- Resources for the Christian Life
- Topic of the Month: Women's
Ordination and Ministry
- Current Issues in the News
Introduction
As website content editor, I've usually posted
announcements and material already in print, such as EEWC's
brochures and selections from our quarterly publication, EEWC
Update. But beginning this month, I'm trying something new. I'll
be putting together a monthly online-only column to share
discoveries I've made while exploring the World Wide Web. There
are so many resources available to us as Christian
feminists--resources that can strengthen and enrich both our faith
and our feminism. I hope you'll enjoy sharing these Web
explorations with me and discovering how many wonderful things
there are out there in cyberspace.
But first, two caveats:
-
The sites listed are sites external to the
EEWC website. Because of this, we cannot be responsible for
their content, and they do not necessarily represent official
viewpoints of EEWC. They are simply sites that contain
material that I think EEWC members and friends may find
interesting and useful.
-
Although I'll do my best to check links,
you may occasionally click on a site and find it doesn't come
up but instead gives you a message that the page cannot be
accessed. If this happens, first go to your tool bar at the
top of the page and click "Refresh" (under
"View" in Microsoft Internet Explorer) or
"Reload" (in Netscape Navigator). That action may
bring up the latest version of a page. A particular site may
also be unavailable only temporarily (perhaps it's being
updated), and you'll find it can be assessed later. But in
some cases, a Web page may have actually been removed
entirely. I'll try to stay on top of this and, when it
happens, I'll remove any "dead" links. I'll also try
to make sure that sites with archived material will not be
limited in accessibility. (For example, some media sources
only permit access for a short period of time, after which
materials can only be obtained for a fee. I won't use those.)
Having said all that, let's move on to the
links for this month.
Resources for Christian the Christian Life
Bible study helps. Did you know that
there are online concordances in which you can list a word and
with just a click can find all the Bible references for that word
in many different Bible versions? Try the Bible
Study Tools. It provides concordances for ten Bible
translations, including the New Revised Standard Version
(NRSV), which many of us like to use because of its gender
inclusiveness. You'll find lots of other Bible study tools at this
site, too, and materials for studying church history, such as the
complete works of first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus,
the writings of the early church leaders, the various creeds and
confessions of the church over the ages, and more. (Materials on
this site are either in public domain or are used with permission
of the publishers.)
The New International Version of the
Bible (NIV) is not included among the translations referenced
in the site above, but don't despair. The International
Bible Society's official translation and resource center for the
NIV has the choice of keying in any word and finding
references to it immediately, or you can key in a reference to a
verse or an entire passage you want to read in the NIV (e.g.,
Galatians 3:28 or John 4:5-42), and, with a click, the passage
will appear before you immediately. You can even read the verse or
passage in Russian, German, Spanish, French, Arabic, and many
other languages. Or you can compare the NIV translation with a
number of other English versions. Other helps for Bible study are
also available at this site.
Hymns. If you're trying to find a
certain hymn and don't have a hymnal on hand, try the Cyber
Hymnal, where
you'll find more than 3,000 hymns and gospel songs, which are
either in public domain or have the permission of their copyright
holders to be posted. The site contains hymns indexed by meter and
tunes (I found 10 listed for one of my favorite hymn tunes,
"Hyfrydol"), as well as by title. There's also a
glossary to explain terms and idioms seldom used in modern speech,
and photos and bios of authors and composers, with interesting
information about them. (I never knew, for example, that Fanny
Crosby, blind from birth, had actually composed around 8,000 hymns
but that many of those hymns were published under nearly a hundred
different pseudonyms besides her own name. Why? Because publishers
apparently didn't want it known that they were publishing so many
songs by the same person, since Fanny kept a steady supply
coming!) And, oh yes, you'll actually hear the music as you read
the words of hymns on this site.
Feminist Bible Interpretation. Hermeneutics,
the interpretation of the Bible, is a topic of great interest to
Christian feminists. You can read online a
complete article on the topic by Phyllis Trible. For new
understandings, check out her survey of three different feminist
approaches to studying Scripture in relation to women.
Topic of the Month
Women's Ordination and Minstry
Roman Catholic
There are many excellent sites from Roman
Catholic sources on why women should be priests and the debate
that continues over the topic. Here are a few to get you started:
Women's
Ordination: Catholic Internet Library
Check out site guidelines showing where to start among the
extensive supply of materials here, and also look over the
side-by-side chart which concisely summarizes reasons that are
often cited both for and against women's ordination. Also be sure
to scroll down the opening page and read the excellent list
entitled "Reasons why women can and should receive Holy
Orders."
