The Black Swan Effect - A new book

Felicity Dale is a woman and a church leader; in some circles that combination would be a real no-no. As part of her busy life, Felicity is an active author and a blogger at Simply Church. Her latest book, 'The Black Swan Effect', examines the arguments around women and church leadership.

Felicity Dale

Here are some questions about the book, with great answers from Felicity.

The Black Swan Effect is an unusual title. Why did you choose it?
The title comes from a story in the introduction to the book. Back in 16th century London, people had never seen a black swan, and so the term came to mean something impossible, a bit like a unicorn. Then in 1696, a Dutch explorer discovered a whole species of black swans in Western Australia. So the meaning of the term changed. It symbolized something that once was thought impossible but is now known to be possible, even commonplace.

All it took was one black swan to change people’s minds forever. Similarly, all it takes is one Phoebe, one Junia, one Deborah, one Esther to prove that God uses women in his Kingdom in all kinds of roles, including leadership.

Who wrote the book?
There are 14 contributing authors, both men and women. They come from many different backgrounds and church traditions. Between us we have written more than 50 books. Each of us writes from his or her own passion and expertise into a specific area. The whole is woven together to form a single narrative.

What do you hope to achieve through the book?
For too long women have been held back because of church tradition and a few challenging Scriptures that stand against the general tenor and trend of the Bible as a whole. We long to see men and women working together, as equals, side by side, for the sake of the Kingdom. This will take men being willing to champion women as they boldly break through the barriers that have held them back. And it will take women daring to step out and follow the Holy Spirit as he leads them into roles where they’ve never gone before.

Who might be interested in a book such as this?
We think three different groups of people would have a specific interest in this book:

Many Christians—both men and women—have come to the conclusion that there is no better way to double the size of God’s missions workforce than to fully deploy women to use their spiritual gifts and God-given capacities.

Others are asking theological questions. They are investigating how the Bible portrays women, especially women leaders. Were the New Testament writers—in particular, the Apostle Paul—misogynists? Are there alternative interpretations for some of the really difficult passages of Scripture? 

Still others who enter this discussion are drawn to it because of issues related to justice and human dignity. They want to know why some religions undermine the worth of women, why many churches are not equal opportunity employers, and why Christians are not engaging more with issues such as sex trafficking and global female infanticide. As they study Scripture, they can’t even imagine a God who would discriminate against women.

What kind of questions does the book raise?
We are not afraid to ask the right questions with a right heart at the right time. That’s not the same as saying we come up with answers to all of them!

Here are a few of the questions we air:

• Does God like men more than women?
• Has God ever used a woman to change the course of history?
• What about those troublesome verses?
• Who leads better—men or women?
• Are women ever their own worst enemy?
• Why is gender such a big deal in many cultures?

How can people get hold of the book?

The book is due to be published on 5th April. You should be able to find it on Amazon and elsewhere from that date.

Questions:

• What are your personal views on women and church leadership?
• Have you read any of Felicity's earlier books?
• Which of her answers above do you find most interesting - and why?

See also:

• Felicity Dale on women and church - Journeys of heart and mind
• Men, women and children - Journeys of heart and mind
• Nomad with the Dales - Journeys of heart and mind
• Place of women, The - Journeys of heart and mind
• Felicity Dale's blog - Simply church

Men, women and children

Prompted as I wrote a reply to a blog post, I felt I needed to write at greater length on some principles of leading and following. Men, women and children all have a place in leading us in following Jesus. But is it men, women or children who do the best job of leading?

Felicity Dale, writing recently about women as leaders, asks, 'What is God about to do?' (It takes both men and women, Simply Church).

As I began to write a reply to her post, I felt the Holy Spirit leading me along a track I'd not considered before.

I'd had hints of this from time to time over the years but I hadn't put it all together in my mind.

Here's my response to Felicity's post.

If we define kingdom as the realm in which the King is obeyed, then wherever men, women and children are following Jesus - that is the kingdom.

But let's remember the children in all this. Believing children have some wonderful advantages over us adult believers. Everybody agrees that men can lead, a growing number agree that women can lead too, but who has considered that children can lead? Sometimes they do so in the most natural and unselfconscious way. And sometimes, as men and women, we just need to swallow our pride and follow them!

