It’s fitting that Women’s History Month follows Black History Month because it gives us an opportunity to honor the women who have blazed trails, cleared paths, built institutions and raised generations of children. But it’s also a chance for us to reflect on the ways that women’s voices have been silenced, the ways in which our culture devalues women’s achievements and the ways in which the church has been complicit in perpetuating and maintaining patriarchal, hegemonic, systems.
As a people who believe that we’re all created in the image of God this ought not be so. But unfortunately, in an age where everyone from Hollywood actresses to female executives are ending their social media posts with #metoo, the same hashtag is applicable in the church. Far too many female pastors, and laity are repeatedly assaulted, demeaned, degraded and disrespected in far too many houses of worship. And that disrespect flows from the pulpit to the pew.
But there’s hope because in this season of Lent we have an opportunity to remember and reflect upon our own baptism, about the ways God’s love has changed us and about what it means to continue to offer ourselves as living sacrifices in a selfish, cynical world. The message of Lent and Easter is a message of sacrificial love; a love that puts the needs of others ahead of itself; a love that will protect, defend and deliver at all costs; a love that’s loyal even to the point of death. That’s the love Jesus demonstrated for us on Calvary’s Cross and it’s the same type of love we’re commanded to extend to one another.
And we extend that love by continuously choosing to crucify selfish, self-absorbed, self-centered, sexist, toxic-masculinity; not only through regular prayer, private and corporate worship, study of God’s Word, fasting and fellowship, but by actively working to dismantle the institutions and systems that perpetuate women’s oppression and objectification. These disciplines help us grow and develop in our faith and they allow us to better reflect the love that we ourselves have received.
Our prayer during this season of Lent and in this year's Women's History Month is that our faith would grow in ways we never imagined; and that we would hear clearly from God regarding God’s plan and purpose for us as we seek to make room for our sisters, nieces, mothers, aunties, big mamas, pastors and daughters to be the glorious, fearfully and wonderfully made women of God they were created to be. May we all discover anew God’s restorative justice, power and love and may we find in God a peace that passes all understanding even as we face trials of every kind. May it be so! In Jesus’ name!
As a people who believe that we’re all created in the image of God this ought not be so. But unfortunately, in an age where everyone from Hollywood actresses to female executives are ending their social media posts with #metoo, the same hashtag is applicable in the church. Far too many female pastors, and laity are repeatedly assaulted, demeaned, degraded and disrespected in far too many houses of worship. And that disrespect flows from the pulpit to the pew.
But there’s hope because in this season of Lent we have an opportunity to remember and reflect upon our own baptism, about the ways God’s love has changed us and about what it means to continue to offer ourselves as living sacrifices in a selfish, cynical world. The message of Lent and Easter is a message of sacrificial love; a love that puts the needs of others ahead of itself; a love that will protect, defend and deliver at all costs; a love that’s loyal even to the point of death. That’s the love Jesus demonstrated for us on Calvary’s Cross and it’s the same type of love we’re commanded to extend to one another.
And we extend that love by continuously choosing to crucify selfish, self-absorbed, self-centered, sexist, toxic-masculinity; not only through regular prayer, private and corporate worship, study of God’s Word, fasting and fellowship, but by actively working to dismantle the institutions and systems that perpetuate women’s oppression and objectification. These disciplines help us grow and develop in our faith and they allow us to better reflect the love that we ourselves have received.
Our prayer during this season of Lent and in this year's Women's History Month is that our faith would grow in ways we never imagined; and that we would hear clearly from God regarding God’s plan and purpose for us as we seek to make room for our sisters, nieces, mothers, aunties, big mamas, pastors and daughters to be the glorious, fearfully and wonderfully made women of God they were created to be. May we all discover anew God’s restorative justice, power and love and may we find in God a peace that passes all understanding even as we face trials of every kind. May it be so! In Jesus’ name!
Join us on March 21st & March 22nd for our Annual Lay Witness Weekend. On Saturday March 21st at 11:00 am our own Gloria Jeff, Director, Rethinking I-94 with the Minnesota Department of Transportation will present a workshop focused on the theme of Laity walking humbly with God to do justice and love mercy. On Sunday March 22nd Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson will be our guest speaker for the Lay Witness Worship Service at 10:00 am.
You don't want to miss these dynamic women or the insights they will share with us. See you in church!
You don't want to miss these dynamic women or the insights they will share with us. See you in church!