CBE's Women and Christian History: Building on a Legacy Conference

Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) is a ministry that I mentioned in a previous post. They are a ministry that promotes equal access to all positions within church leadership regardless of social class, ethnicity or gender. This ministry is based on Galatians 3:27-29-


For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.


And there mission statement is as follows:

CBE affirms and promotes the biblical truth that all believers—without regard to gender, ethnicity or class—must exercise their God-given gifts with equal authority and equal responsibility in church, home and world.

This statement can be found on their website, along with their numerous resources that promote biblical equality. Although I do not have the finances I would become a member of CBE, I do fully support their cause and will do whatever I can to promote it.

Their primary focus is gender equality, specifically the freedom for women to enter all areas of church ministry. One of the ways they promote their beliefs is through conferences. One of the conferences is  Women and Christian History: Building on a Legacy. This conference is happening in Chicago and will look at the  women have fulfilled throughout Israelite and Church history.

Although I do not have the finances to go to the conference or donate to it, I do have the technological resources to promote it and CBE. I will always be for women in church leadership and biblical egalitarianism, and I hope that people who read this will consider promoting the conference, or going to it!

In closing, here is an email I got from CBE about the story of the youngest woman to become and Anglican Priest, who showed the importance of CBE's work and this conference:


Sharing the Legacy:

Dear Friend,
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of speaking with a woman whose life displays the importance of CBE's message. Here is her story, which I thought you'd enjoy.

Heather Ann came into contact with CBE several years ago while she was working on her bachelor’s degree in religious studies. Even at the age of twenty, she felt called to the priesthood, though pursuing this calling brought backlash from her classmates. When Heather Ann was assigned to write a paper on women and Christianity, she called CBE for resources. Little did she know this organization would become a solid support system in her life.

In the package Heather Ann received from CBE was one of Dorothy Irvin’s annual calendars The Archeology of Women’s Traditional Ministries in the Church and a bookmark with an image of the tombstone of a female priest. Suddenly, Heather Ann was not alone. Women had been strong leaders in the church for centuries, and here was the evidence!

The bookmark from that first package accompanied Heather Ann wherever she went. “This was my proof,” she says. Whenever people asked her about being a female priest, she would show them the bookmark as evidence of her place within a larger tradition.

Armed with evidence of her priestly forerunners and supported by CBE members, Heather Ann became one of the youngest priests ordained in the diocese of Chicago, and the third Puerto Rican ordained in this same diocese. Today, Heather Ann is starting a church plant through the Anglican Church in North America.

To support women like Heather Ann, CBE and the Greater Chicago Chapter are hosting the one-day conference Women and Christian History: Building on a Legacy. As one of the conference's renowned speakers, Dorothy Irvin will present the same images that so strongly influenced Heather Ann’s ministry. What’s more, this conference will be located down the street from several Christian colleges and seminaries where women much like Heather Ann are in need of the encouragement of female church leaders throughout history.

Here are a few ways in which you can help us to reach as many people as possible with this conference.

1) Donate! Promoting a conference requires a lot of time and resources, from printing and design to mailing and phoning. Will you make a generous donation toward marketing this conference?

2) Tell your friends! Post links to CBE’s conference website on your Facebook, MySpace or Twitter account. Mention us in your blog. Let others know about this great opportunity!

Help CBE share the legacy of women in Christian history—a legacy worth building on!


In Christ's Loving Provision,
Mimi Haddad
President

P.S. CBE conferences provide life-changing fellowship and resources to hundreds of people. Donate to CBE conferences today!

It sucks that I can't go to the conference, but I hope through this blog article and my use of other social networking sites others will go to it and learn about what God has done through women through the centuries.

Why Aren't Women Preaching?

There are a lot of controversial issues in the church today. Some of them are whether or not to add funding to youth ministry or to seniors ministry within local churches, while others split Christianity in two. One of those issues is women in ministry. Why aren't women preaching? Why are there more men then women in pastoral positions in the church?

