After bouncing around this month between Norfolk VA, Huntington NY, Santa Monica CA, and Telluride CO, I arrived today at a smallish hotel (8 stories in a vertical block) about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh.
I'm here for a conference of Christians for Biblical Equality, a group founded by the Minnesota chapter of EWC (Cathy Kroeger and others) in 1986 when that chapter split off from Evangelical Women's Caucus over EWC's passing of a resolution endorsing the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
We're not talking gay marriage here--it was just rights to jobs, housing, and hospital visitation without getting kicked out for being homosexual. Such was life in the US in 1986.
Note: this is my first CBE conference. On principle, I will not join CBE, even to get a discount on the price of the conference, and I have stayed away from the group's conferences.
There's the little problem of one word in CBE's statement of faith:
If you watch the new documentary God Loves Uganda, you'll understand why I think it's so important not to subscribe to organizations that make a point of being against gays and lesbians. In Uganda, some legislators (funded by anti-gay Christians from the US) want to set up a death penalty for persons who commit same-sex offenses. Any individual or organization that is anti-gay contributes indirectly to the continuing deaths of homosexual persons at the hands of others.
Though I refuse to join CBE, I have tried to stay in touch with CBE members off and on over the years. I see that God has reached many women and men through the ministry of CBE, people who could not have been reached by EEWC-CFT. Because the test of being a Bible-believing Christian these days is one's position on homosexuality and abortion (forget the rest of the statement of faith), EEWC-CFT has been branded as outside the fold and our endorsement of equality for women in the church cannot get heard in some circles.
I have emailed with Mimi Haddad, its president, and met her when she was speaking in Minneapolis in 2010 for alumni of Gordon-Conwell who were also attending a General Assembly of the PC-USA. Mimi holds a doctorate in historical theology and gave a passionate recitation of all the 19th-C. evangelicals who supported women's equality in the churches. I loved listening to her speak.
To my surprise, this conference in Pittsburgh appears to be maybe 200 people or less. I expected it to be larger because CBE has held conferences in places like Australia and Kenya. Instead, I find here a room filled with 40 round tables, each set with 6 seats facing the front.
Nothing starts until Friday, even registration. EEWC-CFT conferences have usually started on Thursday evening. The only conference-included meals are dinner on Friday and Saturday, unless a table with bagels or something turns up in the mornings.
Bettina Pedersen, an EEWC member who wrote Being Feminist, Being Christian several years ago, is giving a workshop. I met her at a meeting of the Conference on Christianity & Literature ten or more years ago.
There are 10-12 exhibit tables set up, mostly seminaries. I was planning to sign up for an exhibit table for EEWC-CFT until I found out that you have to agree to CBE's statement of faith to have a table. That's how they keep out the heretics, I guess.
I'm here partly to meet Xana McCauley, who wrote in to EEWC several years ago from Johannesburg SA after discovering our website. I've been corresponding with her off and on, and in one of our first exchanges I suggested she get in touch with CBE because her faith community in South Africa is fairly conservative.
The church and ministry she and her husband founded is called Hands of Compassion Rhema: http://www.handsofcompassion.co.za/
When she told me they were coming from South Africa to this conference in Pittsburgh, I began praying about whether it would be God's will for me to attend as well, traveling from California.
Many things pointed in this direction, and today here I am--excited to meet Xana tomorrow.
I'm here for a conference of Christians for Biblical Equality, a group founded by the Minnesota chapter of EWC (Cathy Kroeger and others) in 1986 when that chapter split off from Evangelical Women's Caucus over EWC's passing of a resolution endorsing the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
We're not talking gay marriage here--it was just rights to jobs, housing, and hospital visitation without getting kicked out for being homosexual. Such was life in the US in 1986.
Note: this is my first CBE conference. On principle, I will not join CBE, even to get a discount on the price of the conference, and I have stayed away from the group's conferences.
There's the little problem of one word in CBE's statement of faith:
We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, is reliable, and is the final authority for faith and practice.
We believe in the unity and trinity of God, eternally existing as three equal persons.
We believe in the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ.
We believe in the sinfulness of all persons. One result of sin is shattered relationships with God, others, and self.
We believe that eternal salvation and restored relationships are possible through faith in Jesus Christ who died for us, rose from the dead, and is coming again. This salvation is offered to all people.
We believe in the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation, and in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers.
We believe in the equality and essential dignity of men and women of all ethnicities, ages, and classes. We recognize that all persons are made in the image of God and are to reflect that image in the community of believers, in the home, and in society.
We believe that men and women are to diligently develop and use their God-given gifts for the good of the home, church, and society.
We believe in the family, celibate singleness, and faithful heterosexual marriage as God's design.
We believe that, as mandated by the Bible, men and women are to oppose injustice.
All the rest I agree with 100%. It's just that one word.
Though I refuse to join CBE, I have tried to stay in touch with CBE members off and on over the years. I see that God has reached many women and men through the ministry of CBE, people who could not have been reached by EEWC-CFT. Because the test of being a Bible-believing Christian these days is one's position on homosexuality and abortion (forget the rest of the statement of faith), EEWC-CFT has been branded as outside the fold and our endorsement of equality for women in the church cannot get heard in some circles.
I have emailed with Mimi Haddad, its president, and met her when she was speaking in Minneapolis in 2010 for alumni of Gordon-Conwell who were also attending a General Assembly of the PC-USA. Mimi holds a doctorate in historical theology and gave a passionate recitation of all the 19th-C. evangelicals who supported women's equality in the churches. I loved listening to her speak.
To my surprise, this conference in Pittsburgh appears to be maybe 200 people or less. I expected it to be larger because CBE has held conferences in places like Australia and Kenya. Instead, I find here a room filled with 40 round tables, each set with 6 seats facing the front.
Nothing starts until Friday, even registration. EEWC-CFT conferences have usually started on Thursday evening. The only conference-included meals are dinner on Friday and Saturday, unless a table with bagels or something turns up in the mornings.
Bettina Pedersen, an EEWC member who wrote Being Feminist, Being Christian several years ago, is giving a workshop. I met her at a meeting of the Conference on Christianity & Literature ten or more years ago.
There are 10-12 exhibit tables set up, mostly seminaries. I was planning to sign up for an exhibit table for EEWC-CFT until I found out that you have to agree to CBE's statement of faith to have a table. That's how they keep out the heretics, I guess.
I'm here partly to meet Xana McCauley, who wrote in to EEWC several years ago from Johannesburg SA after discovering our website. I've been corresponding with her off and on, and in one of our first exchanges I suggested she get in touch with CBE because her faith community in South Africa is fairly conservative.
The church and ministry she and her husband founded is called Hands of Compassion Rhema: http://www.handsofcompassion.co.za/
When she told me they were coming from South Africa to this conference in Pittsburgh, I began praying about whether it would be God's will for me to attend as well, traveling from California.
Many things pointed in this direction, and today here I am--excited to meet Xana tomorrow.
