Claremont United Church of Christ

Listen as President of the Pacific School of Religion, Rev. Dr. David Vasquez-Levy, guest preaches at Claremont United Church of Christ and explores how Jochebed and other women of the revolution changed the story of the Bible!

Like so many other women in the Bible, the Canaanite woman and her daughter in Matthew 15 remain nameless. Her story is one of the most confusing in all of Scripture, but perhaps this unnamed woman teams up with Jesus to teach us the greatest lesson of all.

This week we look at a troubling story of a woman whose life was marked by oppression and abuse: Hagar. Instead of hearing her story as people from a completely different context and culture, Pastor Jen invites us to consider how Hagar’s life and hardships reflect the experiences of many women still today.

Romans 16 is a boring chapter to read. It's just a list of names of people to whom Paul sends his greetings. But the list includes 10 women, several who were leaders in the early church. Join Pastor Jacob as he highlights one, Junia, who was an apostle, one of the highest positions in the church. Together let us break down gender stereotypes that try to put women and men in certain roles in our society.

There has always been a lot of speculation about Mary Magdalene and, sadly, artists throughout history have portrayed her as a prostitute. All we know about her from Scripture, though, is that she was a disciple of Jesus and Jesus cast out seven demons from her. But just what were these demons?

In the story of the Exodus, Pharaoh attempts to kill all the infant boys, but he lets the females live. Little does he know that women will feature prominently in the attempts to foil his plans. Meet Shiphrah and Puah, the first non-violent protesters who begin the resistance in Egypt.

The story of Hannah seems like a trite tale from Scripture: woman is barren, woman prays for a child, woman receives a child. But what if there is more to the story of Hannah? Join Pastor Jacob as he explores the power of having agency in this world.

Join Pastor Jen as she kicks off our new sermon series, "Stories Untold: Women of the Bible." This week we learn about Queen Vashti, the predecessor of Queen Esther, and her role in empowering Esther and other women to work for justice in the midst of oppression.

The Old Testament Book of Habakkuk is a short but impactful book. In it, Habakkuk demands to know why God seems so slow to act. God's response is powerful. Join Pastor Jacob to find out more!