Jo Ann Deasy is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church currently serving as a director at the Association of Theological Schools in Pittsburgh, PA. She came to faith in a Covenant Church plant in Northern California and is grateful for those who nurtured a call to ministry in her as a new believer. She has served as a youth intern, a Minister of Christian Education, a Dean of Students, and most recently as a solo pastor.
Have you ever seen healthy anger in a woman? Anger. Righteous indignation. The expression of hurt. A rational response to something that is wrong. I hope your answer is yes, but I know that for many of you, you may have had to think about it. Healthy, rational anger is not a response that we expect from women. And when it does happen, we rarely recognize it. We interpret it as something else. We marginalize it by calling the woman names or describing her as “hysterical” or “overly emotional.”
As part of my doctoral research, I interviewed several young women about identity and ministry. The interviews happened to be taking place as Hilary Clinton was running for president. One of the women in the group confessed that she did not think Hilary would make a good president, because she would probably be too emotional when crisis situations occurred. This was a strong young woman who considered herself a feminist, but she couldn’t imagine a woman president getting angry in a way that would serve her well as a leader. Continue Reading »
Mandi Cherico is a second year M.Div student at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. Raised in the Twin Cities, her interests include feminism, word-care, aesthetics, and Beyonce. The following post is a manuscript of a sermon preached at North Park Theological Seminary Chapel on September 15, 2014.
Book Review – Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry
Filed under: Book & Commentary
Submitted by:
Dru McLeland
I am currently following God’s call in the footsteps of my great grandmother, Drusilla, who was a traveling evangelist in the Methodist Episcopal Church, my father, Paul, and my Aunt Dorothy who were ordained ministers and my mother who was a Bible teacher and speaker, all in the Free Methodist Church. Currently, I am a full-time student at Northern Theological Seminary in Lombard, IL pursuing a Master of Divinity degree with emphasis in worship and spirituality. I spent an exciting summer completing my clinical pastoral education requirements in the ACPE program of the Adventist Midwest Health hospital system.
One of the things that drew me to the Evangelical Covenant Church is the affirmation of “both men and women as ordained ministers and at every level of leadership” informed by the word of God” (“Covenant Affirmations” found here.) There is a long history of women in pastoral ministry in my family and denomination of origin. I am surprised by God’s call to ministry on my own life, but not because I am a woman. However, as I experienced and witnessed gender-based resistance from others concerning God’s call, I realized my own need for better understanding of this call. In light of this, I look for books that might be helpful.
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