Men and Women in the Church is designed for the purpose of fostering conversation around the book of the same name by Sarah Sumner. Check this blog out regularly and you will see questions for you to ponder and comment upon, updates on the study, and overviews of the various discussions that are taking place in “real” life.
Some rules for discussion:
1. Be kind. You will not always agree with other comments or the main post. You may find that you disagree with most of the book. Disagreement is fine, even healthy. However, being unkind is not.
2. Be honest. If you don’t like what your reading please feel the freedom to honestly express that opinion. This requires that we be able to accept opinions of others that might make us uncomfortable. Ask honest questions and give honest opinions.
3. Render love. In my opinion, the most important thing that this book study will do for us is not give us an answer to the questions at hand. Yes, we want to learn and have our questions answered. But the process of learning together, growing together and loving one another through our differences is one more way to express God’s Kingdom among us and remain close to Jesus.
Filed under: Discussion Group, Sarah Sumner
i think the church in general has come a long way in dealing with women and leadership. Some of the best things I have experienced are women on the church board, worship, women ministries, co-teachers for a mixed gender groups, and simply asking and taking a womens opinion into consideration, and in other cases believing her heed to prophecy.
The one area that I am not so sure about is senior pastor and co-pastor. When I read the Word I see men in those types of positions. No doubt women served and led and were used by God in many ways but if we keep reading men were their leaders. Queen Esther had the King the king’s men to yield to and her uncle. Naomi used by God in another woman’s life Ruth guiding her to their kinsman Boaz. Of course there is Deborah and my opinion is that even though she had an extraordinary ability to lead in difficult situation there weren’t many women in those types of positions.
So it’s not so much what is being said, it’s more of what is being read. For me that is. I don’t want to come across like I know it all but I try to check things out through the Word of God.
May I ask you a few questions? Are these discussions simply for discussion? or is there a reason for this? I know the questions are from the book that is being read and my question again is why?