Comments on: Emerging Women? Is the Emerging Church Dominated by White Men?

By: John Philip Carter

John Philip Carter — Fri, 21 May 2010 07:53:33 +0000

My sense of the emerging church movement is that it is trying to reclaim the old evangelical emphasis and movement that exsisted outside of and in some ways oppositiion to Fundamentalism. While more open to exploring various issues the Emergent leaders are still closed to the various issues expressed in the varient Human Sexuality Liberationist theologies, that is Women and Gays, so it is no surprise that it is still white male dominated.

As to the issues of reconciliation, which from a biblical perspective is the proper sense of “salvation”, even the majority of women don’t hold to that dynamic, just more women than men. The other item I would wonder is how many of the evangelical men that hold it as a value are of a Historic Peace Church position. Second wonder on this is more related to human sexuality questions. My quess is that those who hold to reconciliation as the biblical value are more likely to have experienced life as a minority within a negative majority situation. That is as caucasians: women and gays.

Just some of my thoughts as I drink my first cuppa of the morning.

Peace all.

By: Tim Moore

Tim Moore — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:13:27 +0000

In terms of participation, my limited experience of Emergent movements on “mainland” Britain suggests that gender is less of an issue affecting overall participation, but perhaps more so within leadership, which is indicative of the “established” churches the emerging groups have grown out of. The gender/racial make-up of leadership in the British Emergent movement is much less balanced however.

I think the question in Britain is less one of gender, but more of social class, which goes some way towards answering the race issue. Emerging movements tend to be led and participated in by the middle classes – who happen to be overwhelmingly white. The “middle-class-ness” of it is not necessarily a matter of income, but perhaps more one of social and cultural values.

Churches serving Afro-Caribbean and Asian communities have not generally been approached to participate in Emerging church movements. I am uncertain of how many have expressed much interest in participating in the emergent movements reader of this blog are most familiar with, either. Prehaps a language barrier may explain this in some cases, but more so a clash of cultures and values. Most of all, many churches serving BME communities are very much “emergent” in their own way.

The questions surrounding multi-cultural (ecumenical) worship and co-operation on a pastoral level are only beginning to be explored and addressed.

By: Lynda Gould

Lynda Gould — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:09:21 +0000

From my perspective it is indeed a by-product of evangelicalism. You only have to look at ‘women’s ministry’ across the country to witness the affirmation of what is perceived to be God’s divine ordering of the world… Men, Women, Children, Animals, Plants etc etc…

Our major festival for women ‘Focusfest’ and recognised discipleship programmes like ‘Soul Sista’ consistently fail to address questions of gender. They do affirm women as leaders but only in very prescribed contexts. Free thinking women are few and far between in most churches; questioning is often discouraged and so it is the same old same old…

By: Philip O'Neill

Philip O'Neill — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:48:48 +0000

I think I should point out that it is not white men that prevent women, black, white or other, from participation. Most issues raised against women participating in church, particularly in a clerical capacity, come from other women. Some of these issues are very overt and well publisised, others are more sumliminal and make it difficult for women to feel comfortable in taking up post. It is therefore only the very brave or very aloof who come forward and take up emerging posts. Only my view, but it bourn out of experience.