Head of the House:

Merelyn Webber

Description

Triune God is one without hierarchy, and he is diverse without being divided. When he created woman and man in his image, his intent was that they would likewise be one without hierarchy or diverse without division. When he commanded them to fill and rule the earth together, his intention was that they would do so together without hierarchy or division, as Triune God rules. After the fall, sin distorted the oneness and equality God intended for woman and man. It is time to get back to the oneness that God originally intended and that Jesus prayed for in John 17:22.

Much has been written to counter the idea that women should assume leadership roles, whether in the church, home, or workplace. Little, however, has been written to show how, in avoiding leadership, women might be abnegating their God-ordained role as coleaders with men. Women who want to know that they are walking in the fullness of God’s will for their lives will need to answer this question for themselves: is it a sin for women to lead?

In Head of the House, Merelyn Webber addresses the question: is it a sin for women to lead? She contends that the issue of equal opportunity for women and men to rule needs to be examined soberly by all and not left to the experts to decide. Derived from her personal relationship with Jesus, her years of experience of marginalization in ministry within the church setting, her years of study toward her MDiv and her call to ministry, Merelyn offers a Biblical perspective of women in ministry.

Head of the House is a book about women. It is to women and for women. It is designed to help them understand for themselves what God and his word have to say about what he intends their roles in society to be.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Mentoring
• Philosophie et théologie
• Women
• Woman
• The Women
• Leadership

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664271388
• Langue: English

Extrait

HEAD of the HOUSE:

IS IT A SIN FOR WOMEN TO LEAD?






Merelyn Webber







Copyright © 2022 Merelyn Webber.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.



WestBow Press
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture marked (NKJV) taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Reference: Dr. Justin Holcomb, “The Nicene Creed: Where it came from and why it still matters,” Zondervan Academic (March 9, 2018), https://zondervanacademic.co/blog/the-nicene-creed-where-it-came- fromand-why-it-still-matters (accessed November 29, 2021).

ISBN: 978-1-6642-7139-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7140-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7138-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022912303



WestBow Press rev. date: 09/14/2022



To the women and men who are searching for biblical equality in a patriarchal world



Contents
Endorsements
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1 Women are Powerful!
2 The Worldwide Assault against Women
3 Revisiting the Theology of Women
4 Then Came Jesus
5 Rules vs. Relationship
6 Not All Traditions Are Created Equally
7 Return to Me
8 Gender Reconciliation
9 The Garden of Eden Revisited

Bibliography
Endnotes



Endorsements
Thoroughly researched, astutely reasoned, and biblically inspiring , Head of the House : Is It a Sin for Women to Lead? is elegantly written. Contributing significantly to the larger body of egalitarian work, Webber’s wise and practical book is filled with fresh insight! A solid critique of theological and social patriarchy, Head of the House is a crucial gift to us all.
Mimi Haddad, PhD, President of CBE International and contributing author of Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Communities.
Head of the House is a moving and passionate encouragement to women to rely on God to use their God-given gifts to further God’s kingdom and not to be sidetracked by human traditions that prohibit them from following God’s call. Her scope is exhaustive: from the examples of exemplary women and hardships women endure, to gender reconciliation, and revisiting God’s original intention in Eden. Merelyn Webber’s approach is devout, biblical, expansive, and personal (she ends with a prayer for her readers). She concludes that the head of the Christian house is neither the husband nor the wife, but Jesus. This book is for the person who wants it all and wants it in one book: it has summaries and new insights of the scriptural and scientific and experiential approaches to the question “ is it a sin for women to lead?” The answer is definitely “no.”
Aída Besançon Spencer is Senior Professor of New Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, MA. A presbyterian minister, she has written, co-written and co-edited over 200 articles and 19 books, including Beyond the Curse, Christian Egalitarian Leadership, Global Voices on Biblical Equality, The Goddess Revival, Marriage at the Crossroads, 1 Timothy, and 2 Timothy and Titus.
Another book on women in leadership in the church. Is there anything new under the sun, we wonder, along with Solomon? Yes, readers, there is. Will you recognize some of the ideas in this book and be familiar with some of the critical thinking arguments presented? Merelyn shares her journey from complementarian assumptions to an egalitarian faith grounded in her personal story and the story of women through time and place; she prophetically shares where the Spirit has led, challenged, and called her. This is a thoughtful analysis of women’s issues worldwide, scientific and sociological learnings of the day and the intersection of faithful following of Christ that has a kingdom-building vision for the reconciliation of women and men thoughtfully drawn from Scripture. Rather than only exegeting the trigger verses around complementarianism, she takes her readers through a thoughtful exploration of the Bible and women and the calling of men and women to follow Jesus together.
Wendy Lowe is Senior Pastor at NEXT Christian Community