Because for some assanine reason Christian men decided that the only place God had for women in the church was to marry Christian husbands, make Christian babies, only serve children's or women's ministry, and feed everyone until the day we die. I am not saying that women are not called for those things as women are the only ones who can bear young but I have a problem with the idea that that is all that we are good for. As Christianity became more and more accepted into society, the church began to adopt certain cultural practices that were not biblical practices. Some of these are the belief that Europeans and European/Western culture is the most superior culture on earth and that men are the most superior gender on earth.

A lot of issues I'll be talking about in this blog things I enjoy to pist me the f_____ off. This issue, the issue of women in leadership or lack thereof, falls right under the pist me the f___ off category. I know, I am a Christian and I use coarse language. Well, that is another controversial issue within the church. However, that is a more "whatever fits the situation" with me. This is one of those situations. Why? Because I fail to see how so many men are into history and can study all the wars, atrocities, and injustices their gender has committed because they had the power to do so because they were in leadership and still say that our world will not spin unless men are in leadership.

The only thing men have been superior at when it comes to leadership is committing all kinds of violent acts that go from sexual assault to genocide. You men have had 2000+ years to show that you are superior in leadership, and you have done virtually nothing but abuse that privilege. Some days I look forward to judgement day when God holds men accountable for their abuse of their leadership positions in the church, home, politics, and the world.

 Except for the odd honourable male that pops up in history, the only man that truly belongs in leadership is Jesus Christ because He is only one that can be trusted to not abuse His powers. My proof? Being God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ could have used His divine abilities to ensure global domination. Instead He chose to be dirt poor and had to get money out of a fish in order to pay the temple tax. All others fall flat, including King David who proved to be an incompetent, whiny, weeping wimp in the end.

During this year I read books on egalitarianism and I have found them quite compelling, and they bring a lot more sense to Bible passages, like 1Timothy 2, then complementarians (only men belong in leadership) ever did. One of the ministries God lead me to was Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE). It turns out that CBE has a chapter in Toronto. If I could, I would join CBE but for now I will post blog articles about women preaching. Perhaps I will do an internship there if God wills it- note it is not if a man wills it but if God wills it.

Women are not property, we are not the inferior sex. Women are equal with men and made in the image of God. The image of God is male and female, not just male or more male then female.  Christian Women, it is time for us to follow God's lead and do His will, even if it is through hardship. If men want to stand in God's way then they'll be the ones to reap the consequences in the end. However, Jesus will honour people who strive to do His will regardless of the consequences.

Before I end this. here are a couple of speeches I wrote for the RBC scholarship on what I was passionate about.  I am passionate about two things: Jesus and biblical women's rights. For the scholarship I chose to write about women's rights, specifically women in leadership. Thanks to CBE and all the egalitarian literature for inspiring me to write about this, regardless of whether I won or lost. And thanks to my mother, another woman who encouraged me to hold on to my egalitarian beliefs, who edited the essays for me!

RBC Scholarship Essays

Question 1: Please present the community or environmental issue you are most passionate about, whether it is global or community based.

Entering full-time Christian ministry can be a difficult choice for Christian women. There are many women who have felt God’s call to full-time Christian ministry and have achieved all the educational requirements; however, they are constantly prevented from entering into senior pastoral positions because of their gender. My passion is to see women have active positions in the church hierarchy and for Galatians 3:28 to become a reality in the church, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NIV).

Question 2: Imagine yourself addressing a room of your peers. Please write a speech that you would give to inspire/ask others to mobilize for your cause and join you in being an agent of change to achieve your cause related goals.

Galatians 3:28 says  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (NIV). I have experienced that verse become reality in my daily life at Emmanuel Bible College. Here Christian women and men come together in order to learn how to minister to other people. The same cannot be said for the church where in most cases the higher echelon is exclusively male. Many of the women, like myself, studying theology today will attempt to enter church ministry after graduating, only to be prevented because they are women. As I ponder this reality in the church, I wonder if pursuing a theological education is a waste of our time and money. For many women studying the various facets of theology today future employment will be limited to women’s and children’s ministry. Why is it that we have the same calling from God, complete the same studies, but cannot have access to the same positions in the church?

