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Online Resources and Bibliography
for Women in Ministry

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Websites

Wynkoop Center for Women in Leadership

The Wynkoop Center for Women in Leadership exists to create space to imagine together the possibilities of women’s contributions, along with creative and innovative participation in the future of the church of Jesus Christ. 

Wesleyan Holiness Women Clergy

Wesleyan Holiness Women Clergy is committed to advancing Christ’s Kingdom by engaging, empowering, and equipping women to lead in the Church at every level

Christians for Biblical Equality

Christians for Biblical Equality is a non-profit organization that seeks to advance the gospel by equipping Christians to use their God-given talents in leadership and service regardless of gender, ethnicity, or class, believing the Bible, properly interpreted, calls women and men to lead and serve as equals, based on Scriptures such as Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Articles

A Woman's Place? Leadership in the Church (C. S. Cowles) [no longer available; free online edition replaced July, 2019 by for-pay ebook]

An online version of a book from Beacon Hill Press presenting the biblical and historical case for women in ministry.

Women in Ministry (Phyllis H. Perkins) Adobe Acrobat logo  [Temporarily unavailable]

 Examination of the issue of women in ministry from a sociological perspective, focusing on the God-given and enabled skills and gifts that women bring to leadership roles in the church, and what that means for clergy preparation in the church. Dr. Perkins is a retired professor at Nazarene Bible College, Colorado Springs CO. Available only in Adobe .pdf format.

From Rhetoric to Reality (Janine T. Metcalf) Adobe Acrobat logo [Temporarily unavailable]

"From Rhetoric to Reality: Putting into Practice Our Century-Old Polity of Gender Partnership in Ministry." Brief survey of the history of women ministers in the Church of the Nazarene with consideration of why women ministers have declined.  Dr. Metcalf is pastor of the El Cajon Church of the Nazarene in CA. Available only in Adobe .pdf format.

Ezer Cenegdo: A Power Like Him, Facing Him as Equal (Joseph E. Coleson)

The major purpose of this short study is to show that in Genesis 1 and 2 God's design of the human race included equality between the genders. The central teaching both of Genesis 1:26-31 and Genesis 2:18-25 is that both male and female are human, that male and female are equal, and that both male and female are equally created in God's image. Dr. Coleson is a retired of Old Testament at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO.

Your Daughters Shall Prophesy (Harold Raser) [Temporarily unavailable]

"'Your Daughters Shall Prophesy:' Phoebe Palmer’s The Promise of the Father (1859)—A Manifesto for Equality in Christian Ministry," an address by Harold Raser delivered to the chapel at Nazarene Theological Seminary (NTS) on March 10, 2003.  Dr. Raser is a retired Professor of the History of Christianity at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO.

Empowered Foremothers (Susie Stanley)

"Empowered Foremothers: Wesleyan/Holiness Women Speak to Today's Christian Feminists In this paper Dr. Susie Stanley highlights the emphasis Wesleyan/Holiness women placed on empowerment and suggests that their experience can serve as a usable past for the contemporary Christian feminist quest for empowerment.  Dr. Stanley is Professor of Historical Theology at Messiah College, Grantham, PA.

Women Clergy in the Church of the Nazarene (Richard Houseal, Jr.) Adobe Acrobat logo  [Temporarily unavailable]

"Women Clergy in the Church of the Nazarene: An Analysis of Change from 1908 to 1995," an MA thesis, Nazarene Theological Seminary, 1996. Since its organization into a denomination in 1908,the Church of the Nazarene has ordained women and the Church’s polity provides women with the right to hold any position within the denomination. However, women are a decreasing percentage of the total ministerial corps within the Church of the Nazarene, and their roles within the Church have changed throughout the century. Available only in Adobe .pdf format.

God’s Will for the Family (Alex Deasley) (Temporarily unavailable)

God’s Will for the Family: Marital and Family Relationships in Ephesians. An examination of the ethical precepts in Ephesians 5-6 considering the overall framework of Paul’s social and ethical teaching and the principles which, implicitly or explicitly, lie behind it. Dr. Deasley is retired professor of New Testament at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.

