I love that you are a shit disturber. I would suggest that others would love to be shit disturbers but do not have the courage to take that role publicly and instead express that wish privately.
I know people like that. I love that you are courageous.
I think often of the movie/play The Wizard of Oz which reveals the reality. What appears to be power is often a frightened man with a loud voice masking insecurity.
There was no insecurity in the women who won the Olympic medals.
For too long women have been stalwart in “supporting their men”.
(I believe in support, EQUAL support, not a competition.)
It is time for more women to be the decision makers and policy makers and own the power that God gave them.
Amen. I was given a kind of permission in my evangelical experience to be a shit disturber. This meant that I could say things in sermons and in conversation that I am aware other people would not have gotten away with. Some of this is culture, some is personality, some is the voice granted to me simply because those I was speaking to would hear things from a male with standing in the church that they would never accept from someone without that standing or from a woman. When conflict arose with the church leadership that resulted in myself and other staff leaving it was obvious to me that people who disagreed with me were much more dismissive and harsh towards the women that they were disagreeing with than they were to me. Unfortunately, this included the women in leadership at the time. In my observation even some women in leadership had a much more "who do you think you are?" approach to women than they did to men.
Things are changing for the better in many places, but parts of the evangelical church including some supposedly "new" churches and ministries are doubling down on the only males as leaders stance. Some of the most conservative churches in Vancouver on these matters are ones that are marketed to attract young people.
Excellent article Todd! It would be interesting to continue the discussion as to how this teaching also impacted Christian colleges, universities , overseas missions and hospitals , all boards run mainly by men.
Thanks Carol Anne! It is certainly worth noting and discussing that many of the institutions you mention were (and are) more than willing to admit women as students and to accept their tuition payments, but still deny that those women as candidates for leadership positions that men taking the same course of studies are pursuing. As a pastor I saw that in many churches, the post-secondary "Christian" options for education tend to offer an extension of parental and church authority. In some cases "secular" schools are deemed dangerous. One faith aspect of this that I find interesting is that while this faith is supposed to be the best, most wonderful, fantastic thing in the world, many of those who adhere to it apparently live in fear that it will be rejected at first attempt, that it might not stand up to any kind of honest questioning. Turns out to be a "This is the BEST THING IN THE WORLD EVER, but never ever consider anything else because if you do, you might well turn away from this best thing." This lack of actual confidence in faith showed up as well in the discussion of male and female roles.
I love that you are a shit disturber. I would suggest that others would love to be shit disturbers but do not have the courage to take that role publicly and instead express that wish privately.
I know people like that. I love that you are courageous.
I think often of the movie/play The Wizard of Oz which reveals the reality. What appears to be power is often a frightened man with a loud voice masking insecurity.
There was no insecurity in the women who won the Olympic medals.
For too long women have been stalwart in “supporting their men”.
(I believe in support, EQUAL support, not a competition.)
It is time for more women to be the decision makers and policy makers and own the power that God gave them.
Amen. I was given a kind of permission in my evangelical experience to be a shit disturber. This meant that I could say things in sermons and in conversation that I am aware other people would not have gotten away with. Some of this is culture, some is personality, some is the voice granted to me simply because those I was speaking to would hear things from a male with standing in the church that they would never accept from someone without that standing or from a woman. When conflict arose with the church leadership that resulted in myself and other staff leaving it was obvious to me that people who disagreed with me were much more dismissive and harsh towards the women that they were disagreeing with than they were to me. Unfortunately, this included the women in leadership at the time. In my observation even some women in leadership had a much more "who do you think you are?" approach to women than they did to men.
Things are changing for the better in many places, but parts of the evangelical church including some supposedly "new" churches and ministries are doubling down on the only males as leaders stance. Some of the most conservative churches in Vancouver on these matters are ones that are marketed to attract young people.
Excellent article Todd! It would be interesting to continue the discussion as to how this teaching also impacted Christian colleges, universities , overseas missions and hospitals , all boards run mainly by men.
Thanks Carol Anne! It is certainly worth noting and discussing that many of the institutions you mention were (and are) more than willing to admit women as students and to accept their tuition payments, but still deny that those women as candidates for leadership positions that men taking the same course of studies are pursuing. As a pastor I saw that in many churches, the post-secondary "Christian" options for education tend to offer an extension of parental and church authority. In some cases "secular" schools are deemed dangerous. One faith aspect of this that I find interesting is that while this faith is supposed to be the best, most wonderful, fantastic thing in the world, many of those who adhere to it apparently live in fear that it will be rejected at first attempt, that it might not stand up to any kind of honest questioning. Turns out to be a "This is the BEST THING IN THE WORLD EVER, but never ever consider anything else because if you do, you might well turn away from this best thing." This lack of actual confidence in faith showed up as well in the discussion of male and female roles.