Alliance

1. "(In) a society in which the masculine extreme is crystallized in technology, the feminine part, which, I would say, is focused on sensitivity, spontaneity and intuition is starting to rally again. In other words, I feel that women are now far more capable than men of restoring meaning to the world we live in, of restoring goals for living and possibilities for surviving in this technological world." Jacques Ellul
2. "It's not surprising to us that so many of our most inspiring models of leading as designers are women. Historically men have often glamorized the structure that emphasize separation, individuality, power, indestructibility and wealth. Women, however, have excelled for centuries at creating and designing environments for deeper shared life." Paul Sparks, Tim Soerens, and Dwight Friesen
3. "Movements need 'masculine' technique and structure, certainly, but they also require us to be more fluid, responsive, and intuitive in order to develop - especially when we need creative solutions in order to thrive/survive." Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson
4. "I do not think that women ministers and theologians are the first to have discerned the realities of grief and amazement in our lives, but they have helped us see them as important dimensions of prophetic reality. In many ways these sisters have permitted me to see what I otherwise might have missed." Walter Bruggemann
5. "We've noticed that when we make purposeful space for women leaders to lead in our church there is a certain tenderness that is brought to decisions. This is not weakness, but a tenderness of love, care and attention that is intuitive to women. This has been a beautiful dynamic. In fact, there have been decisions our leaders have made where we've looked back and said, 'If we had women involved in the decision we think this could have been a lot less messy and people would have felt more nurtured and cared for in the process.' When embodied well, the balance of strength and tenderness in leadership is a beautiful thing." J.R. Briggs
6. "Women bring a challenge to historically male patterns of power. As long as they resist the temptation to enter the systems 'as is' under hierarchical terms, they bring a challenge that is counter, in that women push for relational engagement and a consideration of others that comes from not being considered themselves." David Fitch

see post at: https://www.missioalliance.org/6-quotes-men-church-needs-women/
#novoicenomorenovember

Day 20 No voice. No more. November

Day 20 No voice. No more. November

#FlatBT says: stop watching funny cat videos and watch Lived Experience on youtube #MarstonHistorical #LightandLifeMagazine #novoicenomorenovember

Day 19 No voice. No more. November

Biblical Marriage: Leading and Serving Together

Jon and Jada Swanson

In our marriage, one way we practice mutual submission as husband and wife is by deferring to one another's strengths. There are subjects and areas in life where on of us is exceedingly smarter and/or has more experience than the other. As such, we yield to each other's admonition or advice. We know each other's, we defer decision-making to the other based upon individual strengths, and we trust one another to make the best decision for our family. We lead from our strengths in order to be an incredible team. 
http://fmcusa.org/lightandlifemag/biblical-marriage-leading-and-serving-together/
#novoicenomorenovember
#LightandLifeMagazine
#relationshipgoals

Day 18 No voice. No more. November

Macrina's Prayer

It is you, O Lord, who have freed us from the fear of death. You have made our life here the beginning of our true life. You grant our bodies to rest in sleep for a season and you rouse our bodies again at the last trumpet.

You have given in trust to the earth our earthly bodies, which you have formed with your own hands, and you have restored what you have given, by transforming our mortality and ugliness by our immortality and your grace.

You have delivered us from the curse of the law and from sin, by being made both on our behalf. You have broken the dragon's head - that dragon who seized man by the throat and dragged him through the yawning gulf of disobedience. You have opened for us the way of the resurrection, after breaking the gates of hell, and have destroyed him that had the power of death.

You have given as a token to those who fear you the image of the holy cross, to destroy the adversary and to bring stability to our lives.

Eternal God, for whom I was snatched from my mother's womb, whom my soul loved with all its strength, to whom I consecrated my flesh from youth now, entrust to me an angel of light, who will lead me by the hand to the place of refreshment, where the "water of repose" is, in the bosom of the holy patriarchs.

May you, who cut through the fire of the flaming sword and assigned to paradise him who was crucified with you and entrusted to your pity, remember me too in your kingdom, because I too have been crucified with you; from fear of you I have nailed down my flesh and have been in fear of your judgments.

May the terrible gulf not separate me from those whom you have chosen, nor may the malignant Enemy set himself across my path, nor may my sin be discovered in your sight, if having error through the weakness of our human nature, I have committed any sin in word and in deed.

May you who have power on earth to forgive sins, forgive me, that I may draw breath and that I may be found in your presence, "having shed by body and without spot or wrinkle" in the form of my soul, and that my soul may be innocent and spotless and may be received into your hands like incense in your presence.

A the time of her death, there was a procession from the monastery to the church and this included many local people, both lay and clergy. A bishop presided at her funeral and she is buried in the Church of the Holy Martyrs in modern day Turkey. She is considered one of the Cappadocian "Fathers" according to many church history scholars. Her brothers, St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nyssa were credited with much of her work.Gregory served as pope and was with her at the time of her death. He saw her stretch out her hands to Jesus and gently and barely audibly pray. For more of her story, see the work of Kevin Corrigan and Laura Swan's The Forgotten Desert Mothers.

#novoicenomorenovember

Day 17 No voice. No more. November

Towards a Deeper Theology of Women

In the Forward of How I Changed My Mind about Women In Leadership, Dallas Willard states:

It is not the rights of women to occupy 'official' ministerial roles, not their equality to men in those roles, that set the terms of service to God and their neighbors. It is their obligations to do so - obligations that derive from their human abilities empowered by divine gifting. It is the good they can do and the duty to serve that comes from that, which impels them to serve in all ways possible.

Women and men are indeed very different, and those differences are essential to how God empowers each to induce the Kingdom of God into specific life settings and ministry. What we lose by excluding the distinctively feminine from 'official' ministries of teaching and preaching is of incalculable value. That loss is one of a few fundamental factors that account for the astonishing weakness of the church in contemporary context.

https://juniaproject.com/towards-a-deeper-theology-of-women/
#novoicenomorenovember

Day 16 No voice. No more. November

David Kendall, Bishop of the Free Methodist Church

gives an incredible synopsis of the whole Biblical story pointing to the fact that God created both male and female to work and lead together. Humanity made a fatal human choice not to do life God's way and because of that both male and female have suffered and caused others to suffer as well. However, God worked in the story, most fully in bringing the Kingdom of God into human history in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the world's Messiah and full redemption. This means that women and men are saved and restored to their original mission: to work and lead together. This is the thrust of the whole story. This means that the two passages that, at first glance appear to say that women should not lead, are clearly not intended to keep women from working and leading. The final word is that God, in Christ, has given men and women abundant life and intends us to flourish and work for that same result for the world.

See my facebook post for the video.

#novoicenomorenovember

Day 15 No voice. No more. November

We Need Women in Pastoral Leadership



Great video from a Free Methodist Supt. in California.

#novoicenomorenovember

Day 14 No voice. No more. November

a coffee mug cheers to all of us pastors and our husbands....thanks Sarah Coleson Derck, I stole the picture!

#novoicenomorenovember