Emerging Women

By Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy

Hi folks. Although I’m not a regular participant on the Emerging Women blog, I facilitate our local emergent cohort here in Chicago and am part of the leadership team at my emergent church, Wicker Park Grace. My name is Rebecca and, recently, I became involved in a new project that is trying to create an online community of people who are engaging Judaism in non-traditional ways. We are trying to move beyond the discussion of whether or not intermarriage will destroy the Jewish people by working from the premise that it will not, that it is here to stay and that some of us need to take leadership roles for how to constructively help Judaism adapt to this new dynamic. The website can be found at www.fiftypercenters.com. It’s a lot like the work we’re doing for emergent Christianity and that you’re doing for feminism. All we can do is tell our stories as we keep trying to live out this ideal. We believe that will help shape the future.

This project is engaging my passion right now because two and a half months ago, I married a practicing Jewish man. I struggled so much with feelings of rejection from the Jewish community: a community that still speaks with a fairly unified voice that families like mine are not welcome. To give you some idea of the scope of this refusal, I have only heard of three rabbis in the entire city of Chicago who will even perform a marriage between a Jew and a non-Jew. The feeling of being somewhat helpless but also full of righteous indignation was so similar to how I felt when churches I had tried to be a part of told me that they didn’t want me unless I wanted to fit into the limited identity they had laid out for.

I worked through these feelings on my personal blog and with friends and with my therapist but what we’ve all learned from our participation in the emergent movement is that finding a community that has similar experiences has all sorts of redemptive power. Thus Fifty Percenters was born. As my family expands and as the world changes, we want to be at the forefront of that change, contributing and creating the necessary dialogue to ensure that people have unfettered access to God in the language that their souls speak. If you are at all interested in this project or know of anyone who would be, please visit us or direct your friends to us. The more voices that we have responding to posts and the more eyes we have reading the stories that are being told, the more likely it will be that lives will be changed.

By Angie Muresan

While at my mom’s this morning, I watched a little of the Kathie Lee and Hoda show (that may not be what the show’s called, but I’m sure it’s not far from that). For a half minute they were talking about what constitutes a great friendship, and one of them, don’t remember who, said that a great friend is someone who is happy for you and cheering you on even when you are successful at what you do, or when things go well. I got to thinking about it, because so often we, or at least I, have been under the impression that a real friend is the person who is loaning you the shoulder to cry on. You know that whole, ‘friend in need, friend indeed,’ bit.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this woman was on to something. Thinking back on not such pleasant circumstances in my life, girlfriends popped out of the woodwork, so to speak, whenever something unpleasant occurred, offering words of sympathy and kindnesses unheard of until then. And I remember wondering then if they just needed fodder for gossip, secretly glad at what had befallen me. Did my personal tragedies make them feel any more superior? Did they pretend to be strong, because in reality, they were weak?

I can say in all honesty that when I myself have acted in such a way, it gave me a definite sense of power, and it made me feel privileged that the mean reality of the other person’s life, was not mine. But to be truly happy (and I don’t mean half heartedly), for someone’s good fortune and blessings, now that is altogether different. It implies a pure heart, free of envy, jealousy, or spite. Love and encouragement in bad times as in good. That is a true friendship.

I am so curious what you readers, think about this.

Angie Muresan was born and raised in Romania during the communism dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, where even her thoughts had to be censored for fear of blurting the wrong thing out. Now, she lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, her two children, a house full of books and no television. This post originally appeared on her blog angiemuresan.com.

Now I know that we have a fantastic group of female bloggers in this Emerging Women community. Just click on our community page if you are looking to find some insightful, witty, and challenging blogs to read. That said, there still exists a gender-gap in the blogging world. There just are significantly fewer theological blogs written by women than men. And the ones that are out there seemingly don’t get the respect or the readership as those written by men.

Patrick McCullough recently sent us an email addressing that very issue. He writes –

“I don’t know if any women from your group follow the conversations in academic biblical studies blogs (“biblioblogs”), but we currently have one that may be of interest to you. I wonder if you might be willing to help us out.

At present, the closest thing to an “official” tally of academic biblical studies blogs is done by the Biblioblog Top 50–which puts the ratio of male to female bibliobloggers at 270 to 20. Women make up roughly 7 percent of those who blog about academic biblical studies. We have had a few conversations about this over the years but have come to no firm conclusions about why this is the case or how we should solve it.

