After over 8000 words, my dissertation concludes with this personal reflection

Conclusion: A Personal Response
I identify myself as a feminist theologian for several reasons. Firstly, I believe that God is good news for women[1]. When God created human beings in his image, he created them to be male and female (Genesis 1: 27), and when He saw them He pronounced them ‘very good’ (Genesis 1: 31). Despite what Church History may have taught, I believe that God delights in both His sons and His daughters. Secondly, I believe that Christianity offers the only hope of a redeemed humanity. Paul’s great statement of equality in Galatians 3:28 points to the re-institution of the equality of relationships present at creation: ‘There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.’ Thirdly, I believe that the church needs theologians of both genders to see more clearly the injustices of the past, to begin to redress them, and to move forward to a future where the church can truly be a sign and a foretaste of God’s kingdom.

I have moved from an Anglican Church, where the fight to recognize women’s contribution to the church has been long and public, yet where both local churches and dioceses are still able to prevent women taking on leadership roles, to an independent church which fits most of the characteristics of an Emerging Church.[2] Whilst I have found that my current church offers practical opportunities for women to be involved in preaching and eldership, there is at the same time less awareness and dialogue concerning gender issues. My research project has confirmed for me that this is the case for many within the Emerging Church movement. A church that appears to be open, innovative, post-modern and missional is sometimes assumed to be at the forefront of discussions on women and men, both within the church and in the world, but this is a false assumption. The forces operating to perpetuate a patriarchal bias in church organization, leadership, biblical interpretation and beliefs may not be overt, but they are influential. Women within the emerging church have the same choices as women in most churches: they can lobby and campaign to find ways to have their voices heard; they can accept the teaching of their church and seek ways to serve God that are approved by their community; or they can leave the Church, either abandoning their Christian faith in the process or seeking to start or join a community that does value them.

I have chosen the former route. I believe that the emerging Church does contain hope for women, and also needs strong, articulate women theologians to work with it. I have found that the emerging church creates a climate willing to question, to listen to a multiplicity of voices and value those perceived to be outsiders, and to change more quickly and easily than those churches bound by centuries of tradition. Muers uses Schüssler Fiorenza’s term ‘resident alien’ to describe a feminist theologian, and I have found that the emerging church is a place that welcomes such resident aliens, and listens to what they have to say [3]. The Emerging Church is asking the same questions about ecclesiology, mission and biblical interpretation that feminist theology asks, and I see real progress being made in the future if both groups can listen to and learn from each other.

In my own church, I am part of the preaching team, which means my voice is not only heard by the whole community in a teaching role on a Sunday, but I am also a female voice in the planning and evaluating of the church’s theology.[4] I am exploring blogging as a forum for thinking and writing publically.[5] Finally, I am benefitting from the theological education available without prejudice to both men and women through the Open Theological College, equipping me to become a female theologian with a voice.

[1] Michele Guiness, Is God Good for Women?
[2] http://www.stgeorges.org.sg/; www.crossroadschurch.nl
[3] Rachel Muers, ‘Feminism, Gender and Theology’ in The Modern Theologians p. 448
[4] Hilary Porritt ‘Ruth: Daughters of the Promise” http://www.crossroadschurch.nl/sites/default/files/images/media/audio/11/May/2011-05-01%20Ruth.mp3
[5] http://wwwrym-renewyourmind.blogspot.com/

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