CHICAGO, IL (October 14, 2013)—Widely read Christian author and blogger Rachel Held Evans, highlighted the Covenant Companion article “Women Are Called,” written by pastor Brian Wiele, on her “Sunday Superlatives” post, declaring that it was the previous week’s online article that was “Most Likely to Make You Cheer.”
Each Sunday, Evans features articles published the previous week that she considers the best in categories such as “Wisest,” “Bravest,” and “Most Inspiring.” Evans is the author of bestsellers Evolving in Monkey Town and A Year of Biblical Womanhood.
She noted the passage in which Wiele wrote, “God chose and called gifted women to leadership positions; the Bible is full of examples of this truth. This is foundational, and not open to our exegetical interpretations or ‘holy tradition’ to understand it differently. And nothing has changed; God still chooses and calls women to this day. The King of kings and Lord of lords decided that his household—a strongly biblical term for the church—will have a distinctive motif of men and women prophesying and serving and making decisions together. Display this theme prominently, he says to the men of the church; don’t put women on the lower shelf of leadership or assign them to the children’s wing or the kitchen. It may not be your personal preference to have them lead with you. It will run counter to patriarchal cultures, where the guy gets to rule the roost. It may not be easy. But you need to get used to it.”
Wiele is the pastor of River Ridge Covenant Church in Olympia, Washington, and serves on the denomination’s Commission for Biblical Gender Equality.
The article was one of three in the October issue of the Companion that focused on leadership by women in the church, including, “What Are We Going to Do with Her?” by Diana Trautwein, a retired Covenant pastor; and “Wading into the Waters of Ministry,” by Meagan Gillan, executive minister of the Department of Women Ministries.
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