Event Review: When Women Speak #WhenSheSpeaks

I am reflecting on the September 27, 2021, online event "When Women Speak: A conversation with Anthea Butler, Kristin Kobes Du Mez and Beth Allison Barr, moderated by Melissa Borja.

Beth Allison Barr authored The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became the Gospel Truth. She is an associate professor of history at Baylor University and, through her research in medieval history, found ties between women's roles in the church and worldly patriarchy.

Kristin Kobes Du Mez wrote Jesus and John Wayne: How white evangelicals corrupted a faith and fractured a nation. She is a history professor at Calvin University with a focus on the intersection of gender, religion and politics in recent American history.

Anthea Butler wrote White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America. She is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and her research includes religion, evangelicalism, history, race, politics, gender, sexuality, media and popular culture. Her tag line is "Givin' it to ya straight... no chaser." Not one to speak with carefully hidden meanings, Butler will speak plainly, even if you don't like what she says.

I appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from Christian women who have researched and written extensively on topics that affect women's roles in marriages, churches, and society. Their non-fiction research applies to my fiction novel, Forgotten Followers: from Broken to Bold. My novel shows Jesus empowering women as leaders and calling disciples and apostles of various races.

Screenshot of Conversation

Defining Evangelicals

As a Canadian, I had not given much thought to the term evangelicals, which these authors discuss as having a rising impact in America. I hadn't noticed how the word had morphed from an adjective describing a type of Christian to becoming a name for Christians who exclude other Christians: charismatic, mainline Protestants, Catholic, or Orthodox Christians. Evangelicals are a group of Christians who seem to think no one else is a true Christian. And they have had a growing influence in America over the last few decades.

The National Association of Evangelicals (formed in 1942) provides the following beliefs to be categorized as evangelical (and to be called a Christian in their estimation):

• the belief that the Bible is the highest authority,

• that it is important to encourage others to be born again (often telling personal stories of conversion), and

• that Jesus is the only way to be forgiven and receive salvation.

Mainline Protestants believe the Bible contains God's truth and requires interpretation, that faith is shown by working for justice and humanitarian aid, and that it is important to share beliefs and encourage others on their spiritual journey. Mainline Christians believe that salvation involves faith that is evident in behaviours. We also are not threatened by working with people of different beliefs, where we can make conditions better by uniting in ecumenical efforts or interfaith initiatives. Christians can be found along the full range from fundamentalist to evangelical to mainline to pluralist, and can sometimes be found in the same denominations as each other.

Author Motivations

The conversation started with each author speaking of their motivations for their latest book. Anthea Butler wrote from a place of loneliness, needing to label what she was seeing and feeling in racism in evangelical churches.

Beth Barr was writing to an audience of evangelicals, using their language and her personal testimony to demonstrate the problems of their definition of Biblical womanhood. Barr said that the evidence provides the argument; her experience shows why it matters.

Kristin DuMez was writing to an audience of non-evangelicals, moving the conversation away from her personal story and toward historical context. DuMez wanted to speak the truth without deferring to power.

Opposition to Complementarianism

These three authors speak against a viewpoint called Complementarianism. This view is held by many evangelicals, and it teaches that God ordains that women's roles be subordinate to men, equal in value and complementary to each other. Complementarians teach that a woman's role is in the home, submitting to her husband as the head of the home, to be silent at church, without power or say in society. Evangelicals have produced many books, study guides, devotionals, and movies, which promote the complementarian view. The authors discussed how evangelicals have perpetrated male hierarchies of power by promoting Complementarianism, which is actually Christian patriarchy.

Barr's book shows that the complementarian view is not Biblical and it reflects culture rather than Christ. She demonstrates that Complementarianism is the same as patriarchy; it is a man-made doctrine that hurts women. It is this same patriarchy that limits the roles of blacks and the roles of women. Sexism cannot be uprooted without racism being addressed; patriarchy is parallel to racism. We saw this in the early years when most suffragists lobbying for the vote were also speaking against slavery.

