Sydney, Australia
The role of women in the church has been contested for centuries. Both complementarian and egalitarian perspectives cite Scripture as the basis of their beliefs about whether women and men have equal ministry opportunities.
But what happens when a respected Bible scholar and theologian shifts in his position from one interpretation to the other?
Dr Mike Bird, author and academic dean and theology lecturer at Ridley College in Melbourne
That’s the focus of Men and Women Flourishing in the Church, a one-day conference in Sydney featuring Dr Mike Bird, author and academic dean and theology lecturer at Ridley College in Melbourne. The conference, which the Sydney chapter of the international organisation known as Christians for Biblical Equality is sponsoring on 15th October at the Salvation Army in Parramatta, includes two talks from the respected academic and author of 30 books.
In his first talk, How I changed My Mind about Women in Ministry, Bird will discuss his personal journey from being a committed Baptist and complementarian to changing his mind as he became both an Anglican and egalitarian. In his second talk, 1 Timothy 2 and Romans 16: The Epicentre of Egalitarianism, Bird will explore the Biblical basis of the arguments most often used to support specific theological perspectives towards mutuality.
“The reason we were keen to have Mike come to Sydney is that he respects people who have different opinions,” said Rev Jackie Stoneman, president of the Sydney chapter of CBE. “What we’re trying to do is have respectful dialogue that recognises there are different interpretations around specific passages. We want to honour how people read the Scriptures.”
Stoneman, an ordained Anglican who served in preaching and pastoral care until she recently retired from ministry, recognised that Sydney has tended more toward the conservative and complementarian theology and practice. That means many who attend Anglican parishes in Sydney haven’t necessarily been exposed to alternative ways of thinking about specific passages.
“One of the things we want to do is help foster discussion and expose some of the myths about egalitarian theology,” Stoneman said. “One such myth is that egalitarians believe there’s no difference between men and women, that we’re interchangeable. But men and women are different and that’s exactly why we need both equally in ministry, together. Both differences are fundamental to the flourishing of the church.”
Yet when women’s voices go missing, the church becomes fragmented, Stoneman says. That’s why she believes, “God wants everyone to have equal opportunities to minister because church work is really about servant leadership, not power.”
Rev Jackie Stoneman, president of the Sydney chapter of CBE
When this mutuality is overlooked, however, the consequences are hurtful and confusing. There has been an “awful lot of pain for women who believe God’s called them to preach or to pastoral work but they’re in a system where men have the power. It presents a dilemma for them and perpetuates a feeling of not being heard or that they’re on equal footing, even if they’re licensed and called.”
Stoneman said one woman told her it’d be too painful to attend the conference or to participate in another CBE event the following week: a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Anglican women being granted permission to preach in Sydney. Hearing Women’s Voices: Marking the Centenary of Sydney Synod Ordinance will include a preaching marathon on Saturday, 22nd October with 12 women preachers. And 15 Anglican churches across Sydney will host women preaching on October 23.
“It’s just an oddity and a well-kept secret that the Sydney Diocese resolved the question about women preaching 100 years ago,” said author Rev John Dickson, who has helped promote the event through his podcast platform and support. Dickson said that the ordinance entitled, Women’s Work in the Church passed in 1922 by Sydney Synod gives permission for women to preach in Sydney Anglican churches.
Though every Anglican rector in Sydney has been invited to the conference and to the preaching marathon, Stoneman says both are open to anyone interested regardless of denomination affiliation. With attendees nearing 100 registered both online and in person, the numbers might be higher in satellite groups watching together. Bird’s talks will also be recorded for those unable to attend or watch on the day, “or for those who are in complementarian circles and curious but afraid to attend in public,” said one of CBE’s organisers.
CBE was established in 2005 as a non-profit evangelical Christian organisation for men and women that promotes “a biblical basis for gift-based, rather than gender-based, service for men and women of all races, ages and economic classes.” Though its theology and membership is largely evangelical, the organisation crosses denominational lines. The Australian chapter was established in October, 2005.
With Bird’s presence, Stoneman hopes the conference will help in terms of respectful dialogue while assisting men and women in their interpretations of scripture to “put their theology together with the big picture of this issue. This provides an alternative interpretation of the scriptures for those who haven’t had one, through a very respected theologian who understands both perspectives.”