Some explanations attempt to reason through gender preferences (women don’t like to sit in front of a computer, men are more narcissistic, etc.). But these preferences (stereotypes?) seem to relate to blogging in general and not the vast discrepancy in biblical studies specifically. I suggested that there may be a perceived risk to blogging which professionally academic women do not want to take. The person behind the Biblioblog Top 50 believes there is a “deeper, structural religious bias towards male authority.” April DeConick (perhaps the strongest, most reliable biblioblogger who happens to be a woman) believes that there is a sexism embedded within the network of biblical studies blogs, which marginalizes the blogs of women as unimportant (post one, two, three). Have a glance at this person’s post to see a timeline and links to some of the conversation happening.

I wonder if you could pose the question to your community of intelligent female bloggers, many of whom are quite well-informed about theological/spiritual/biblical matters. Why do you think there aren’t more women blogging about academic biblical studies? If you have some knowledge about biblical studies, but are not a “biblioblogger,” why not? “

A member of our Emerging Women community, Kristine Lowder, has a new book out, an historical novel set in 1st century Palestine called Akeldama.

She writes -

“Step into the pages of Akeldama, my historical novel of Faith.  Meet beautiful Yo-hannah, whose tortured past has imprisoned her body and heart.  Walk in the stooped steps of Veronica, whose mysterious malady has made her ceremonially unclean.  Thirst for living water with a half-breed whose checkered past is about to catch up with her.

Thrown together from different dead-ends, each woman seeks answers to her own desperation.  Will Yo-hannah find the peace she craves?  Can an unclean woman receive a touch of mercy?  Where can a despised half-breed go to be made whole?  And what about old Hadessa, whose enigmatic past is as mysterious as the young rabbi from Nazareth who crosses each woman’s path?

Each woman’s life and future hinges on the Nazarene’s answer to  one question: who are you?”

“I have read only a few Christian novels worthy of the name.  My favorite Christian authors are C.S. Lewis, Stephen R. Lawhead, Joseph F. Girzone, and now Kristine Lowder.  I must tell you that her book, Akelada, touched me so deeply that I cried like a baby as I read the final chapter.  Yes, the final chapter is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ – not a new subject.  But something in her telling of it blessed me with joy, gratitude, awe, and wonder.  I cannot remember a time when I wanted to re-read a book as soon as I finished it.  Treat yourself to a great book!
- William C. Oakes, Senior Pastor, Living Stones Fellowship, Warrens, Wisconsin

Click Here To Order

crossposted from Emerging Pensees

Even as debate erupts across the blogosphere about whether Emergent is fizzling as a movement, those of us still committed to the friendships and ideas we’ve found here are going ahead with ideas for how to keep the ball rolling and continue to get more and more people connected with the conversation. A few days ago I posted a question here at my blog and at the Emergent Village Cohort Leaders Google Group about what Emergent Village could do to help emergent-leaning folks in rural areas get connected with one another and with the broader emerging conversation, whether through cohorts or other means. The ensuing discussion was very productive, and has resulted in a project to create a comprehensive google map of what’s going on in the Emergent Village world.

In keeping with Emergent Village’s desire to be a network of emerging people and communities, the goal with this map will be to create a resource to help network folks with what is going on in their own local area, or help them start something new if there isn’t anything already. This will include existing cohorts, as well as any “emerging churches” who don’t mind being listed on the Emergent Village website.* The map will also include individuals who are interested in being a part of a cohort, but don’t currently have one near them. Our hope is that as more people add themselves to this map, it will become a lot easier for them to find one another and start new cohorts.

We’ve decided to start by open-sourcing this map, basically letting anyone and everyone who wants to add themselves or their faith community – no gatekeepers or approval system, though those of us in the cohort network will help make sure it stays free of trolls. We’ll start passing the link to the map around through blogs/Twitter/Facebook, etc. (that’s where you come in and inviting folks to add their churches and cohorts (or themselves if they’re not yet part of one and want to be). Hopefully it will snowball, and in a few weeks or months we’ll have a thorough and exciting map of what is going on and where. How cool will it be to be able to see just how much this conversation has grown in the past decade!

So here’s the link again. I hope you’ll help us create this thing!

*Of course we realize that there may be emerging ministries out there who do not wish to be “affiliated” with Emergent Village in any official way, for any variety of reasons, even if just on a google map. Nonetheless, those of us in the Emergent Village are happy to partner with any faith community that doesn’t mind calling itself a “friend of Emergent Village,” and hope that many communities will choose to add themselves to our map.

Peggy Brown has an interesting article in this month’s Next-Wave Ezine called “Where ARE the Women?” She writes -

The problem is not that the women aren’t out there using their gifts to build up the church. The reality is that they, in fact, are. The problem is one of perception. Perceptions about what women can do versus what they may do in ministry. And it is a problem that the sisters share with many other segments of society.

Head over there for the full article. There are a few comments there, but I’ve haven’t been able to post a comment there yet for some reason. I hope though her thoughts lead to some good conversation.

