Recently Published
Devotions from HERstory: 31 Days with Women of Faith
“Besides being well-structured for personal use, this book could also be used in group settings as a source of reflection and discussion. Further information is provided about the historical person at the end of each daily section, including additional resources. At the end of the book, there is a timeline of the featured historical women and a list of suggested readings on other inspiring women.”
The Care of the Self in Early Christian Texts
“By focusing on practices instead of on what we assume were their beliefs, Saxon’s research reveals a rich variety of early Christ movements. In particular, her research on the approaches to martyrdom in different communities dispels the false dichotomy of 'orthodox' versus 'heretics' or 'Gnostics.'”
Marriage and Food: The Intra-Church Struggle Continues—1 Timothy 4:1-5
Lesson 10: “So the false teachers ‘forbid marriage and demand abstinence from [certain] foods’? Is that all the fuss is about? No wild orgies or murderous rampages? Maybe not, but these beliefs have extensive consequences. Theologically, they imply that true Christians will strive for union with a God who is pure spirit. They must leave behind earthy pleasures like sex and ordinary family life, as well as most tasty foods.”
Is God “Father” on Father’s Day?
"I usually feel closer to God when I visualize her as a mother, another gentle man introduced me to Abba in a way that broke through my resistance to Father God."
Birding at Lemon Bay
June 2019 Poetry Selection
For weeks, I tried to spy a nesting pair
through a mounted white pipe;
peered at moss-padded sticks lodged
in the crown of a longleaf pine.
For weeks, I tried to spy a nesting pair
through a mounted white pipe;
peered at moss-padded sticks lodged
in the crown of a longleaf pine.
Beyond Black and White: One Pastor’s Response to the Abortion War
"Women are image-bearers of God, granted free will. At some point, an unborn child also becomes an image-bearer. But a crucial expanse of gray time passes between the black-and-white poles of conception and birth."
“Bishops” and “Deacons” in Context—1 Timothy 3:1-16
Lesson 9: “Overall, why is the author of this letter so concerned to shape the Ephesian churches in the mold of Roman ideals of dignified, socially respectable, patriarchal household management? Such instructions differ widely from the social-reversal teachings of Jesus in the Gospels and the countercultural theology in Paul’s undisputed letters.”
Rachel Held Evans — Reaching Across Generations
Rachel Held Evans "had doubts and questions that many in that religious subculture appeared not to think about or wouldn’t admit because of where such thinking might lead and how others would regard them."
Link of the Day
Remembering the Work of Rachel Held Evans
May 7, 2019
Like all Christian feminists across the globe, CFT members mourn the passing of author and speaker Rachel Held Evans, who died on...
Christian Feminism To You
Speakers Bureau
Let our speakers bring the inclusive message of Christian feminism to you. Check out our available speakers and presentations here.
2018 Gathering Reflections
Editor's Picks
Calling God “She” — It’s Just Another Pronoun!
To linguistically portray God as a father, or God as a woman giving birth, or an eagle, or a sacred wind, all of those things put a limiting image up to represent God. And, for that matter, so do the three letters, G-O-D. All the ways we choose to refer to God are images, all are limited representations, all are potentially idolatrous symbols. But all our metaphors and ways of referring to God are not necessarily idolatrous. Only potentially.
From Kingdom to Kin-dom—and Beyond
But in the larger context of the New Testament, both “kin-dom” and “kingdom” make sense. The Apostle Paul plants small house churches, and when he writes to them, he calls them adelphoi—sisters and brothers—united in a kin-group not by blood but in a common loyalty to the Lord Jesus, over against the Lord Caesar. To these tiny outposts, Paul promises the coming victory of God over all other empires, through the return of his representative, Jesus.
How to Help a Victim of Domestic Violence
If someone is being abused, they feel responsible for the abuse. Why this logical inconsistency? Because if everything is the victim's own fault, they have the power to change it. I would advise you not to take that sense of power away, but, instead, to model what it is like to not accept responsibility for what the abuser is doing.
No Longer Trapped: Insights on Spiritual Abuse Recovery
Survivors of spiritual abuse can feel justifiably averse to anything having to do with God or spirituality after emerging from the war zone of spiritual abuse. However, cutting off the aspects of oneself that are yearning for healthy, edifying connection to something other than the self—the essential definition of spiritual expression—can be equaling damaging.
When Evangelicals Were Open to Differing Views on Abortion
"There was a time in the not too distant past when the majority of Protestant Christians, including those who called themselves evangelical, did not consider the point at which a fertilized ovum or developing embryo or fetus becomes a human being to be clearly defined, indisputable, and settled for all time."
Latest Book Reviews
Celebrating LGBTQIA+ People: CFT Responds to the Nashville Statement
We believe those who name themselves as “Christian” represent a diverse group of denominations, cultures, gender identities, and sexual expressions. We affirm that our LGBTQIA+ siblings are formed in the Imago Dei and are joint-heirs in Christ with all of us.
True Inclusion: Creating Communities of Radical Embrace
Unfortunately, many Christian churches have made marginalizing others into an entire theology. “The . . . evangelical theological paradigm depends upon patriarchy,” which must, therefore, be “completely deconstructed” (p. 68).
Coming Back from Coming Out
"Coming out ruined my life. At least, that’s the way it seemed. To claim my identity as a lesbian meant sacrificing everything on the altar of my own selfishness, of my need to be “true to myself.” To come out as a 43- year- old woman meant walking away from a tolerable twenty- year marriage, leaving behind a career in church ministry, and learning to negotiate custody arrangements and a new solo life. To come out, for me, meant walking away from God."
From the Archives
A FemFaith Farewell
"But yet, it’s not really an end. Those of you who are just now discovering the FemFaith discussions can be assured its archives will remain, and the topics of our posts are as relevant today as when we wrote them."
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