Pop quiz: Name three women leaders in evangelical Christianity.
Not including women known primarily as partner to their better-known husbands. And just to make it interesting, let's say they have to be under age 60.
Stumped? Don't feel too badly. You're not alone.
Back in 2005 when Time magazine published its list of the "25 Most Influential Evangelicals," only four women made the cut -- and just two without their husbands. Of the two solo women, Diane Knippers and Joyce Meyer, only Meyer is involved in actual church leadership.
But Meyer turned 68 earlier this month, and Knippers (then president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy), died of cancer shortly after the Time designation.
From the outside, the evangelical Christian world, insomuch as it is identified by its "celebrities," looks like Jesus' good ol' boys club: decidedly male and predominantly white.
In the words of the R&B group 702, "Where my girls at?"
Since she began her writing career in 2001, Margaret Feinberg, 37, has written more than two dozen books, including the critically acclaimed "The Organic God," "The Sacred Echo" and "Scouting the Divine." She is a sought-after speaker for gatherings of young evangelicals including Catalyst, Thrive and Creation Festival.
In 2005, Charisma magazine listed her among the 30 Christian leaders under 40 who represent "the future of the American church." She's probably the most influential young woman leader in evangelicalism you've never heard of.
Feinberg's newest book, "Hungry for God: Hearing God's Voice in the Ordinary and the Everyday," is a recasting of her 2001 spiritual memoir, "God Whispers: Learning to Hear His Voice."
"I wrote 'God Whispers' exploring the belief that as followers of Jesus, we are wired to hear and respond to the voice of God in our lives," Feinberg writes. "Hungry for God," revisits her memoir, updating the volume with about 70 percent brand-new material, to reflect her
spiritual growth over the last decade.
"There's a difference between knowing something and owning it," Feinberg said in a phone interview. "I own it now."
Feinberg and her husband Leif Oines spend most of the year crisscrossing the country, going from churches to colleges to conferences where Feinberg teaches spiritual lessons from the Bible and real life. She is an electrifying orator, sprightly pacing the stage with a Bible, her voice anchored by a confidence and wisdom well beyond her years. In short, sister can preach!
So why is it that at these events she is often one of the only women on the program? Is there a gender ghetto in evangelical Christianity?
"It's not a gender thing," Feinberg said. "There are thousands of pastors and writers and speakers all across the country of all races and ages who are doing incredible things for the kingdom (of God) who you won't see up there either. I think we're part of a generation where the values are changing."
Feinberg recently spoke at a large international Christian gathering -- unusual, she said, because the organizers were deliberate about including diverse voices. There were people of color, women, young and old, "famous" and not. "It was such a blessing to be in that kind of a
setting," she said.
Alas, at a follow-up gathering, where the emphasis on diversity was not as deliberate, the event reverted to the status quo: mostly middle-aged white guys, she said.
Like many women of her generation who were raised by mothers who lived through the equal rights movement of the '70s, "feminism" is pretty much a given, and invoking the term feels almost anachronistic.
While the traditional patriarchal slant of evangelicalism -- including opposition to women's leadership in general, and women's ordination in particular -- is no longer en vogue, its vestiges, however unspoken, remain.
"I wonder why we're even talking about this when there are so many needs around the world?" Feinberg said. "Now is not the time. When every starving person has food, when every homeless person has a place to live, when every well is dug, when AIDS has been eradicated in Africa,
when all of our neighbors know Jesus, then we can sit and debate about titles and who should do what."
Changing the gender and racial disparity in her spiritual community will not happen overnight, nor by strong-arming women and minorities into the Christian "stratosphere," she said. "You can't just take someone, no matter who it is, and throw them in front of a crowd of 40,000 people," she said. "Change has to start at the grassroots level, in all of our churches."
Church leaders need to start young, she said, training boys and girls alike to identify their spiritual gifts and find their voices.
"Start with children's church, then move to junior high and high school youth groups, then small groups, then give them 10 minutes to talk on a Sunday morning, then 20 minutes. The change has to come from the ground up.
"Right now, it should be all hands on deck," she said. "We need everyone sharing the good news of Jesus."
This column appears via the Religion News Service.
Follow Cathleen Falsani on Twitter: www.twitter.com/godgrrl
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Those fundie "christians" sure have a way of getting themselves all tangled up in their sexual angst and hypocrisy.
Yes, the portraits are indeed conjecture. One might say the artistic equivalent of historical fiction.
Feinberg supposes that we are all part of her enlightened generation whose core values have changed because we are now somehow (more aware) and have become greater than the total sum of what God purposes of us. It is not enough to be the compliment and helper of the husband and bound up as one flesh when there are greater things to achieve from life. And perhaps for Feinberg, and others like herself there is some degree of disgrace in not being equal in headship.
It's not surprising that many Christians that this to heart. Nor is it surprising that many women resent it.
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/graphic-states-that-allow-same-sex-marriage-vs-states-that-allow-marriage-between-first-cousins/news/2009/12/26/6464
You can't deny rights to a group based on its popularity, that's madness.