Catholic
Network for Women's Equality
This group was originally called "Canadian Catholics for
Women's Ordination" but later changed its name to reflect a
broader mission springing from a growing realization of " the
interconnectedness of issues related to women in Church and in
society." There are interesting articles, links, news, and
more at this site.
Women's
Ordination Conference (WOC)
Click on various sections of the left side menu on this site.
You'll find interesting information and some cartoons on the
topic. (On the cartoon page, click on each picture and it will
enlarge.)
Also on this same site, among articles you
might want to ponder, is this one: "Women's
Ordination: Problems and Possibilities-Five Lessons from Episcopal
Women Clergy" by Rev. Paula Nesbitt, Ph.D.
Protestant
Susannah Wesley was the mother of John
and Charles-and many more! (Find
out how many children she bore.) She was one of the many women
throughout history who got into trouble for teaching and
preaching. "Susannah
Wesley and the Unauthorized meetings" is a 19th century
Methodist historian's account about how she handled it.
"John
Wesley on women in Methodism" is another interesting link
about women and early Methodism.
Wesleyan/holiness women preachers over
history. While we're on the subject, be sure to read "What
Has Gender Got to Do with It?", a history of women in
Wesleyan/holiness ministry. It's written by EEWC's own Rebecca
Laird, who is herself an ordained minister in the Church of the
Nazarene. Rebecca has been a member of EEWC since 1983 and is
currently editor of the interfaith journal, Sacred Journey.
She told me that since the article appeared in the Sept. 4, 2000
issue of Christianity Today, she has received "loads
of e-mails" from people (many of them belonging to various
Baptist groups) who are still wrestling with questions about
whether it's permissible for women to preach.
Baptist Women in Ministry. Speaking of
Baptists and women in ministry, you might want to read some interesting
discussion promoting the equality of women and men, ordained
and nonordained, by an autonomous
Baptist organization who recognize that both genders are
called to serve in any ministry God calls them to.
Also from that site: "Women's
Ordination and the Pretense of Inerrancy" by Neal Jones
is a strong critique that shows errors and inconsistencies in
arguments often used by fundamentalist Christians who deny that
God calls women to ministry.
Current Issues in the News
Since the tragic events of September 11, the
news media have often spoken about "militant Islamic
fundamentalism." Questions have come up about what
fundamentalism is and how fundamentalist movements operate
in any faith tradition. "Is
it possible to get along with fundamentalists? An interview with
Dr. Martin E. Marty" by Camille Colatosti is a very
helpful article in that regard. This article is in the
December, 2001 issue of The Witness.
Incidentally, the entire The
Witness site is well worth exploring. The Witness
describes itself as "the only publication aimed at
Episcopalians and the Anglican Communion that embraces-without
equivocation-the liberation perspective that flows from the very
core of Christian belief and values." And at another place on
the site, it calls itself "a feisty, independent.
provocative, intelligent, feminist voice of Christian social
conscience." Our own Virginia Ramey Mollenkott has served as
one of its contributing editors and writes frequently for the
publication. She was guest editor for the April, 2000 issue.
And finally, continuing with the "Current
Issues" category, here are some websites that address one of
the unfortunate aftereffects of the horrific September 11
terrorist attacks, namely, the bias crimes and discrimination that
have been directed toward people of the Muslim faith and others
who wear particular forms of head coverings (veiled women and men
with turbans). Of course, the issue of hair and head coverings is
not unique to Islamic, Sikh, and other faith traditions. We as
Christian feminists have had to deal with questions about head
coverings in interpreting 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. And Orthodox
Jewish married women always keep their natural hair covered when
outside the home, wearing scarves or wigs.
With regard to veiled women and men with
turbans, I found some interesting materials in the online archives
of The Seattle Times,
including a fascinating series of drawings of types of female and
male head coverings and what they mean. Check out these sources:
"Interpreting
veils" (illustrations)
"Interpreting
veils: Meanings have changed with politics, history"
(article) by Eli Sanders
"Understanding
Turbans" (illustrations)
"Understanding
turbans: Don't link them to terrorism" by Eli Sanders
You also might want to check out this
article"
"Symbol
of freedom: Hair-or lack of it" by Elaine Sciolino
That's all for this month. See you again in
February with more sites to explore.
Your Web Explorations tour guide,
Letha Dawson Scanzoni
© 2002 Evangelical and Ecumenical
Women's Caucus
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