Preface
Much has been written to counter the idea that women should assume leadership roles, whether in the church, home, or workplace. Little, however, has been written to show how, in avoiding leadership, women might be abnegating their God-ordained role as coleaders with men.
Women who want to know that they are walking in the fullness of the will of God for their lives—who long to hear him say one day, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21), will want to have answered this question for themselves: is it a sin for women to lead? Answering this question could significantly alter the trajectory of their lives and their impact on the kingdom of God, if they discover that it is, in fact, a sin for them to avoid leadership.
Why Are We Standing?
A few years ago, I attended an annual national denominational conference in my city. At the time, I was an employee of that denomination, serving as Director of Ministry to Women at one of their local churches. One of the topics on their agenda for discussion at this conference was whether women should be allowed to superintend churches within their districts. I was grateful to hear of their openness to engage in this discussion.
In a previous conference, the decision had been made to allow women to pastor in their local churches, as long as the elder board of that church was in favor. Now the question was, if the elder board was not in favor of having a woman pastor, should a woman then be allowed to superintend that church?
After being introduced to the topic, attendees were given breakout time to gather in small groups to pray and hear what God might say to them personally about the matter. When they finished their personal prayers, they were invited to share around tables what they had heard God say. They were then invited back into the main hall and given instructions on how to vote.
People were to stand to indicate their decisions. A couple who was sitting directly behind me stood to indicate that they did not agree that women should be allowed to superintend churches. As they stood, the woman leaned over to her husband and asked him, “Why are we standing?” to which her husband replied, “Because the Bible does not contradict itself.”
What did he mean by that, and why did the woman not ask him to clarify? How this couple chose to vote did not concern me as much as the fact that the woman did not know for herself how she felt about the matter. When we live in a country where women have the freedom to vote and to receive as much education as they want, why would she defer to her husband? Something rose up in me to say, I want women to know for themselves what Scripture has to say about them!
The truth is that the topic of women’s equality, whether in boardrooms, churches, or the home, is contentious. Some people get very animated even at a whiff of the topic, while others choose to ignore it altogether, leaving the answers to the “experts” to decide. As Christ-followers, we need to remember that he was not a fence-sitter. Jesus, in fact, was a change agent among us. He was radical in the way he loved people. As his followers, we are also called to be radical in the way we love the people around us. We are called to stand up for what is right, just, and equitable, to be honest and courageous enough to mobilize change, if study and prayer direct us there. Martin Luther was courageous enough in his day to take a stand against the unjust practices of the whole Roman Catholic Church!
The issue of equal opportunity for women and men to rule needs to be examined soberly by all of us and not swept under the carpet. Future generations depend on our honest and courageous assessment and efforts to make the necessary adjustments on how these matters are handled. They depend on us not to blithely perpetuate traditions but to have done our due diligence. What is the legacy we want to leave? What is the vision of the world we want to create?
This book is not an exhaustive study on the topic of equality, but I pray that it will help you better understand the conversation. I pray that it will prompt you to take a stand of your own, through an examination of God’s word, listening to his leading, and courageously doing as he directs. To do this, we are urged in Psalm 1:1–3 to meditate on his law, day and night, through prayer and the reading of his word, trusting that Holy Spi