What is Father about to do?

I have a strong hunch that he is beginning to show us that all should lead and all should follow. What I mean by that is that we don't need to recognise particular people as leaders and others as followers. Instead we will be recognising leaders in the moment. Who is leading right now? Who is leading by their words, by their actions, by their love, by their compassion, by their joy, by their wisdom, by their humility? If Christ is revealing himself through a particular person right now, follow that person!

I'd like to develop this a little more.

Leaders - What do we mean when we think of leaders and leadership? A leader is clearly a person who leads, someone who goes in front. Leadership extends the idea to suggest someone whose role is to lead, someone who is skilled at leading and is expected to lead often, even always.

But I'd like to ask the question, 'Which way is a person facing when they lead?' There are three possibilities.

Looking forwards - Someone who is looking forwards is looking away from the people who are following. Such a person is looking at Jesus and following him. If I follow such a person I will also be following Jesus. Jesus goes where he chooses to go, the person who is looking towards him follows where he goes. I follow the follower so I go where the follower goes - so I go where Jesus goes. This is good, this is safe, this is what someone who leads should always do.

Looking sideways - I think we often do this. Such people are not looking at Jesus but nor are they looking at those who follow them. They're going off at a tangent. Follow them at your peril!

Looking backwards - Is this what we sometimes mean when we talk about leaders and leadership? Is the focus on the listeners and followers, not on Jesus?

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking here about someone speaking to a group of people. You can do that with your eyes firmly focussed on the King. I'm talking about someone who is focussed on the listeners and followers, someone who cares more about being followed than about following Jesus.

Another name for people who do this is 'false shepherd' (or 'bad shepherd'). These people want to feed on the sheep rather than lead the sheep to good pasture. Jesus shows us what a good shepherd is like. He is the Good Shepherd. He told Peter, 'Do you love me? Feed my sheep'.

Perhaps most of us, most of the time, look in all three directions. We gaze partly at Jesus, we glance away to the side, and we look to see who's following us.

Men, women and children - Remember, we're talking about believers here. So now ask yourself, can a man play the part of any of these three kinds of human leader? Yes, he can.

Can a woman play any of these parts? Yes, she can.

Can a child play any of these three parts? Well, perhaps. But in my experience believing children tend to look forward towards Jesus. Young children, in particular, tend to be much too naive to look sideways or backwards. So what does that tell you about the right kind of person to follow?

Jesus wasn't kidding when he told us that unless we come like little children we won't even see the kingdom of heaven.

Questions:

• Do you know people who lead looking forwards, sideways or backwards?
• Would you trust a child to lead you?
• Depending on your answer to the previous question, why? or why not?

See also:

• It takes both men and women - Simply church
• Leaders in the church - Journeys of heart and mind
• Simple church with children - Journeys of heart and mind

Felicity Dale on women and church

Felicity Dale is currently writing extensively about women and their role in church life. It's a topic that needs to be re-examined, and Felicity has taken hold of the task. Or, perhaps more correctly, the Holy Spirit has taken hold of Felicity to approach the task in a new and effective way.

Tony and Felicity Dale live in Austin, Texas and have been a huge and beneficial influence in the thoughts and lives of many, especially those engaged in simple and organic forms of church life. They have many gifts, both of them are effective teachers, for example.

Recently, Felicity has been writing a great deal about the place of women in the church. She has many wonderful insights into an area that has often been problematic. I believe she is being used by Papa to open doors that have been closed far too long. I know Tony will have been right there with her, quietly oiling the rusty hinges for all he's worth!

I want to commend Felicity's efforts to all my readers. To the women amongst you because she is speaking release and empowerment. To the men because you can all help by encouraging the women in your lives to receive the truth she is sharing. And to those (men and women) who are unsure about the place and function of women in church life because there is much wisdom and truth in Felicity's writing on this topic.

I believe Felicity's work on women and church is of huge importance. What she is doing is fundamental to the next step in Papa's plan for his people, worldwide but particularly here in Western society where women have long been sidelined, particularly in church circles.

