Online Resources and Bibliography
for Women in Ministry
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Websites
The mission of the Wynkoop Center for Women in
Ministry is to equip, empower and encourage women called by God to serve
in and through the church of Jesus Christ.
The mission of Wesleyan/Holiness Women Clergy
International is to equip and encourage divinely-called women in
vocational ministry and professional leadership positions.
Christians for Biblical Equality is a non-profit
organization comprised of individual and church members from more than
80 denominations who believe that the Bible, properly interpreted,
teaches the fundamental equality of men and women of all ethnicities and
all economic classes, based on the teachings of scripture as reflected
in Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither
slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in
Christ Jesus.
Articles
An online version of a book from Beacon Hill Press
presenting the biblical and historical case for women in ministry. Dr.
Cowles is a professor at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego,
CA.
Examination of the issue of women in ministry
from a sociological perspective, focusing on the God-given and enabled
skills and gifts that women bring to leadership roles in the church, and
what that means for clergy preparation in the church. Dr. Perkins is a
professor at Nazarene Bible College, Colorado Springs CO. Available
only in Adobe .pdf format.
"From Rhetoric to Reality: Putting into Practice Our
Century-Old Polity of Gender Partnership in Ministry." Brief survey of
the history of women ministers in the Church of the Nazarene with
consideration of why women ministers have declined. Dr. Metcalf is
pastor of the El Cajon Church of the Nazarene in CA. Available only
in Adobe .pdf format.
The major purpose of this short study is to show
that in Genesis 1 and 2 God's design of the human race included equality
between the genders. The central teaching both of Genesis 1:26-31 and
Genesis 2:18-25 is that both male and female are human, that male and
female are equal, and that both male and female are equally created in
God's image. Dr. Coleson is professor of Old Testament at Nazarene
Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO.
"'Your Daughters Shall Prophesy:' Phoebe Palmer’s
The Promise of the Father (1859)—A Manifesto for Equality in Christian
Ministry," an address by Harold Raser delivered to the chapel at
Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) on March 10, 2003. Dr. Raser is the
Professor of the History of Christianity at Nazarene Theological
Seminary in Kansas City, MO.
"Empowered Foremothers: Wesleyan/Holiness Women
Speak to Today's Christian Feminists In this paper Dr. Susie Stanley
highlights the emphasis Wesleyan/Holiness women placed on empowerment
and suggests that their experience can serve as a usable past for the
contemporary Christian feminist quest for empowerment. Dr. Stanley is
Professor of Historical Theology at Messiah College, Grantham, PA.
"Women Clergy in the Church of the Nazarene: An
Analysis of Change from 1908 to 1995," an MA thesis, Nazarene
Theological Seminary, 1996. Since its organization into a denomination
in 1908,the Church of the Nazarene has ordained women and the Church’s
polity provides women with the right to hold any position within the
denomination. However, women are a decreasing percentage of the total
ministerial corps within the Church of the Nazarene, and their roles
within the Church have changed throughout the century. Available only
in Adobe .pdf format.
God’s Will for the Family: Marital and Family
Relationships in Ephesians. An examination of the ethical precepts in
Ephesians 5-6 considering the overall framework of Paul’s social and
ethical teaching and the principles which, implicitly or explicitly, lie
behind it. Dr. Deasley is retired professor of New Testament at Nazarene
Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.
Suggested methods for understanding the biblical
revelation as a whole rather than isolated proof texts on the topic of
women in ministry, using the analogy of the church’s struggle with the
issue of the biblical passages relating to slavery. Dr. Thompson is
professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Seminary, Wilmore, KY.
Short article outlining four reasons women should
teach, preach, and minister. Rev. Laird is a licensed minister and a
writer specializing in issues of spirituality and social justice
While expressing cautions about how the issue is
formulated and discussed in specific cultural contexts, the article
deals in detail with key New Testament texts on women’s service in the
church. Dr. Wright is a former professor of New Testament at
Oxford, and now serves as a Bishop in the Church of England in Durham.
Available only
in Adobe .pdf format.
Brief survey of the biblical evidence for the
participation of women in worship and leadership/ministry of the early
church.
Brief observations on the sociological and cultural
pressures that have served to restrict or exclude women from leadership
positions in the Church, while overriding the heritage of the Church as
well as the theological and biblical reasons that support it. Dr.
Robinson is a former professor of Christian Education at Nazarene
Theological Seminary and now president of Mid-America Nazarene
University in
Olathe, KS.
Analysis of selected biblical passages in light of
the role of women in Greco-Roman society, as well as an examination of
passages that express the larger New Testament vision about women in a
changing world that allowed new roles, new possibilities for women in
the family, and also in the family of faith. Dr. Witherington III is
professor of New Testament at Asbury Seminary, Wilmore, KY.
Brief article presenting the rationale of the
Wesleyan Church for women ministers; on the basis of the total context
of Scripture a woman is fully equal to man in terms of her right (as
directed by the Holy Spirit and authorized by the Church) to teach,
preach, lead or govern (including supervisory roles and board
memberships), lead worship or serve in any other office or ministry of
the Church. Rev. Haines is a General Superintendent of the Wesleyan
Church.
A collection of sermons and articles related to
women in ministry, including eleven sermons on “Women of Faith,” an
interview with Randy Huber about the Women in Ministry Seminar, Church
Policy Statements on Ordaining Women, New Testament Argument for the
Equality of Men and Women in Ministry, and Wesleyan/Holiness Women
Clergy--A Partial Bibliography.
"Barrenness in the Old Testament: Recovering the
Metaphor," an MA thesis, Nazarene Theological Seminary, 2002, examines
the barrenness narratives in order to recover this aspect of Israel's
history to the collective memory of the Church. Barrenness is woven
throughout the Old Testament in many forms (narrative, lament, prophecy,
etc.), but because dealing with barrenness is currently cloistered in
the doctor's office, the power of the experience, both in its literal
uses and as a metaphor, is often lost on present readers. Available
only in Adobe .pdf format.
Bibliographies
A bibliography of published and unpublished sources
related to women in the history of the Church of the Nazarene.
Available only in Adobe .pdf format.
Extensive bibliography of current and archival
materials, published and unpublished, relating to women ministers in the
Wesleyan/holiness tradition, arranged by subheadings: autobiographies
with letters, dairies, and papers; biographies; Biographical Sketches;
scriptural defenses of women clergy; Sermons by women; Theses and
Dissertations; general articles; Newsletters.
Selected bibliography related specifically to women
ministers in the Church of the Nazarene and the Wesleyan/Holiness
traditions.
-Dennis Bratcher, Copyright ©
2010, Dennis
Bratcher -
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