I wrote my MTh dissertations on pastoral ethics relating to marriage. My current work is focused on raising up leaders to plant churches in urban contexts. This combined with another factor means that a particular topic comes up from time to time and you will find me writing about it here. The third factor is… Continue reading Let’s get the complementarianism/ egalitarianism debate in perspective
Tag: complementarianism
Pastoral and unpastoral pastors?
The Southern Baptist Convention has recently made waves by deciding to add to its rules that associating churches must not include women pastors on their staff. This links in part to the decision by Saddleback Church to appoint female pastors and Rick Warren’s change of mind on complementarianism. However, the decision has caused consternation not… Continue reading Pastoral and unpastoral pastors?
First and second things
At the weekend, the Keswick Convention put out a statement on social media as follows. It seems that the convention has been subject to a bit of a protest about their stance on women speakers. It’s not the first time that Christians have decided to protest Christian events. In fact, back when we attended Keswick,… Continue reading First and second things
The ideal wife?
Sometimes in discussions about the roles of men and women, especially with regards to the debate about complementarianism and egalitarianism, Proverbs 31 is cited as significant. How relevant exactly is this passage to the debate? That will depend on the purpose of the passage. There are three options. Different commentators have made their case in… Continue reading The ideal wife?
What is contemporary complementarianism responding too?
One of the reasons why we might see both continuity and discontinuity in a thought is because we see contextualisation at work. This means that we react to and engage with the thinking of the world around us. This can work for both good and ill. We contextualise for good by considering how to shape… Continue reading What is contemporary complementarianism responding too?
Complementarianism, Egalitarianism and the messiness of arguing from history/tradition
This is kind of a long footnote to what I wrote the other day about the supposed novelty of complementarianism. In some respects, you could sum up my response as “it’s more complicated than that.” More complicated than the claim by some (not all) egalitarians that complementarianism is the novel usurper. It isn’t for the… Continue reading Complementarianism, Egalitarianism and the messiness of arguing from history/tradition
Is Complementarianism novel?
This question crops up from time to time on my social media feed. It’s there at the moment I presume because the Southern Baptist Convention is meeting and in the light of developments at Saddleback Church where it’s former pastor, Rick Warren has now reversed his position and apologised to women, the topic is a… Continue reading Is Complementarianism novel?
Women and church leadership
I wanted to say a little bit more here about church leadership and my previous comments about churches needing both mums and dads. I’m a complementarian which means that I believe men and women are created equally in God’s image and are co-heirs in Christ. It also means that they bring different perspectives, gifts, roles… Continue reading Women and church leadership
Is my friend on the slippery slope?
My friend Steve Kneale wrote this article the other day arguing that if we are encouraging and offering theological training for men in the church, then we should also offer it for women too. Men and women should have equal access to this kind of training and education. All of that at first glance seemed… Continue reading Is my friend on the slippery slope?
Does conservative theology and practice put off younger people from church?
One of the points of discussion arising from the articles about aging church demographics was whether conservative evangelical theology acted as a barrier, putting off young people especially where it clashed with their social values. One claim is that people might be drawn into evangelical churches because of the passionate focus on the Gospel or… Continue reading Does conservative theology and practice put off younger people from church?
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