The Marcella Project

In today's episode of Jackie Always Unplugged, we're diving into what the church teaches us about the female body. And As I said, we should expect a better story than we get from Instagram or Tik Toc, or Netflix.

Well - let me ask you? Do we?

Take a moment and ponder, think back to Sunday school, middle school, youth group, beach camp, summer camp, bible studies, small groups, maybe you attended a Song of Solomon conference, or it was a sermon from the pulpit. What spoken or unspoken messages did you receive about your female body? What messages didn't you receive? That's also a message.

What did you learn about the female body?

It's time we discuss our bodies. Yeah, I know a very painful subject. The pandemic hasn't helped. There's been zoom calls and covid pounds and bathing suit weather is around the corner. And no, this isn't a push for you to join some beach body program. What I want us to do is talk about why we hate our bodies and how we might start to live confidently in our skin, yes, even with Zoom chins and covid pounds.

Over the next five episodes, we will work our way through 1) how our family and culture talk about our bodies, 2) what the church teaches about our bodies. Then 3) I'm talking to a male pastor about what men learn about their bodies, then 4) what God says, then we will close the series talking about desire, which may not seem like it fits but stick with me, it will.

Jackie’s I’m Enough Masterclass course on body image.

In the last podcast, I spoke with Beth Allison Barr about her book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood. The premise behind the book is simple; biblical womanhood isn’t biblical. Beth argues it’s merely a disguise for promoting patriarchy and subjugating.

So I want to share how the idea of biblical womanhood tends to show up in our faith communities. Because I think, more often than not, it’s expressed in very subtle ways.

Today we are talking with Dr. Beth Barr, author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood, which implies she is not God-designed but rather a human-idea. 

One of the things we pick up in evangelicalism is that Biblical womanhood is God's design. "It's right there in the bible," plain and simple. But in fact, it's just patriarchy in disguise. Patriarchy is present in our culture, and it was also present in Biblical times. As Carolyn Custis James reminds us, patriarchy is the background of the bible, but it's not the message. 

When I went back into counseling, I shared with my counselor that I struggled with how I was taught to see the Scriptures. I learned to read the bible through a particular lens, but that lens was no longer working. It was a lens that had developed from patriarchal and racist roots. My counselor said, why don't' you go back to what you did before you knew so much. Listen to the Spirit.

Join me as we discuss hearing God's voice with Tania Harris.

Today we discuss women's voices with Cami Brubaker, Adjunct Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew. Cami is a mom to 4 kids, a professor at a conservative evangelical bible college, and working on her Ph.D. That's a lot.

Cami and I share common angst in what it's like when you don't fit the ideal biblical woman. Today we talk about why women hold back their voices, what's at play, and what external and internal barriers do we think keep us from finding and using our voices? 

Today we are continuing our three-part series on women’s voices. And as I spoke of in my last podcast, the truth is, as girls grow up to be women, they learn to talk less, they discover they are less listened to than their male counterparts. And over the years of pastoring, I’ve noticed that women even self silence.

Women self-silence for various reasons, one being they were taught this is what God expects from them- this is godliness. Stop it!

Recently I was with extended family. We were talking about something, and one of the family members said to me, "We know you'll speak your voice." I can't even remember what he was referencing, and I'm not sure he meant it as a compliment, but I took it as one. I enthusiastically responded, "Yup, I got a voice."

Liminality is the in-between space when the old is no longer, and the new is not clear yet. It’s betwixt and between – where we, by definition – are not in control. It’s this foggy, confusing space.

Sound Familiar?

Start your year with our discussion with Kat Armstrong, author of In The In-Between Place.

It’s Thanksgiving. This year’s a bit strange cause none of us have celebrated Thanksgiving during a pandemic in the middle of a contentious election cycle. 

So I thought, what if this year we got intentional about our time around the table. What if we could mitigate boring or charged conversations by offering an alternative.