By Kathy Escobar

there’s nothing like writing a wrap up of an event 3 months after it happened! that’s what sometimes happens in my crazy life, but i didn’t want to miss the opportunity to share a bit of what i gleaned from a great time together at convergence 2009 (http://womensconvergence.com/) , a gathering of women leaders in portland in february, so that women who weren’t able to be there could catch a bit of what was shared.

on saturday there was a panel discussion that included a variety of voices that the participants chose with questions that they had written down earlier in the day. i had the privilege of being part of the panel & some of the thoughts from that segment are the tangible ones that might encourage other women leaders on their journeys.

here are a few highlights of statements & thoughts shared by the panelists (sorry, i didn’t keep track of who said what) that i wrote down afterward & have been reflecting on in different ways for the the past few months:

• “know our limitations” – this a big one for so many of us. many of us struggle with wanting to be all
things for all people. and because so many are capable and have incredible gifts, it is quite possible to give more than we probably should. it is important to cultivate a clear sense of what we can and can’t do, recognizing that some that we serve & love will not understand. it’s not our job to make others see; it is our job to create balance in our lives as best we can; that will most certainly mean acknowledging & recognizing our limits.

• “cultivate friendships with other women leaders so we can learn from each other.” i always hesitate to use the word mentor here because i know many of us (especially in the evangelical tradition where there aren’t as many women pastors in general) have been in leadership a long time without any true “mentors” that have invested specific time and energy in cultivating our gifts and supporting us on the journey. of course, many women have had these kinds of relationships, and i am glad some have received that support. for me, i think the most encouraging part of the past few years has been intentionally cultivating relationships with other women pastors/leaders/writers/pot-stirrers and really sharing life & experiences together. it has made a world of difference. one thing many of us have shared in different ways is how frustrated we’ve been in the spirit of competitiveness that often exists among women. i am not sure what that’s all about (i am guessing insecurity?) but i think that we need to really notice what kind of vibe we are putting off and be more confident in our roles, who we are, and love each other more intentionally. we are all busy, but making time for these kinds of challenging & encouraging relationships is so important.

• “make room for other women & voices as much as we can.” we have a responsibility to each other. the only way to keep hearing from a variety of different voices, no matter what that looks like, is for people with power to give it away. whoever has the microphone, the floor, the leadership usually has some form of power. the more we pass that microphone we have to our other sisters, encourage them to step up & use their voices, the better. and because we know what it might feel to be marginalized, we can use our leadership to include as many other new voices as possible—across gender, race, socioeconomics, and all kinds of other lines.

• “be who we are; don’t try to be something we’re not.” each of us is unique and bring different gifts and combinations of personalities and strengths and weaknesses to the table. we are supposed to be “us”, not who we think other want us to be or what we think we are supposed to be because of what kind of authors, speakers, whoever we see. it’s true, many of us will not make a ton of money or get some crazy book deal or a whole lot of other things, but hopefully we will honor who God made us to be and live as integrated and whole and honest as possible.

• “learn to be friends with men.” the question came up about our sexuality & how it can be a limitation if we are not in touch with it. there’s no doubt that much healing and restoration must happen between genders to learn to live and work and be together as equals, taking sex & power out of the equation. we have a responsibility as leaders to work on this, to change unhealthy patterns, to become more free in our ability to engage with men as friends, co-laborers, equals.

• “take good care of ourselves.” ah, self care. the demands of ministry, family, kids, work, and all of the other pulls on us can really take its toll. we all want to last. we want to live out who God created us to be. we don’t want to burn out. we want to take good care of our families. we want to live a balanced life that includes a lot of other things other than just leading. in order to do this, we need to work on taking care of ourselves emotionally, physically, spiritually.

• “accept the reality of injustice but do everything we can to fight against it.” the reality is that injustice against women in the church in many denominations is present. it’s real, it’s not going away anytime soon. living with this injustice is sometimes so hard; it can make us want to give up and throw in the towel or stop fighting for change. part of our roles as women in leadership is to live in the tension of what is and what could be and be bridge builders, risk takers, path pavers toward healing of injustice on behalf of the women who will come behind us. our daughters need us. our sisters need us. we may not see all of the fruit of our labors, but the work we are doing now plant seeds has the potential to grow incredible fruit in the future. let’s keep our eyes on them & not give up.
there were many other things shared in our time together, but these are the ones who have lingered. no doubt, there was incredible wisdom in the room. these tiny highlights won’t give it justice, but hopefully a little of what happened there is spread across the miles to encourage others, too.

kathy escobar co-pastors the refuge (www.therefugeonline.org), an eclectic faith community in north denver dedicated to those on the margins. she also is the cultivator of voca femina (www.vocafemina.com), new site for women to use their voices through art, writing, photography, and other mediums.