I am so excited to announce the publication of my new book, Valued by God: Elevating the Value of Women’s Voices in the Church! This book is the product of at least three years of work, as it is an adaptation of my doctoral thesis at the Webber Institute of Worship Studies. My assignment was to look at my current ministry context and determine what theological issue needs to be addressed through biblical, historical, and theological study in order to promote a needed change.
What drew me to this issue was my frustration with closed doors, which resulted from a theological position that focused on just two verses of the Bible and seemed to contradict other passages of Scripture. Added to my own experience were the stories I constantly heard from female ministry students at the Bible college who also faced closed doors and ridicule for their desire to follow their God-given calling. While I grew up believing the traditional interpretation of the “silencing passages” (1 Tim 2 & 1 Cor 14), my position had changed over the years due to my personal experience and conviction. But experience and personal conviction weren’t enough. I wanted to be able to articulate a clear, logical, scripturally based answer for those who questioned this theological stance. What’s more, I wanted to be able to share with the female ministry students I worked with how to do the same thing. This desire drove me to ask broader questions about this issue.
Rather than solely relying upon a literal interpretation of the silencing passages to define the place of women in the contemporary church, I proposed approaching the issue a bit differently. What if we looked at the whole story of Scripture to determine what the Bible says about God, his plan, and his love for humanity? What if we considered our cultural history and beliefs about women, people of color, and other people groups who have been treated as inferior? What if we evaluated the convictions regarding the silencing of women and determined that they are actually based more on society and culture than on Scripture? What if we looked at church history to see if the church ever altered its theology regarding human dignity, the treatment of specific classes of individuals, and how God values his prized creations? I thought it might be time to take a broader look at the place of women in the church rather than elevating the silencing passages above the rest of the Bible.
I hope you will join me on this journey and engage in this discussion so that men and women can work together, side-by-side, as they jointly reflect the image of God and work to accomplish the mission of God. Valued by God is now available at Amazon and Wipf & Stock.