The Vineyard Celebrates Women’s History Month

We celebrate Women’s History Month as a way of acknowledging the indispensable contributions made by women to the Church and to society as a whole. We wish to amplify women’s voices which have historically been pushed aside or silenced by the Church and society.

Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor believes that all people are equal members of the body of Christ and that this body is at its best when all its parts are utilized, listened to, and supported. We fully affirm female leadership in the church at all levels of teaching and pastoral ministry, including senior pastor and board chair.

We acknowledge that many parts of the Bible have been, and continue to be, used to subjugate women and minorities. We insist, however, that if an interpretation of any Bible verse results in the permission to subjugate women or children, or if it grants a license to enslave others, then it has utterly missed the point. It also threatens to undo the work of the cross of Christ which destroyed the dividing wall of hostility that previously divided us and held us in bondage.

We look to the examples of early women leaders and teachers in the Church such as Junia, Lydia, and Priscilla and state that “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). Furthermore, we repent of the parts we have played in the Church’s oppression of women and minority groups. We are deeply sorry for the pain and evil that has been caused by those who have claimed Christ’s name, and we strive to instead enact God’s kingdom that turns earthly power structures upside down.

Women’s History Month Recommended Reading

• The Long Loneliness: The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist by Dorothy Day
• Disunity in Christ by Christena Cleveland
• A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans
• Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne by Wilda Gafney
• The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle
• Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others by Barbara Brown Taylor
• Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God by Kelly Brown Douglas