I feel like I am finally regaining some equilibrium after the Forge Summit. I was so wiped out I actually cancelled our leadership team meeting that was scheduled for last night. I couldn’t get focused on what it was we needed to discuss.
That’s a significant shift in itself from where I used to live. We don’t have to ‘get there tomorrow’ anymore. Its as important that we ‘get there and enjoy the ride’. Last night I decided to take the slower road.
After my session on Apostolic leadership on Sunday I spent some time chatting with the girls who were in the group. They commented that it felt quite blokey and testosterone charged (my words). We began to discuss whether there was a feminine form to the ‘apostolic leader’. Is the female apostolic more compassionate, merciful, pastoral etc? The girls would say ‘yes’.
Dan has made some interesting comments on the broader female question within the EMC and has pointed out some of the tensions we are working with:
– the absence of women in church leadership generally
– the historical factor – typically we haven’t valued women
– the nature of leadership doesn’t always attract women
There is some interesting debate in the comments as well. Al Hirsch suggests that apostolic leadership actually taps into a more masculine energy and there is also some debate on the thoughts Mike Frost presented on the feminisation of worship.
Mike’s comments on this area were a highlight of the summit for me. The idolatry of romance in western society has seen love for God translated to ‘intimacy’ of a romantic / feeling nature to the exclusion of love as action and obedience.
As always the truth probably lies in a bit of both, but it was good to hear someone give words to what I have felt in my gut for a while. I have been wondering for a while now if when we ask one another if we ‘feel close to God’ if we are in fact asking the wrong question.
But I am wondering about the apostolic women… Do they take a more compassionate shape than the blokes? Or is that simply something in the male/female make up?