Below are a number of the papers and keynote speeches, either in text form or as audio files, for you to hear or re-hear what was presented at our CBE National conference in April 2017
Dr Mimi Haddad: "A theology of Abolition: How we read scripture has a Global impact on Girls and Women" - audio Q&A audio
Rev. Patti Ricotta: Female Genital Mutilation- lessons I have learned working in this situation - audio
Dr Kevin Giles: Was Paul a Misogynist? - audio
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CONFERENCE DINNER SPEAKER: Dr Mimi Haddad:
"Why a Good Lebanese Girl would devote her Life to Promoting Biblical Gender Equality? My personal and professional journey as a Christian feminist" - audio
Dr. Mimi Haddad is president of Christians for Biblical Equality International. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. She holds a PhD in historical theology from the University of Durham, England. Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University awarded Mimi an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 2013.Mimi is part of the leadership of Evangelicals for Justice. She is a founding member of the Evangelicals and Gender Study Group at the Evangelical Theological Society, and she served as the convener of the Issue Group 24 for the 2004 Lausanne III Committee for World Evangelization.
Workshops and speakers.
Workshop session 1
1A "What language shall I use? Reexamining Feminine Metaphors for God and inclusive Language for People" Mimi Haddad
1B "There is no infallible way to interpret what many describe as an infallible Bible" Jim Reiher - audio
1C "Trinity without Tiers" Kevin Giles - audio
1D "Raising up young women as leaders" Bree Mills
1E "Titus 2: Women being quiet, busy at home or...." Tracy Lauersen
1F "Equality and inequality: A biblical perspective" Deborah Storie
Workshop session 2
2A "Challenging Female Genital Mutilation" Patti Ricotta - audio
2B "Slow Church Planting - for missional impact" Karina Kreminski
2C Gender and the Garden Story" Barbara Deutschmann - audio
2E "Education, Changes and Challenges" - Reflections by Ann Munene
2F "Why focus on people with disability in development?" Edwina Faithfull-Farmer
Workshop session 2
3B "Pink or Blue Leadership?" Cheryl McCallum
3C "How can the Church better welcome Singles ?" Karina Kreminski
3D "The Art of Contemplative Practice - Mindfulness" Peter Bentley
3E "God's love in action" Jill McGilvray
3F "Phoebe: the deacon" Margaret Mowczko
3G "The Trinity without Tiers" Kevin Giles
KEYNOTE SPEAKER INFORMATION.
Dr. Mimi Haddad is president of Christians for Biblical Equality International. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. She holds a PhD in historical theology from the University of Durham, England. Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University awarded Mimi an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity in 2013.
Mimi is part of the leadership of Evangelicals for Justice. She is a founding member of the Evangelicals and Gender Study Group at the Evangelical Theological Society and she served as the convener of the Issue Group 24 for the 2004 Lausanne III Committee for World Evangelization.
Mimi is an adjunct assistant professor at Fuller Theological Seminary (Houston), an adjunct assistant professor at Bethel University (Saint Paul, MN), and an adjunct professor at North Park Theological Seminary (Chicago). She serves as a gender consultant for World Vision and Beyond Borders. She and her husband, Dale, live in Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
Friday Night Dinner: "Why a Good Lebanese Girl would devote her Life to Promoting Biblical Gender Equality? My personal and professional journey as a Christian feminist"
Kevin Giles (Th.D.) is a graduate of Moore Theological College, Sydney and has done post graduate study in England and Germany. He was a parish minister for forty years; associate minister, church planter, university chaplain, ministering in a large multi staff parish, and an inner city rebirth. He has published widely on what the Bible says on the church, ministry, women and the Trinity. He writes with a passion to see the renewal of the church.
Rev. Patti Ricotta is president and co-founder of Life Together International and an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church. Life Together seeks to relate biblical teaching on the equality of the sexes to biological and medical science. God has powerfully used this holistic approach in their work to abolish Female Genital Mutilation in Uganda. Patti’s undergraduate studies were in psychology and biology. Her Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary focused on interpreting the Bible in a cross-cultural ministry context. As an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church, Patti served on the pastoral team of Brewster Baptist Church in Massachusetts from 2011 through2014. She has been a member of Christians for Biblical Equality since 1989.
