Mutuality Matters

Related Reading:

The Freedom-Faith of Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall Wynn

Reforming Mentor Relationships by Rereading Genesis 1–3

CBE Articles on Women's Leadership, Mentoring, and Vocation

This week on the New Voices thread: The latest issue of Mutuality magazine just dropped and Blake and Erin have the inside scoop! In this episode, our hosts share their thoughts on the articles, providing an overview of the issue’s content. As a special treat, Blake and Erin do a spotlight segment with Deirdre “Jonese” Austin about her article. Enjoy this special segment and interview and then go read the winter issue of Mutuality magazine.  

 

And don’t forget to follow the work of Deirdre Jonese Austin! 

 

Read more CBE articles by Dierdre “Jonese” Austin: 

The Freedom-Faith of Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall Wynn 

What I Wish You Knew About Black Women in Ministry: An Open Letter 

 

In the “Can we Man It Up?” episode, Erin and Blake interview Dr. William G. Witt, author of Icons of Christ: A Biblical and Systematic Theology for Women’s Ordination.

 

Pre-order CBE’s latest book, Created to Thrive: Cultivating Abuse-Free Faith Communities, and get a bundle of free perks!

This week on the Global Impact Thread, hosts Mimi Haddad and Kim Dickson get to sit down with long-time CBE friends and influential world changers Ron and Arbutus Sider in their backyard (with Kim calling in via Zoom). They talk about the progress of positive change for women that Arbutus notes in her reflections from the time she was a young girl to today. Central to this discussion is their own change as a couple from patriarchy to mutuality. Arbutus’s reflections on Ron’s cancer and how that requires changes reflects the wider issue of how different seasons require changing roles. We also discuss Ron’s work with the Evangelicals for Social Action, and the impact of his many books on the Christian world.  

Within the interview you will hear references to:   

Leymah Gbowee, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War – A Memoir. 

Ron Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger 

Ron Sider, Good News and Good Works

This week on the Men and Women Leading Together thread: “When women and men have flourishing partnerships in ministry, we do our best work, our most effective work for the kingdom.” Melodie Marske serves as a regional ministry director for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and in this episode, she joins Layla and Rob to share her perspective on mixed-gender partnerships as a single woman who has served in ministry for more than 30 years. Our conversation was full of encouraging stories and a compelling vision for partnership, you won’t want to miss this interview!  

 

To continue learning from Melodie, find her on Facebook @melodie.marske 

 

CBE's free online library hosts dozens of articles on singleness from an egalitarian perspective, singleness and ministry, and much more. Check them out here. 

 

And read the "Singleness: Family, Identity, and Service Beyond Marriage" issue of Mutuality magazine.

This week on the Intersectionality thread, host Angela Ravin-Anderson speaks with Dr. Irie Lynne Sessions about why Dr. Session is a womanist theologian, how womanist theology liberates everyone, the joys and challenges of being a Black woman in pastoral leadership, the specific insights Black women have to offer the church, biblical interpretations that can help free men and women of all races, ethnicities, and classes live into their God-given calling and gifts, and more!  

You can follow Dr. Session on Twitter @revdririe. 

Check out these Mutuality magazine issues from CBE:  

Learning Lament, Building Empathy, and Joining our Sisters at the Intersection of Race and Gender  

Womanist Theology: Unraveling the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism

Show notes:  

This week on the New Voices thread, hosts Blake and Erin speak with Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder about her book When Momma Speaks: The Bible and Motherhood from a Womanist Perspective.  The conversation ranges from defining womanism, exploring the complexities of motherhood, to hearing Dr. Crowder discuss a few of the Old Testament mothers she engages in her book.  

To keep up with Stephanie’s work, make sure to follow her on Twitter @stepbcrowder and pick up a copy of When Momma Speaks! 

Related Reading: 

CBE's review of When Momma Speaks 

"Womanist Theology: Unraveling the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism," the Autumn 2020 issue of Mutuality magazine 

“Why Womanist Theology Is Vital to Me” by David Hart

This week on the Global Impact thread, Mimi interviews her co-host Kim Dickson, a public health worker and egalitarian activist. They discuss Kim’s experiences as a Christian public health worker and specifically her time serving in India, exploring the ways the good news of Jesus for women changed communities. In this episode you’ll hear many stories, including one about four young women who had believed God created them to be “feebleminded,” and through Bible study and conversation, learned that instead God created them to be capable, strong daughters of God, created in God’s image. 

Within the interview, Kim and Mimi reference Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  

Read more from CBE: In the “Freedom to Flourish” issue of Mutuality magazine, theologians, humanitarians, pastors, and social justice advocates explore connections between what we believe about women and how that impacts the way we empower women around the world.

This week on the Women and Men Leading Together thread: What do mixed-gender partnerships look like when you’re married...to your ministry partner?!? Layla and Rob learn from Jeff and April Fiet, married co-pastors of First Presbyterian Church in Scottsbluff, NE. Putting their 14 years of co-leading to work, the Fiets provide a long and helpful litany of practical tips for joyful and sustainable ministry partnerships between spouses. 

 

Here’s how to connect with the Fiets: 

Jeff’s Twitter handle is @jeffreyfiet 

April’s handle for Instagram and Twitter is @aprilfiet, and her website is aprilfiet.com. Sign up for her newsletter, At the Table with April Fiet, here, and April’s book, The Sacred Pulse: Holy Rhythms for Overwhelmed Souls, is coming in December from Broadleaf Books.  

 

Read April's story in her article, "Life by Committee," for CBE's Mutuality magazine.

This week on the Intersectionality thread, Angela sits down with Old Testament scholar Rev. Dr. Renita Weems to talk about how Christians can widen the metaphorical table of Bible interpretation to examine biases, face difficult passages, and be formed by different perspectives. Dr. Weems discusses how race and gender and class represent multiple systems that interrogate our context and should challenge us as we read the Bible in community with one another. As Dr. Weems warns us, "Always remember interpretation is about power and those with power determine which interpretation becomes the dominate one.” 

Resources mentioned in the conversation:  

 Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope by Joan D. Chittister and Franciscan Media 

 Check out these Mutuality magazine issues from CBE: 

Learning Lament, Building Empathy, and Joining our Sisters at the Intersection of Race and Gender 

Womanist Theology: Unraveling the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism

This week on the New Voices thread: He’s an author, practitioner, AND one of our very own co-hosts for this podcast—Dr. Rob Dixon! It was our joy to get a chance to sit down with Rob and talk about a book you will want to buy not only for yourself but for everyone you know in ministry. Together in Ministry is one of those books that will not only change the way we think about women and men working together in ministry but it shows us how. Enjoy this interview and then go follow Rob and listen to the episodes he produces with his co-host, Layla Ven Gerpen.  

 

Find Rob at drrobdixon.com on Twitter at @robfdixon. 

 

Purchase Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships here and Mary Kate Morris’ Making Room for Leadership here.  

 

Read more by Rob Dixon on CBE International’s website: 

Raising Up Allies: A Standardized Pathway for Developing Men into Allies to Women 

Jesus' Vision for Masculinity: The (Actual) Best A Man Can Get 

The Way God Intends It: Men And Women As Gospel Partners