What must be noted in conclusion is: (1) That the prohibition of speaking in the church to women is precise, absolute, and all-inclusive. They are to keep silent in the churches — and that means in all the public meetings for worship; they are not even to ask questions; (2) that this prohibition is given especial point precisely for the two matters of teaching and ruling covering specifically the functions of preaching and ruling elders; (3) that the grounds on which the prohibition is put are universal and turn on the difference in sex, and particularly on the relative places given to the sexes in creation and in the fundamental history of the race (the fall).
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
An encounter with the Holy Spirit puts so much in perspective. Someone who remains filled and led by the Spirit is invaluable and they know it and others know it.
you should have your bible examine. Look people, especially you who are of the so called christian faith, as opposed to just being a simple believer in Jesus as the Christ, i.e., your anointed savior.
Because In its cultural context, yes, it will apear that men have always been in the seat of authority, why! Because culturally speaking they are. How else, can you explain the why, that on any given sunday the average sepulcher I mean, church building, is occupied, body wise by the majority of Eve's daughters... but yet, head wise, is governed by a son of Adam, as if there were a hidden natural order of how things should be.
And besides, since I last checked, no one has been reported as to holding the proverbial gun to the heads of their female congregants in order to maintain the status quo of the sons of Adam.
Therefore, with the above mentioning being said, take spiritual solace in these words in that, in the Church that Christ is building 'THERE IS NEITHER MALE OR FEMALE" Gal 3:28.
The Holy Spirit prepared the fallen humanity to receive the Redeemer. He accomplished that through the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament. The redeemer is the Spiritual Christ who liberates people from the bondage of sin and death, offering them forgiveness, reunion with God and eternal life. Christ is the new Adam, Born of the Virgin Mary and the Spirit of God; being therefore a Spiritual man by nature. Christ possesses the Spirit and gives the Spirit to those who believe in him, making them Spiritual by Grace.
Church members are not sinless. However, they can be victorious over the devil because the “two Hands of God”
The Holy Spirit prepared the fallen humanity to receive the Redeemer. He accomplished that through the Law and Prophets of the Old Testament. The redeemer is the Spiritual Christ who liberates people from the bondage of sin and death, offering them forgiveness, reunion with God and eternal life. Christ is the new Adam, Born of the Virgin Mary and the Spirit of God; being therefore a Spiritual man by nature. Christ possesses the Spirit and gives the Spirit to those who believe in him, making them Spiritual by Grace.
Church members are not sinless. However, they can be victorious over the devil because the “two Hands of God”
I liked your summary very much. I belve that you are correct about what occured with the Adam and Eve saga.
I also agree that that all belivers are sinners and will hurt someone's feelings from time to time; after all they are only human. Let me also add that Christians should have compassion and love...but should never compromise the Gospel to please those who are living for the flesh and not the Spirit.As you said, this is why ADam and Eve failed, the Devil (the metaphor for the world and fleshly lusts) gave presented Adam and EVe a chice:The Sprit or the flesh. They compromised themselves and chose the the world. This si why I despise the concpt of liberal Christianity!
Genesis 1:1-2 Explains
{1} In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
{2} And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. What do these words tell us: Genesis 1:1 explains that God Created heaven and earth, not hell. Genesis 1:2 explains that darkness was upon the face of the deep, darkness contained within the Word of God, not the separation of Light from God. Genesis 1:2 specifically indicate Light and Darkness are contained within the Word of God. Not the darkness of evil:
if you truly are "the Australian". your post makes sense. Your people come from a debased and criminal background. you were criminals because you lusted after things too much. The women that Chrstians should admire a woman like Mary Mary Magdalene. She was a woman of the world, but sought freedom from the demons within. The only person that could do that was Jesus. She should be admirred becuse she had faith in Jesus and her fiath saved her. The Queen of Sheba met her match in Solomon and he still got what he wanted. The Queen of Sheba was a slave to the world: Mary Magdalene forsaked the world and reesablised her claim as a daughter of God.
The "hook"of this piece is not correct; women are front and center with Jesus. Its called teh first step in salvation. Without a woman, no one cane be saved. Doesn't matter if a woman is a beleiver or an atheist, the all came from a woman and all have the opportunity to be redeemed and return Home(John 3:5-6). One cannot have a greater status for Jesus!
The the other point is that we actually need MORE men to surround Jesus. Due to the effects of apathy caused by Pluralism, materialism, and realtive moral views on just about EVERYTHING in this world, men have fled away from Jesus. The people who have maintained their faith are the women. Men doesn't stand up for Jesus like they sed to; women do but not men. Men have been manipulated into watching silly reality shows, football games, pornography and spending too much time on the Internet promoting confusing and ungodly phllosophies. No, the women are still there with Jesus. Its usually the mother than reminds her children, "Wake up! Time for church!" The wise shoud remember Proverbs 6:19)