Jim Reiher. Since finishing high school in the 1970’s, Jim has been an Ambulance Officer in NSW; a High School Teacher; and a Theology lecturer. From 2007 till 2012, Jim worked for Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH) based in Springvale, Noble Park and Dandenong, overseeing the training programs for UNOH. He currently works for ACCESS ministries, as a Regional Service Manager, overseeing the work of school chaplains in 73 state schools in and around Melbourne.
Jim is the author of: The Eye of the Needle: Discipleship and Wealth; his social justice commentary on the epistle of James: James: Peace Activist and Advocate for the Poor; and The Book of Acts: A social justice devotional commentary. He has also had published: Women, Leadership and the Church (Acorn Press) and more recently his first novel: The Sunburnt Circus. He has recently discovered the world of e-publishing and now has 9 titles on Smashwords e-publishing website. They include two illustrated children's books. Besides spending time with family (he has 4 adult children and 13 grandchildren), Jim also likes to go to the beach, go bush, get in a game of tenpin bowling, or watch a good movie.
Tracy Lauersen came to faith in Christ as a young adult and studied theology at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. Formerly from the corporate training field, she has worked in school chaplaincy and parish ministry since being ordained and is the Senior Associate Minister of the St Hilary’s Anglican Church Network in Melbourne. She is also the Director of the Peter Corney Training Centre at St Hilary’s which runs courses for discipleship in the church. Tracy designed the Ridley Certificate program for Ridley melbourne and is a recipient of the Victorian Premiers award for excellence in multicultural affairs for her work in developing a Sudanese refugee tutoring program.
Deborah Storie: Inspired by biblical visions of the kingdom of God, Deborah believes that disciples of Jesus are called to make difference in this world as well as the next. Her most recent role was as Executive Director of a Christian Development agency in Afghanistan. She has a PhD in Biblical Studies and enjoys learning with and from disciples of Jesus whose life experiences are very different to her own.
Rev Dr Karina Kreminski BA, B.Min, Dip Theol, D.Min.
Karina is a Lecturer in Missional Studies at Morling College, Sydney. Before that she was the Senior Pastor of Community Life Church Cherrybrook and was ordained in 2002. She ministered there for 13 years. Karina has completed her doctorate in missional studies focusing on the formation of a missional church and missional Spirituality. She has also been involved in denominational leadership serving on the various councils and the vision committee. Karina blogs regularly for Missio Alliance and also preaches at churches, conferences and events. She also enjoys mentoring leaders for ministry. Karina belongs to a church in the inner city of Sydney and is in the early stages of planting a church there. She is also writing a book which will be published in June 2017 about Urban Spirituality.
Barbara Deutschmann:
Barbara worked as a teacher in Australia and a health program trainer in India for many years. Until recently, she coordinated the TEAR Australia Indigenous Support Program, from a base in Alice Springs.
Long convinced of the importance and power of the Bible in the life of faith, she is working on a PhD on gender in the Genesis narratives of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
She is a founding member of Christians for Biblical Equality, Melbourne chapter, and a member of the Uniting Church in Alice Springs.
Ann Munene is a Kenyan-Australian living in Melbourne; she holds a PhD in Educational Measurement & Research, specialising in Mathematics Education. For the last 4 years, Ann has worked as a Global Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor for Education and Life Skills at World Vision International – a role she enjoys doing as a service to God and the people. Most importantly, Ann is a practising Christian and a dedicated mother to her two beautiful daughters. As an educator, she takes her responsibilities as a role model to her daughters and young women of African heritage very seriously. She loves reading and researching on global education issues and supporting developing nations adopt evidence-based practices that improve their educational programmes. Between transiting through airports and leading devotions in a field office somewhere in African or Asia, she also loves to pray (with her Mountain Climbers women group) for families, children and young people in schools especially during examination times. She is an active intercessor in her church (City Life).
Edwina Faithfull-Farmer Edwina started her working life in arid land management then moved to international development where she has worked for over 25years with Australian international development NGOs. She is currently Director of International Programs with CBM Australia. CBM's programs work to promote the rights, empowerment and inclusion of people with disability in poor communities in developing countries. Edwina is married with two teen-young adult children, is a member of St Alfreds Anglican church Blackburn North, and is passionate about equity.
Ian McGilvray. Before turning to a career in art, Ian was an architect, serving as director at Cox Architecture for 27 years. Ian has been active in promoting the integration of public art into the building environment. During this period he was involved in a wide range of public building, educational, research, cultural and sports projects. He has also worked with UNESCO on the initial planning of an underwater archaeology museum for the ancient Egyptian port city of Alexandria.
