I began writing publicly about women in church leadership in 2014, while my family was still in Peru. I was applying to doctoral programs with the intention of studying biblical interpretation, and I was thinking a lot about the role of the biblical text in my tradition (Churches of Christ). Megan and I were alsoContinue reading “On Women in Church Leadership: 1 Tim 2:8–15”
Category Archives: Leadership
An Intertextual Reflection on Cruciform Leadership
Leadership not “like the nations”? I hear a lot about “servant leadership” in Christian circles. Nonetheless, I see a lot of tacit, unexamined interest in and exercise of coercive power. For God’s people, conforming to the cultural patterns of leadership of the “nations” among which we live has always been easy. In fact, there is no evidence that IsraelContinue reading “An Intertextual Reflection on Cruciform Leadership”
On Women in Church Leadership: 1 Cor 11:2–16
Cards on the table, I don’t think there is any role in church leadership that should be reserved for men. I do not presume to write without commitments. Yet, my primary commitment is not to a position on an issue—it is to God’s mission. To put it this way is a careful hermeneutical choice. Whoever wantsContinue reading “On Women in Church Leadership: 1 Cor 11:2–16”
More Preamble on Women’s Roles
As I contemplate the future of hermeneutics in Churches of Christ in terms of a touchy subject like women’s roles, it strikes me that one critical issue is our collective emotional brokenness. To personify the tradition, I can’t help but compare us to a child of divorce. My own baggage certainly informs the analogy, but maybe it alsoContinue reading “More Preamble on Women’s Roles”
Female Leadership in Churches of Christ
I recently read Scot McKnight say in The Blue Parakeet that he regrets not advocating “mutual” (=egalitarian) female church leadership earlier in his career. I’m compelled not to have the same regret. Let this mark the beginning of my public advocacy: my church tradition, the Churches of Christ (a cappella), has been complicit in Christianity’s failure toContinue reading “Female Leadership in Churches of Christ”
Scripture & Mission 