When one group is privileged over another, the other group suffers, and we are not fully living out the gospel message.
The Church has long been seen as a patriarchal institution which has reinforced beliefs about inequality between gendered roles, discrimination against women, and rigid heteronormative stereotypes. We seek to educate across a range of gender-based issues within the church.
“Women comprise half the world’s population yet number 70% of those who live in poverty; they do 75% of the world’s agricultural work while owning only 1% of the land; they represent only 20% of the world’s parliamentarians.” Rosemary Lain Priestley. Gender: The Inclusive Church Resource. p. 77.
When interpreted correctly, the Bible teaches that all people are called to serve at all levels of the Church, and that leadership should be based primarily on gifting and not on gender.
Resources for Gender Inclusivity
Suggested websites:
- Women and the Church (WATCH) is an organisation ‘working together for gender justice, equality and inclusion in the Church of England’. https://womenandthechurch.org/
- Women Word Spirit – Long-standing network of support for exploring issues around women and the church: originally Roman Catholic based. https://www.womenwordspirit.org/
- The Gender Agenda – Steve Chalke makes a passionate case for the full acceptance and inclusion of trans people in churches by Steve Chalke https://vimeo.com/261825846
- Transgender Ally https://www.queertheology.com/transgender-ally/
- THE JUNIA PROJECT a volunteer community of women and men advocating for the inclusion of women in leadership in the Christian church and for mutuality in marriage. https://juniaproject.com/
- 49 Seriously Good Blogs for Christian Egalitarians – https://juniaproject.com/49-seriously-good-blogs-christian-egalitarians/
- Christians for Biblical Equality – https://www.cbeinternational.org/
Suggested books:
- Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter
Lindsay Hardin Freeman, Forward Movement in partnership with the Episcopal Church Women 2014 - Women’s Faith Development
Nicola Slee, Ashgate, 2004. Compares how women describe their faith development with the predominant model by Fowler. - Liturgies for the Journey of Life
Dorothea McRae McMahon, SPCK 2000 Gender-inclusive liturgies for groups on a wide variety of occasions. - Beyond Sex Roles: What the Bible Says about a Woman’s Place in Church and Family by Gilbert Bilezikian
- Johnson, A. F. (2010). How I Changed My Mind about Women in Leadership: Compelling Stories from Prominent Evangelicals.
- McKnight, S. (2011). Junia is Not Alone. Denver: Patheos Press