I believe that there are many women called to women’s ministry and children’s ministry, and I want to see them carry out what God has planned for them. However, there are also many women that feel strongly called to church leadership. They successfully complete their schooling, equalling or exceeding their male counterparts, only to have the church oppose God’s calling for them. This hierarchal structure, where women are subordinate to men is similar to what women are still subject to in many other areas of Canadian culture today. For example, in the year 2000 women only made 71% of what men made (Macionis, Jansson, & Benoit, 2009, p. 266).

Jesus Christ came to overturn societal norms and to proclaim a more egalitarian society:

The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.  (Luke 21:25-26).

This double standard that results in women being stopped from pursuing the paths that God has called them to by those who believe the higher echelon of the church is a male exclusive domain, questions whether the church is representing what God, through his Son Jesus Christ, envisioned.  As we move toward egalitarianism in our society, it is for the church to take the lead in our society towards equality.  It is time for women to take their rightful places as redeemed people of God and follow His calling and his lead wherever it may take them.

References

Macionis, J. J., Jansson, S. M., & Benoit, C. M. (2009). Society: The Basics (4 ed.). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Star Wars The Old Republic Historical Timeline Videos

The Old Republic is the next installment in the KOTOR franchise. It is the first MMO Bioware has ever produced and the first MMO in gaming history to include story as an aspect to online games. The game is due to be released in spring, 2011. While fans. like me, wait eagerly for its release Bioware and LucasArts have been sending out historical video that tell the back story of The Old Republic as well as connecting the MMO to the original Knights of the Old Republic.

Time Line 1: The Treaty of Coruscant

The Treaty of Coruscant (TOC) is where the game starts. It is a tentative peace agreement between the Republic and Sith Empire that ended the war. This historical time line video of the TOC and introduces the historical timeline videos:

Time Line 2: The Mandalorian Blockade is Broken

The Mandalorian Blockade is what lead to the TOC because it caused a huge delay in the Emperor's victory.

Time Line 3: The Return of the Mandalorians

The Mandalorians were the direct instigators of the Mandalorian Wars that took place before the original KOTOR. They are what ultimately lead to the Jedi Civil War and Darth Revan and Darth Malak's fall. Now, they challenge the Jedi again during the heat of the Sith Empire's onslaught.

Time Line 4: The Empire Changes Strategy

The corrupted side of the Star Wars Galaxy. Mercenaries, bounty hunters, crime lords, and smugglers make up this diverse side. The corrupted side is neither light nor dark, but forms the galaxies underworld. In Star Wars Empire at War Forces of Corruption players got to work through the underworld of the Star Wars Galaxy during the Galactic Civil War and lead the Zann Consortium to underworld dominance. 4000 years earlier the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire looked for a way to get the galaxy's most notorious criminals to side with them....

Time Line 5: Battle of Bothawui

Time Line 6: The Onslaught of the Sith Empire

The Sith Empire returns into known space after being exiled for centuries. They were exiled after their defeat at the hands of the Jedi and the Galactic Republic. Assuming the Sith Empire was done, the Jedi and Republic went on to fight the Exar Kune War, the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Civil War, and the Sith Triumverate. Only the Exar Kune War had nothing to do with the Sith Empire, however, and the latter three should have alerted the Jedi and Republic to the reality of the great evil that existed beyond known space. However, it didn't and the Sith Empire returned 300 years after the death of Darth Malak and the end of the Jedi Civil War...

Time Line 7: Peace for the Republic

According to Master Gnost-Dural, the 300 years after the Jedi Civil War was a time of peace and growth for the Republic... OK, he clearly has never played KOTOR II as the first 5 years after the Jedi Civil War the Republic was fighting agaisnst the Sith Triumverate lead by Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Traya. So, I'd say the Republic was at peace for 295 years, not 300. Anyway, the Sith Emperor was not a fool during those years and sent many infiltrators into the Republic and Jedi Order in order to prepare for a Sith invasion. This video looks at one of those infiltrators 200 years after the Sith Emperor's first representatives returned to known space:

Time Line 8: The Jedi Civil War

As I explained in a previous blog article, the Sith Emperor's first representatives to return to known space were Darth Revan and Darth Malak ...

I'll edit this article as more time line videos come in. They are the property of LucasArts and Bioware, the two companies who designed the first KOTOR and who are designing Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR).
The next time line video will be about the Mandalorian Wars which lead to the Jedi Civil War.