We start a new series today on what we’re learning about women and men leading together in the church. We are committed to women being empowered to lead alongside men in the church and the world, and the reconciliation and learning necessary to inhabit social and leadership spaces together as women and men.
In this episode, Gravity Leadership cofounders Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke share some of their stories as it regards women leading in the church.
Links and resources:
- An Introduction to the Enneagram | Atlanta, Aug 17-18
- Prayer School with Brian Zahnd | New York City, Sept 14-15
- Gravity Leadership Academy | cohorts are always starting – this is where we train in the practical, on-the-ground skills needed to navigate tensions like the one we discussed today.
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I am a woman called from the age of nine now in my sixties. Taught in a Bible college for 18 years , many a time men and women dropped out of the school upon learning that I was an instructor not just a administrator.
Thanks for commenting, Carol – good to have you listening to the podcast!
A rush of thoughts here…
Thank you, guys! I have been called to ministry since I was a child. And I am a WOman. 🙂 Still not in a paid ministry role which can be a complex topic to add to your series? (I haven’t listened to it all yet.) Some women have the gift of teaching but are not being led into a formal ministry job. It’s like second tier of second tier living over here at least with this topic.
Sometimes I feel like my Southern Baptist preschool job is God’s ironic wink though. I wonder how other egalitarian women process it. Children have a special role to play in revealing the Kingdom of God so sometimes I don’t feel like I’m missing out, and it has become such a privilege to teach chapel to them. However, EVERYTHING ya’ll are saying falls in sync with my own thoughts, and I still wonder if people weren’t in the way if I would be teaching adults too.
I hope to see women healed and empowered by your hearts, and your eyes to discern what you are seeing about men and women. I actually attend a progressive church that I swear is still being influenced by these unseen patriarchal dynamics. I do also feel like changes in interpretation are not necessarily signs that a man has tried to use their power to empower others. So it’s very refreshing to hear ya’ll say something to that extent. Not so I can be bitter at my pastors (gulp, and a prayer), but so I can remember how long the journey could be at points. Praying for patience for myself and other women to be brave to discuss this in kind ways. For more of that severe mercy like the woman you were on staff with.
This is healing for me to listen, and slightly shocking because I have only found one other book which approaches this topic through story. I’m not used to this wonderful blessing! Most of the time this is a draining theological debate based in denominational/biased perspectives with inconsistent hermeneutics just as you said. Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you. I look forward to listening to the rest of the series.
Wow, Danielle! Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad to hear that it has been healing for you to listen to the series so far! There are a LOT more stories (7 parts right now, with another 2 episodes planned), with other women and men we interview, so I hope it continues to be a blessing to you as you go. 🙂