Theologian and Pastor who thinks out loud.
Photo by Erin Rempel
Arguments that restrict women from leadership devalue womanhood and question the calling these women have to pastoral ministry. As I have defended my work on the biblical and theological support for women in ministry, I’ve learned that these implications may not even be the most hurtful thing that is said to these women.
The Lantz Center for Christian Vocation and Formation is one of the programs of great depth in the Christian faith at the University of Indianapolis. UIndy, as we refer to the university, is not a “Christian university” in the way that many persons think of them. We don’t require chapel or a commitment to Christianity to attend. But we have always been affiliated with the United Methodist Church and its predecessor denominations and we take seriously our opportunity and responsibility to prepare our students (United Methodist and otherwise) for religious leadership. In the Lantz Center we do that by way of a two year program in ecumenical spiritual formation, where we teach prayer practices, study a theology of vocation and the place of God’s call in the students’ lives, and we form a small covenanted community of followers of the Way. The students that go through the program are of the minority of students that grow deeply in the Christian faith while in college, even while so many are walking away from their religious commitments.
As I have written on issues related to the life and calling of pastors that are women, I’ve been quite surprised by the depth of the pain that many of these women carry. Though I’ve long thought that theologies that limited the ministry of women were misguided, I didn’t fully understand the damage that they cause (and I still don’t “fully” understand, but more now than before).
It was a hot June day in 2011. My wife and I had been parents for just four days.
I’m glad to offer a free devotional created by the students and for the students of McCleary Chapel Ministries at the University of Indianapolis. I hope that you too will enjoy taking the Lenten journey with them. I’m so proud of these students, their love for Jesus Christ, and their heart to share that love with others. [Read more…]
An increasing number of people, and especially the young adults that I work with each day, have come to identify with the malleable phrase “spiritual, but not religious.” There is good reason to believe that all kinds of people identify with the phrase, including some of the most highly religious people in the country, those conservative Evangelicals that proclaim “it’s not religion, it’s a relationship.” Even setting this ambiguity aside, it’s undeniable that many folks today are pleased to find “god” without the trappings of associating with a traditional religious community.
Dr. Jeremiah Gibbs 