One of the arguments of our new book,The Blue Parakeet, is that any church that calls itself biblical must permit women to do now what they did in the New Testament, and that includes prophesying, teaching, praying and founding churches. I was encouraged by the following letter. We want to hear today from those folks who are working at opening ministries to women … what are you struggling about? what gains are you finding? what strategies are helping? why the resistance to do what the Bible permits women to do?

Scot,

You do not know me, and I can only imagine the amount of email that you receive each day. I want to say this is a complimentary email – as the subject line may cause you wonder.This is in reference to your wonderful new book The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible
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A little about me and the church I pastor. I am pastoring in an urban
church in the West. We are very much focused outward –
concerned with issued of poverty, hunger, homelessness, human
trafficking, and immigration – all of which are right outside our door
in the form of people (or cracked eikons) everyday. I just came to this
church from a church in the Midwest. As progressive as this church is,
I was surprised to find that they had never empowered women to serve in
any and all capacities.

I just read The Blue Parakeet and noted your comment on page 150 where you said, “I
(and my colleagues) failed our female students at TEDS, that we should
have engaged this debate ‘tooth and claw,’ and that had we done so the
Evangelical Free Church as well as that seminary may have been a much
more liberating institution than it is today.”

I simply wanted to tell you that we as a church have just made the
decision to practice what we feel is “biblical equality” and open the
all ministry roles (paid and volunteer) to both men and women. We have
been suggesting collegial and well informed resources to those who are
struggling with our decision – and your new book is on that list.

I write you simply to say “Thank you.” Thank you for your scholarship,
dedication to Scripture, obvious love of Jesus, and candidness with
which you write. Thanks for all your hard work – it has served to shape
my thinking, challenge my own private “status-quos”, and further my
understanding of Jesus. Have a wonderful day.