Reading Felicity's articles - Perhaps the earliest of her articles on women is 'A phone call to remember' back in April 2010. The latest (so far) is 'Women in Leadership: God's punishment?' published just yesterday. You can view the entire series  as a growing set of pages, seven of them so far. They may eventually form the basis for a new book.

You will need to follow her blog (Simply Church) because she is turning out more good writing on the topic every week at present. She is on a roll! If you like you can sign up to receive future posts by email (visit Simply Church and look for 'Subscribe' near the top on the right hand side of the page - or just use this link).

Questions:

• Have you considered the Bible's teaching on women for yourself?
• It's easy to think that the way things are is the way they must continue. What are the dangers in doing this?

See also:

• His church and his heart - Journeys of heart and mind
• Kingdom women - Simply Church
• Place of women - Journeys of heart and mind
• Putting women in their place - Journeys of heart and mind
• Simply Church
• Spiritually gifted women - Assembling of the church
• Women must lead the church - Till he comes

Best of both

We take a look at the risks and likely benefits of platonic friendships between men and women. How acceptable is it for believers to have close friends of the opposite sex? And even if it's acceptable, how useful is it? Perhaps the benefits outweigh the difficulties, at least sometimes.

This post is part of the February Synchroblog 'Cross Gender Friendships'. Links to all the contributions are listed at the end of this post.

Cross-gender relationships of any kind (except for romantic love and marriage) have long been regarded as 'dodgy' in church circles. There is, of course, the potential for inappropriate romantic feelings to develop and that's something to be aware of, but is that risk a valid reason to avoid such friendships altogether? I think not.

Platonic friendships have long been regarded as not only possible, but potentially valuable. If we avoid them out of fear or anxiety are we missing an important aspect of human social interaction?

I have a wide circle of male and female acquaintances of all ages as well as a smaller number of close friends, again both men and women. Some of my close friends live nearby and we meet more or less regularly. Some live far away and we meet very rarely.

Rather than try to analyse this topic I'm just going to share some personal experiences and observations. Read on and see what you think.

Relationship, energy and danger - I'll begin by telling you that I am a man (in case you haven't already worked that out). I generally find friendships with women go deeper than those with men. For one thing women tend to be more relational and less superficial. Let me point out right away that I'm generalising here - there are plenty of exceptions to what sounds like a general rule. It's no such thing. Don't be fooled for a moment!

I have something of a shepherd's heart and like to encourage and build up. So I get a lot of energy from conversations and relationships where I can listen and respond, but very little from talking about football or fishing. I find women are more likely to engage in ways I can relate to.

Turning to the dangers of relationships becoming more than platonic in nature, in my experience I can honestly say this has never been an issue. It seems to me that most women are quite unwilling to allow a friendship to develop unless and until they are sure it will not go in an inappropriate direction.

What I have valued most in cross-gender friendship has been the opportunity to learn and grow in understanding and mutual respect. I've had many rich conversations on a host of topics, the benefit of peaceful and thoughtful insight, shared appreciation of music and literature and the natural world, and a great deal of wisdom and sound advice.

A balanced life - I am blessed by good balance in my friends. Here's a diary of my current week; it's as good an example as any.

• On Monday mornings I meet with Paul for coffee, a chat, and some Bible study. We are currently working through John's gospel together.
• On Monday evenings I meet Sean at his house to chat, read the Bible, pray, and listen. We watched a DVD of Victor Choudhrie.
• On Tuesday I meet my friend Chris for a coffee in town and we'll talk and pray about a house of prayer for St Neots and the area around. He is very keen on following up the Ffald-y-Brenin approach to local prayer and blessing.
• Later on Tuesday I met Megan for coffee and a chat at Caffe Nero's.
• In the evening Donna* and I joined her Open Door Small Group in a nearby village. We ate a meal together and spent time in prayer and praise and discussion.
• On Wednesdays I usually meet with Roger, but not this week. We are working through 'Freedom in Christ' together. 
• At lunchtime on Wednesday I visited Jody to catch up and hear news about the meetings she and Peter host at their home every week.
• On Thursday evenings Jim, Sean and I usually meet to chat and pray.

