The CBE Scroll

Joy Fenner of Gaston Oaks Baptist Church in Garland was elected president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) earlier this week, narrowly defeating BGCT pastor David Lowrie by a margin of 900-840 votes to become the first woman to occupy the post.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas is the largest Baptist state group of its kind in the nation, with over 5,000 affiliated congregations and more than two million members. Despite its size, less than one percent of BGCT pastors are women.

A former missionary to Japan, church secretary, and executive director emeritus of the Women’s Missionary Union of Texas, Fenner has been involved in missions work for over thirty years. Many in the BGCT working in recent years to increase BGCT missions work and multicultural awareness see Fenner and her longstanding commitment to missions a natural fit to the presidency. She comes as the third in a line of ‘first’ presidents that in recent years has included the first Latino BGCT president in 2004 and the first African-American president in 2005.

Steve Wells, pastor of South Main Baptist Church in Houston says of Fenner and her handling of multicultural affairs, ‘She led our state to develop multi-lingual mission literature because, long before the rest of us knew that Texas was multicultural, Joy knew and understood what it is to be in a multicultural state.’ Fenner herself has stated that she hopes to reach out to those members of the BGCT who are gifted for leadership but may currently be sidelined for one reason or another.

Some, complementarian or otherwise, may believe that we egalitarians don’t love our fathers. Well, I loved my father. I want to share some memories of my father to show why I loved him so much.

When I was twenty, I had to take some medicine. My father was worried that the condition I had would interrupt my studies. As a result, he asked me daily if I was taking my medicine. My mother asked him to stop. A couple of days later I received a phone call. When I picked it up I heard a very low voice say ‘Did you take your medicine today?’ I said ‘Yes, dad.’ My father said bye and abruptly hung up. This happened again two days later. I think my mother caught him, because he never did it again.

Another time, we couldn’t buy anything extra because money was tight. My mother wanted to buy a new dress, however because of our situation she decided to wait several months, until Mother’s Day. But, my father told her to go buy one right away. He said ‘The mother of the family shouldn’t have to wait until Mother’s Day to get a new dress.’

Both my sister and I lived hundreds of miles away from my parents at different times. I remember when my sister lived far away. Whenever she would call, my father would get excited. I told my sister about this and she said ‘Dad used to get that way whenever you called also (when I had lived far away).’

He’s been gone now several years, and there’s not a day that I don’t think of him.

I understand that not everyone is lucky enough to have such fond memories as I do. But, I ask those who do to share them. Hopefully, any complementarians and/or others who may believe that we don’t love our fathers will read our memories and understand that we do, just as they do.

My husband recently sent me a link to an news blurb about new traffic signal laws which were passed last year in Spain. In an effort to do away with sexism, the Spanish town council of Madrid decreed that half of all road signs and traffic signals should alternate between male and female walking figures. And how can you tell it’s a female figure? The silhouettes will have ‘feminine attributes’ such as a skirt, ribbon, and ponytail instead of simply being the outline of a striding man. This is their way of fighting inequality in their streets and giving women more visibility. Some quotes from the people in Madrid:

‘It’s fantastic, but there’s still a lot to fight for. There are many things that need fighting for so women can finally be valued for what we are worth.’

‘I don’t think it will contribute much to promote equality, but at least it gives women a place there [in traffic lights].’

‘I think it’s really silly. A single sign changing from green to red, allowing or prohibiting crossing is enough.’

Personally, I can see that they have the best interest at heart, but unfortunately, their simple solution seems to underscore the opposite of their intention. Aren’t they just reinforcing the old sexist stereotypes of feminism – skirts, ribbons, and ponytails? What do you think? Is this silly or significant?

Here is the link to the story.

Several places in the New Testament, had ‘headship’ been God’s intention, it would have been stated and described. Rather, in those places we find no such direct statement and, in fact, other descriptions of marriage indicating full equality.

Two such places are as follow. In 1 Corinthians 7:3-4, when Paul states that the husband’s body belongs to his wife and and wife’s to her husband, no distinction is made between the two parties, in spite of the fact that the word ‘authority’ is used.

The second, 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, concerns itself with the value of staying single in the culture of the time. It talks about a married man being ‘anxious about the affairs of the world and how to please his wife’ (NRSV), and then the same words are used for a married woman wanting to please her husband, therefore being divided in interest rather than single-mindedly serving God. Paul states ‘I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.’

Surely these two sets of verses would have been ideal opportunities to state roles of husbands and wives if that had been Paul’s intention and belief. However, instead of even a hint of hierarchy, there is instead total mutuality and consideration.

CBE was recently contacted by a doctor of ministry student named Barb from Langley, BC conducting a survey among Christians who have recovered from experiences of emotional and spiritual distress under authoritarian and controlling church leaders. The results of her survey will provide her with a critical piece of research and will help her on her way to the completion of her dissertation.

Barb is looking for both those who have experienced emotional and spiritual distress within a church setting and pastors/ministers who have been able to provide comfort and spiritual guidance to those who have experienced emotional and spiritual distress within a church setting. If either of these criteria describe you, your participation in the survey is welcomed.

If interested, Barb may be contacted at churchexitersq@telus.net. Comments and questions are welcomed. All responses will be anonymous and yet may be kept for further use after the completion of the study. If you do contact Barb, per her request, please let her know that you were told of her survey at The CBE Scroll.