christian feminism

Reclaiming the F Word conference – talks now available!

An inspiring and wonderful time was had at Reclaiming the F Word on Saturday 8th March and we are excited to be able to provide you with some recordings of talks from the day. Whether you were there or not, we hope these talks will be a valuable resource to you. Do pass them on and share them with anyone who may be interested!

Reclaiming the F Word – Kristin Aune

Kristin started the day off by exploring what feminism is and sharing some of her research about feminists and faith.

Listen here

Is there a feminist preaching style? – Revd. Dr. Terry Biddington

It may be that the time has come to ditch the sermon as an out-moded and ‘masculinist’ form of communication. Or perhaps there is a fresh approach drawing on the work of so many feminist thinkers.

Sermons both occupy and create what the Scottish poet Don Paterson calls “the space between us.” They occupy a particular space in the worship: different perhaps according to religion, religious denomination, or indeed each specific liturgy. But they also create a space: a space for listening and hearing, a space for speaking and thinking aloud, a space for dreaming and imagining “what-if?”; a creative-regenerative space in which the Spirit can operate. A space that is between:

• the preacher and the congregation

• the preacher, the congregation, and the text

• the gathered community and God

• the present moment and the past, the future, and all eternity

How can we make the “sermon space” a welcome opportunity for collective lingering: an invitation to take a sideways glance, a seeing out-of-the-corner-of-an-eye, and, perhaps, the occasion to catch a glimpse of something unexpected and potentially life-transforming?

Listen here

Bring on the Crones – Rev. Pam Smith

Wisdom has sometimes been defined as “the knowledge of the elders” and in a time where many seem to believe feminism began in 2010, the crones (wise women) are often silenced in favour of younger women. Revd. Pam Smith shares her experiences of feminism over the last 40 years, and considers the ways feminism can really honour and listen to its foremothers.

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Men and the Feminist Struggle – David Benjamin Blower

Why are men rarely feminists?

What is the state of masculinity today?

What kind of masculinity helps men rise to the feminist struggle?

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Poetry as Liberation – Christian Feminist Poetics in Action – Rev. Rachel Mann

A combined poetry reading and reflection upon how poetry can be location for feminist liberative praxis.

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My Privilege Trumps Yours – Natalie Collins

Michael Kimmel states that “privilege is invisible to those with it”. This session looks at the interaction of inequality and privilege, how each of us may be implicated in and perpetuate oppression, what a right use of power looks like and how to make visible to each of us the water that humanity swims in.

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Feminist Liturgy – Rev. Anna Macham

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Girlguiding: ‘splitting from God’ as they find their feminist feet

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Natalie Collins blogs on why she’s worried that the Guides’ move away from a faith basis and towards feminist activism makes it seem like the two can’t go together.

Last week an article in The Guardian detailed Julie Bentley’s first year as the Head of Girlguiding UK. The article focused on the organisation’s “split from God” and recent protests against sexism. The article seems to suggest the two are linked, as if it’s impossible to be a faith-based organisation, and engage in feminist activism.

Personally, I don’t have an issue with taking God out of the promise for girls who don’t believe in God, or who don’t want to make a promise to serve God. This, for me, is the same as struggling with Godparents who are agnostic or atheist stating that they believe in God and making commitment to raise a child in that knowledge.  The measure of a faith-based organisation isn’t whether people who are engaged with that organisation make a pledge to God or not.

However, it seems that Girlguiding distancing itself from a promise to God is not about the guides moving towards having more integrity in their practice, but is actually about distancing themselves from being a faith-based organisation. It also seems that there is a direct correlation between asserting the lack of any faith basis in the organisation, and the increasing amount of feminist activism done by the organisation – something which seems to further validate the idea that faith and feminism don’t go together. This both saddens and angers me.

As a feminist, the work I do to address inequality and work towards gender justice comes out of a deep prophetic tradition within the body of Christ to “proclaim good news to the poor…to bind the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners”.  It saddens me that an organisation that began so rooted in this tradition has needed to move away from a connection with Jesus in order to engage in such actions, and it angers me that it is most likely Christians, rather than non-Christians, who have perpetuated and possibly been responsible for the perception of many that feminism and Christianity are not compatible.

I don’t blame the guides from stepping away from their Christian roots in favour of a more multi-cultural, multi-faith image, and recognise the many challenges of being a person of faith in feminist spaces, but I wonder at the lost opportunity of this organisation which has equipped and valued girls around the world for over 100 years, to show that faith and feminism are compatible, or as we like to say at the Christian Feminist Network, that it is Christian patriarchy that is an oxymoron, not Christian feminism.