Home > Web Explorations Index > Women’s Ordination
January 2002 by Letha Dawson Scanzoni
Web Explorations – Women’s Ordination and Ministry
- 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 Ministry
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