That's a grand total of four men and two women (*Donna is my wife) that I have spent one on one time with this week. All of them are friends, all are valued, all bring something special and unique to my life. In addition there'll be others, men and women that I will meet singly or in groups, and others that I'll contact by email, text, phone or on Google+. They are all special and they all contribute something valuable and irreplaceable.

What I'd miss - I would miss any of these people if they were removed from my life. Without them I would not be me. Or at least I would be a different me, a poorer me. What would life be without the richness of community? Our communities are not islands, they overlap in significant ways. Important lines of communication go out joining communities into a single, huge, world-wide network.

I can hardly imagine what life would be like if I had only male friends. It would be greatly impoverished. My advice to anyone without cross-gender friends is to be wise and careful, but to certainly consider broadening your range of friends. A friend cannot be manufactured artificially. But as friendships develop naturally around shared interests and ideas, don't say 'No' merely on the basis of gender. Far more important is to hear what the Spirit of Christ is telling you. Pray about it and be guided by what he shows you.

Another observation that I can share is that, in friendship as in marriage, the different approaches of men and women to so many things in life are complementary and have a counterbalancing effect. We have to pay attention to one another to benefit from this; we have to listen and watch and learn. But friends are usually pretty good at doing that and do it very naturally.

Here's one final point. Amongst my closest friends have been two married couples. Perhaps this is where the greatest freedom in friendship may be found. In my experience there can be no closer togetherness than a group of four or six consisting of happily married couples. As in any kind of friendship there will sometimes be fallings out and misunderstandings, disappointments and confusions. But there's real joy in it too. If such a thing happens in your life it may turn out to be truly blessed, and very, very special.

Questions:

• Have you limited your friendships due to a fear of disapproval by others?
• Jesus related well with both men and women. Did he follow the social norms of his day?
• Can you leave a comment to share your own experiences of cross-gender friendships?

See also:

• Circles of friends - Journeys of heart and mind
• Groups of two or three - Journeys of heart and mind
• Men and women can't be 'just friends' - Scientific American
• Platonic friendships, can they work? - HelloGiggles
• Travelling with friends - Journeys of heart and mind
• What I have learned about friendships - LifeStream blog

Synchroblog links:

• Jeremy Myers – Are Cross-Gender Friendships Possible
• Lynne Tait – Little Boxes
• Dan Brennan – Cross-Gender Friendship: Jesus and the Post-Romantic Age
• Glenn Hager – Sluts and Horndogs
• Jennifer Ellen – A Different Kind of Valentine
• Alise Wright - What I get from my cross-gender friend
• Liz Dyer – Cross-Gender Friendships and the Church
• Paul Sims – Navigating the murky water of cross-gender friendships
• Jonalyn Fincher – Why I Don’t Give out Sex like Gold Star Stickers
• Amy Martin – Friendship: The most powerful force 
• Maria Kettleson Anderson - Myth and Reality: Cross-Gender Friendships
• Bram Cools - Nothing More Natural Than Cross-Gender Friendships?
• Hugo Schwyzer – Feelings Aren’t Facts: Living Out Friendship Between Men and Women
• Marta Layton – True Friendship: Two Bodies, One Soul
• Kathy Escobar – The Road To Equality Is Paved With Friendship
• Karl Wheeler – Friends at First Sight
• Doreen Mannion – Hetereosexual, Platonic Cross-Gender Friendships
• Jim Henderson – Jesus Had A Thing for Women and So Do I
• Elizabeth Chapin – 50 Shades of Friendship
• D. L. Webster – Expressing Love Outside of Romance

The place of women

Here are some brief comments on ten points from a magazine article. All of these points aim to keep women in a subsidiary role in church life. We look at them to see if they are justifiable and if not, why not.

Charisma Magazine has produced a list of  'ten lies the church tells women'.

This sounds very alarming and 'lie' is a strong and emotive word. Are they right, is it true? Let's take a look at the list item by item and consider it.

The ten points are certainly worth pondering. Are they deliberate lies, are they perfectly reasonable ideas, or are they just careless and unthinking remarks?

I'll comment briefly on each item as we go through the list, but I strongly recommend taking a look at the original article where further arguments are provided. Here, then, are the ten points.

