Post title is ripped from this recent post at signposts because, well, it’s catchy… and the subject of the role of women (or chicks) is a touchy one. Except in emerging churches, where it seems to be less of a non-issue, in the “what’s the big deal” vein. otoh, that doesn’t mean we’re seeing many women in leadership, even in emerging churches. Hit the link for 5 hypotheses or contributing factors to why EC doesn’t have more “leader-chicks.” Once you’re through that, you might peruse “Women’s Service in the Church: The Biblical Basis” by N.T. Wright (HT: Sivin Kit).
Missional Chicks
by Brother Maynard | Jul 14, 2005 | Emerging Church, Scripture Considered, The Sojourn, Theology | 3 comments
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- signposts.org.au » Blog Archive » missional chicks - [...] 31 Subversive Influence » Missional Chicks Says: July 15th, 2005 at 5:14 am [...]
Elizabeth Johnson, “She Who Is” author wrote one of the leading text on feminine theology. It would serve pastors well to be in touch with tha attributes of God. Let’s face it, women have been treated fairly crappy in the church. The reality is that women have been treated poorly by society. It’s not a rant, just a reality. I definitely think it is a “justice” issue as much as feeding he hungry is about “justice.”
You may be interested in a book by David Murrow titled, “Why Men Hate Going to Church”
(Nelson Books, 2005).
He writes “I studied this phenomenon for five years, and wrote my findings
in a book titled, Why Men Hate Going to Church (Nelson Books, 2005). If I had to
summarize my conclusions in one sentence it would be this: The modern church
system is not designed to do what Jesus did: reach men with the Good News.
No, today’s churches, without even realizing it, create an environment where
women and tots thrive, but men feel hesitant and restrained. How so? Without
even realizing it, modern churches default to a feminine spirituality.
For instance, we focus almost exclusively on Christ’s gentle side.
A good Christian is always soft, sweet, and sentimental, focused on family
and relationships instead of goals and achievement. Common church practices
such as handholding, sitting in a circle and sharing your feelings, public
reading and singing make men feel uncomfortable or incompetent.
Today’s praise songs present Christ as lover rather than leader. I could go on.
So men depart (or go passive). This in itself is a tragedy. But the greater loss
comes years later, when the next generation turns its back on church,
despite their mothers’ superhuman attempts to grow them into spiritual champions.
It’s time to face the truth: if we’re going to pass a lifelong faith to our
children, we must re-engage men. No amount of Sunday school, VBS, or youth group
will do the trick. We might as well fold up our flannelgraphs and go home.
In fact, we might reach more kids by canceling the entire children’s ministry
and focusing our efforts on men. This strategy would, in the long run, produce
more lifelong followers of Jesus.
Kids need one thing: to see their fathers following Jesus.
The question is: do we have the courage to transform the local church into
a place where your average guy can connect with God?”
My stodgy old conservative evangelical denomination approved of the ordination of women from its very inception in the 1860’s.