In 2013 Ian graduated from a Master of Art programme with a painting major. He has traveled widely. Ian's artistic practice is centred on the human figure, exploring the intersection of the commonplace with the profound in everyday life. He employs devices of juxtaposition, memory, homage and ambiguity to engage the viewer in a dialogue about dignity within our human condition. He has written and spoken on the role of Christian faith in visual art.
Tim Foster (DMin) is a pastor and academic who currently serves as Vice-Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne. Ordained as a priest in the Anglican Church, Tim has held posts in the Sydney parishes of Gymea and Leichhardt. He holds degrees from the University of Sydney, Moore Theological College, University of Technology Sydney and Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena. He teaches in Pastoral Theology, and regularly leads tours to the biblical sites of Turkey and Greece. Married to Alison for 30 years, they have three children and recently celebrated the wedding of their son. Tim loves the sea, and can often be found sailing on Port Phillip Bay.
Workshop 3A: "For Adam was Created First"
1 Timothy 2:13 & 14 are typically thought to provide two reasons in support of the prohibitions against women in the previous verses. This paper will show that this is incoherent and that, with verse 15, the verses provide an analogy between events in the Garden and the situation being experienced at Ephesus. There is no misogyny in this analogy, nor is prohibition grounded in creation. Rather, it supports a situational reading of the entire passage that cannot be used to support the subordination of women.
Cheryl McCallum (PhD) is Principal of Eastern College Australia and an ordained Churches of Christ minister. She has worked at Eastern College (formerly Tabor Victoria) for over 20 years in various capacities including lecturer, Head of School and Principal. Cheryl has also worked for TEAR Australia, Urban Neighbours of Hope, and as the National Director for the Australian Evangelical Alliance.
She has served on a number of Boards and Reference groups including TEAR Australia National Board, Australian Evangelical Alliance National Board, The Bible Society in Australia (Victoria) Board, Christian Woman Magazine Reference Board, Micah Challenge Reference Group and the Sophia Think-tank.
Cheryl’s passions include bible engagement, biblical equality and women in ministry. She enjoys reading, travelling and drinking coffee. She has two adult children, two grandchildren, and worships at One Community Church in Blackburn.
Rev Peter Bentley BTh, Grad.Dip SD, MA focusing on creative art retreat work involving Spiritual Direction. Peter trained as a spiritual director at Wellspring Melbourne and graduated in 1996. Peter has been involved in spiritual direction formation since 2001 and is the director of formation at WellSpring Centre currently. He is embarking on a doctoral thesis focused around a review and assessment of the spiritual direction formation programs.
Workshop 3D: "The Art of Contemplative Practice - Mindfulness"
Jill McGilvray lives in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney with her artist husband Ian. For ten years she was a member of the ministry team of an Anglican Church in Sydney as well as working as a bereavement counsellor with children and teenagers. She has taught pastoral care at Mary Andrews College and Sydney Missionary Bible College. In 2009 her book God's Love in Action, Pastoral Care for Everyone was published by Acorn Press. Since then it has been reprinted a number of times and has given her many opportunities to speak and teach at churches and conferences. She and Ian are now glad to attend Springwood Presbyterian Church.
Workshop 3E: "Feeling and expressing our grief, feeling heard, but somehow finding a way to do it with grace and godliness and not letting it define us."
Margaret Mowczko lives on the Central Coast of NSW and is vice president of CBE-Sydney. She has a BTh, and an MA in early Christian and Jewish studies through Macquarie University. Marg writes on the subject of Christian egalitarianism for her website newlife.id.au. Her work has appeared in several publications of CBE-International and elsewhere. When she’s not on her laptop writing and replying to people who contact her about biblical equality, she is spending time with her family, or teaching piano, or she’s out in the garden getting her hands dirty.
Workshop 3F: "Phoebe and the Roles of Deacons in the Early Church."
In this workshop we will look at how the apostle Paul, and other New Testament authors, used the word diakonos (sometimes translated as "deacon") We will look at the roles of deacons in the early church and how Phoebe fits with this. We will also look at several female colleagues of Paul, how he referred to them, what their ministries entailed, and how these women might serve as examples for the women in the church today.