God’s ultimate plan for women is that they serve their husbands - I'm not sure how widely this is taught, but it's clearly not correct as it stands. If we are to serve anyone it is first Jesus and secondly one another.

Women can’t be fulfilled or spiritually effective without a husband - I'm inclined to say, 'Let them be the judge of that!' Paul suggests we might prefer to stay single so we can focus more fully on living for Christ (1 Corinthians 7:34), so it's preposterous to suggest that spiritual effectiveness depends on marriage.

Women shouldn’t work outside the home - So... no female nurses, or teachers? Lydia worked as a fabric trader and hosted Paul and his fellow travellers in her home (Acts 16:14-15).

Women must obediently submit to their husbands in all situations - All situations? Really? What if the husband requires her to renounce Christ? We are probably all familiar with Ephesians 5:21-33, but notice that Paul begins by saying we should submit to one another and ends by stressing love and respect. Does 'do what I say' really equate with love, respect and mutual submission?

A man needs to “cover” a woman in her ministry activities - The whole idea of 'ministry activities' is suspect - for both men and women. We live to serve Christ in everything we do and say and think. We dare not think in terms of ministry and non-ministry activities. Anna is a good example of a woman without a man to 'cover' her (Luke 2:36-38).

A woman should view her husband as the 'priest of the home' - Are we not all priests? Peter says that all who believe are a royal priesthood. (1 Peter 2:5, 1 Peter 2:9-10)

Women are not equipped to assume leadership roles - Junia was 'outstanding among the apostles' according to Paul (Romans 16:7). (Despite some attempts to argue the contrary, Junia is a female name.) Phoebe was a deacon (Romans 16:1), Priscilla was a 'fellow worker' (Romans 16:3)

Women must not teach or preach to men in a church setting - Paul writes that women are to remain silent (1 Corinthians 14:34), but he also writes that the brothers and sisters (implied, eg NIV) should each speak or sing (1 Corinthians 14:26). Whatever he means, it's much too simplistic to regard it as a blanket ban on women speaking. It's necessary to dig deeper than that.

Women are more easily deceived than men - There is no biblical basis for this idea. None. Genesis 3 is often offered as proof, where Eve says that the evil one 'deceived me, and I ate' (Genesis 3:13). But this is, frankly, a cop out. Adam also heard the temptation and ate so he was equally deceived.

Women who exhibit strong leadership qualities have a 'spirit of Jezebel' - This one is just made up. There is no suggestion of anything like this in the New Testament, no support for the idea at all. It seems to me to be both hurtful and offensive, a criticism that is sometimes wielded like a weapon.

There is, perhaps, just one more thing to say; and it's a warning. Be very careful about creating obstacles! (Romans 16:17-19) Let us be both wise and innocent.

May the Father and the Son through the power of the Spirit lead us into all truth and build us into the church, his Bride, pure and complete and perfect in every way. May we so love and encourage one another in everything we do that the world will see his nature represented in us. May the body be one just as the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one. In Jesus name, amen.

Questions:

• What did Paul mean when he wrote 'there is neither male nor female'? (Galatians 3:26-28)
• If you are a man, should you insist on these ten points? If you are a woman, should you listen?
• Gentleness, love, peace, kindness and patience are part of the fruit of the Spirit. Are these evident in the ten points? If so, how? (Galatians 5:22-26)
• Truth, authority, service and submission are not part of the fruit. Why not?

See also:

• Body with one part - Searching together
• Charisma magazine
• Confined to the kitchen? - Searching together
• Missional paradigms in flux - Backseat Driver
• Putting women in their place - Journeys of heart and mind
• Ten lies the church tells women - Charisma magazine

NEWS - Jon Zens, Tony Dale, Neil Cole

This week's news roundup contains four items.

• Frank Viola interviews Jon Zens about his book on the place of women in the church. He expresses some interesting views and backs them up with detailed Biblical scholarship.
  
• Felicity Dale interviews her husband Tony on women in the church. Obviously the subject is topical with two mentions in this week's news!

• Neil Cole responds to Brian Hofmeister's report of having difficulties making organic church work. Part two of Neil's response is still to follow. (See also my recent post.)
• The latest Nomad Podcast brings you an interview with Stuart Murray of the Anabaptist Network.