DuMez showed that American evangelicalism has racist and patriarchal roots, back as far as the days when the Bible was used to support slavery. She noted that throughout history men have encouraged and supported other men with money and power; hired men, complimented them, and gave them positive book reviews and media exposure.

Butler told a story demonstrating a lack of women supporting women. In her youth, a woman in a senior administrative church role, working long hours for low pay, told Butler "don't go to Fuller and become a feminist". It was white men who recognized her intellect and encouraged her. Butler did go on to achieve an MA (Theology) from Fuller Theological Seminary, followed by an MA (Religion) and Ph.D. (Religion) from Vanderbilt University.

Recognizing Sexism and Racism

Many Christian men throughout history have recognized women's gifts and offered a platform for women to speak or write. In researching early women preachers, I notice that many could not have become preachers without the support of men who encouraged them, endorsed their calling and lobbied for their ordination.

However, in many churches, men have enforced restrictions on what women may say or do. Barr said that social media had a democratizing effect; social media meant activists and writers no longer had to go through male gatekeepers for exposure.

Anthea Butler discussed how the restrictions are applied against both women and people of colour. She said that if you wanted to know if your church was racist, look at how they reacted to George Floyd's case. If they cared about George Floyd for five minutes and then decided not to focus on racism, they are blind to the problem. She said that Christians need to not only recognize the racism of individuals, but also the racism of our churches, our communities and our structures.

Barr suggested that if a church did not want to focus on racism, start by meeting them where they are; focus on areas of interest to them and then bring in different voices and diverse stories. Examples could include introducing them to diverse populations, listening to the problems local people of colour have faced, or hearing from a woman called to ministry.

Butler talked about how evangelicals had been complicit in many issues, including racism and sexism. She said music by R. Kelly continued to be played at events, forgiving him for being a sexual abuser while ignoring the voices of the abused women. R. Kelly was convicted of sex trafficking this year, four years after the #MuteRKelly movement started. Similarly, Christians not only forgave Trump for being convicted of sexual abuse but also ignored it and did not require repentance or change.

DuMez discussed how feminists in the past focused on theology and Biblical interpretation. Today's feminists aim to provide awareness of issues by using history. Her readers who are people of colour have told her they were already aware of the issues revealed in her book; her white readers are telling her that their eyes have been opened to see the patriarchy or racism. Once readers have that awareness, they can look again at what the Bible says. History can help unwind bad theology.

Conclusion

I believe the issues discussed in this conversation can be applied to how Canada has been racist against indigenous populations. Indigenous populations are saying they were not surprised that unmarked graves of hundreds of children were found at indigenous residential schools; whites are saying that their eyes have been opened to how past leaders have ignored the mistreatment of indigenous populations. As early as 1907, the chief medical officer for Indian Affairs reported to then Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier that children enrolled at residential schools had a mortality rate as high as 25%. In the 1940s and 1950s, malnourished children in residential schools were used as controls in nutritional experiments.

While I started off researching women's rights, I discovered that respect for women is tied to respect for people of colour and other minorities. Jesus demonstrated respect for all people groups, regardless of gender or race, yet Christians through history have had trouble following this example.

The When Women Speak conversation ended on a hopeful note, that voices are being heard, and ideas on patriarchy and racism are being faced and discussed.

Poster for When Women Speak event

Elaine Ricker Kelly Author is empowering women with historical fiction about women in the Bible and early church and Christian blogs about women in leadership, church history and doctrine. Her books include:

• Forgotten Followers from Broken to Bold, Book 1, A Novel (2022)

• The Sword: A Fun Way to Engage in Healthy Debate on What the Bible Says About a Woman's Role (2023)

• Because She Was Called from Broken to Bold, Book 2, A Novel of the Early Church (2024)

• Walk with Mara on Her Healing Journey: 21 Steps to Emotional Resilience (2024)

• Finding Her Voice from Broken to Bold, Book 3, Acts of Early Female Apostles: A Novel (2025)