The Biblical Mandate for Women in Ministry (David L. Thompson) (Temporarily unavailable)

Suggested methods for understanding the biblical revelation as a whole rather than isolated proof texts on the topic of women in ministry, using the analogy of the church’s struggle with the issue of the biblical passages relating to slavery. Dr. Thompson is professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Seminary, Wilmore, KY. [The Wesleyan Advocate 22 (May 1999): 22-23]

A Brief Theology of Women in Ministry (Rebecca Laird)

Short article outlining four reasons women should teach, preach, and minister. Rev. Laird is a licensed minister and a writer specializing in issues of spirituality and social justice

The Biblical Basis for Women’s Service in the Church (N. T. Wright) Adobe Acrobat logo

While expressing cautions about how the issue is formulated and discussed in specific cultural contexts, the article deals in detail with key New Testament texts on women’s service in the church.  Dr. Wright is a former professor of New Testament at Oxford, and now serves as a Bishop in the Church of England in Durham. Available only in Adobe .pdf format.

Women in Ministry: What does the Bible say? (Sharon C. Pearson) Adobe Acrobat logo

Brief survey of the biblical evidence for the participation of women in worship and leadership/ministry of the early church.

Women in Ministry: Conviction or Culture (Ed Robinson)

Brief observations on the sociological and cultural pressures that have served to restrict or exclude women from leadership positions in the Church, while overriding the heritage of the Church as well as the theological and biblical reasons that support it.  Dr. Robinson is a former professor of Christian Education at Nazarene Theological Seminary and past president of Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe, KS.

Women in Ministry (Ben Witherington III)

Analysis of selected biblical passages in light of the role of women in Greco-Roman society, as well as an examination of passages that express the larger New Testament vision about women in a changing world that allowed new roles, new possibilities for women in the family, and also in the family of faith. Dr. Witherington III is professor of New Testament at Asbury Seminary, Wilmore, KY.

Women in Ministry: A Biblical, Historical Perspective (Lee M. Haines)

Brief article presenting the rationale of the Wesleyan Church for women ministers; on the basis of the total context of Scripture a woman is fully equal to man in terms of her right (as directed by the Holy Spirit and authorized by the Church) to teach, preach, lead or govern (including supervisory roles and board memberships), lead worship or serve in any other office or ministry of the Church. Rev. Haines is a General Superintendent of the Wesleyan Church.

Reclaiming the Wesleyan/Holiness Heritage of Women Clergy (Randy Huber and John E. Stanley)

A collection of sermons and articles related to women in ministry, including eleven sermons on “Women of Faith,” an interview with Randy Huber about the Women in Ministry Seminar, Church Policy Statements on Ordaining Women, New Testament Argument for the Equality of Men and Women in Ministry, and Wesleyan/Holiness Women Clergy--A Partial Bibliography.

Barrenness in the Old Testament: Recovering the Metaphor (Sarah Derck) Adobe Acrobat logo [Temporarily unavailable]

"Barrenness in the Old Testament:  Recovering the Metaphor," an MA thesis, Nazarene Theological Seminary, 2002, examines the barrenness narratives in order to recover this aspect of Israel's history to the collective memory of the Church.  Barrenness is woven throughout the Old Testament in many forms (narrative, lament, prophecy, etc.), but because dealing with barrenness is currently cloistered in the doctor's office, the power of the experience, both in its literal uses and as a metaphor, is often lost on present readers. Available only in Adobe .pdf format.

Bibliographies

Nazarene Women and Religion: Sources on Clergy and Lay Women in the Church (Stan Ingersol) Adobe Acrobat logo

A bibliography of published and unpublished sources related to women in the history of the Church of the Nazarene. Available only in Adobe .pdf format.

Wesleyan/Holiness Women Clergy: A Preliminary Bibliography (Susie C. Stanley)

Extensive bibliography of current and archival materials, published and unpublished, relating to women ministers in the Wesleyan/holiness tradition, arranged by subheadings: autobiographies with letters, dairies, and papers; biographies; Biographical Sketches; scriptural defenses of women clergy; Sermons by women; Theses and Dissertations; general articles; Newsletters.

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