Daughters Shall, Daughters Do

Prism Magazine, May-June 2005 Column: In Like Manner…The Women


Daughters Shall, Daughters Do
By Elizabeth D. Rios

Thousands of years ago the prophet Joel proclaimed a message that would ring like a clarion call for centuries to come. It would empower godly women around the world to stand against bias, comfort them when misunderstood, and encourage them to serve their God regardless of how their culture received (or failed to receive) them. Joel spoke for God simply but powerfully, saying, “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophecy…” (Joel 2:28). Yet to this day, the church still debates the role of God’s daughters.

As my friend Kelly Bean says, “Stories are life-changing, debates rarely are.” So, as I promised in the last issue, this column will be not about the debate but about two women who have claimed Joel 2:28 as their mandate are thereby set free to do Christ’s work, both globally and locally, both inside and outside the church.

A house church pastor for the past 17 years in Portland, Oregon, Kelly understands Joel’s call as both an invitation to all God’s children to fulfill the needs of his kingdom and the authorization for all of us to speak his words of healing and hope. This daughter does just that in a ministry model she has dubbed “the team of three.” Groups of three people take the lead in planning the house church gatherings so that Kelly is not always perceived as the chief but as a fellow sojourner. This group of friends and fellow spiritual travelers is comprised of men, women, and children of all ages; it includes young singles, divorcees, and married couples; artists, mechanics, teachers, computer geeks, and nurses. It is a mosaic of the diversity offered by the human race.

For Kelly, Joel 2:28 was “especially encouraging a number of years ago when being a pastor in my context seemed like a pipe dream. I felt a call but had no idea if it could ever be realized, but I held on to hope when I read this and other Bible stories of women in leadership.”

Thanks to Joel’s message, Rachelle Mee-Chapman of Seattle, Washington, was able to see herself as the pastor, lead cultivator, and prophetic visionary of Thursday PM, what she calls “a neomonastic incarnational community,” a group of God-seekers who, although not yet all Christians, “are trying to develop a rhythm of living that allows us to stay connected to God and present to the world around us.” As the community’s website states, “We are explorers. We are people who want to worship God, and talk to God, and listen to God. We are people who readily admit we are not entirely sure what that means. …We uncover ancient practices and make them our own. We say, ‘I was wrong.’ We look twice at something that catches our eye. We seek.”

Rachelle describes her multiple roles as host, listener, cook, and teacher of children. She allows herself to learn from her neighbors, who she says “are often better ‘Christians’ than I am!”

As a recent church planter myself in South Florida, I claim the biblical truth that there is “neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). Although the Scriptures never portray women as second-class citizens, our male-dominated religious system still promotes a biblically misinterpreted female inferiority. But the demeaning attitudes of this system do not reflect God’s heart. Through Joel God told us then and reminds us today that daughters shall prophecy. Thankfully, today we hear and know of many daughters who do.

Many other stories are as yet unwritten by daughters who still dwell in Shall-ville, and it is to them that Kelly and Rachelle prophetically speak out encouragement and counsel. “Do what is in your heart,” says Kelly. “Seek mentors everywhere. Don’t fight about it, just do it and remember that you were made for this!” Rachelle says, “You have permission! God has given it to you in Scripture and in an outpouring of gifts onto you. As a prophet I stand here and call you out! Find your way, whether it is small, hidden, and unofficial--or whether it is carving out a path through official channels.”

Be obedient to the One who called you. And be encouraged by those who support your call, whatever that may be, by joining with networks like the Center for Emerging Female Leadership (http://www.cefl.org/) or the Emerging Women’s Leadership Initiative (http://www.emergingwomenleaders.org/). As T.D. Jakes is famous for saying, “Woman, thou art loosed!” Daughter, go do!

Elizabeth D. Rios is co- pastor of Wounded Healer Fellowship (www.woundedhealerfellowship.com) in Pembroke Pines, Flor., founder of CEFL, and a consultant to faith-based nonprofit agencies. Visit her weblog at http://latinaliz.typepad.com.

Beyond Labels, Toward Calling

Prism, March-April 2005 Column Name: In Like Manner…the Women

Beyond Labels, Toward Calling
By Elizabeth D. Rios

When I was 12 years old, my Sunday school superintendent told me that she would be on vacation the following week, during which time I would be “in charge”--collecting attendance notebooks and offerings from all the teachers and reporting any news back to her when she returned. I was stunned. Me, in charge? I thought to myself. I’m just a kid. My mom isn’t even a Christian! Surely, she’s made a mistake.

But Enid Rios Rivera had made no mistake. She recognized something in me at that age that no one had ever seen before. And that promotion (temporary, but oft-repeated) from nursery-supervisor/baby-bottom-cleaner extraordinaire to substitute superintendent changed the course of my life. Sunday school was the context in which that change took place, and a woman was the instrument that God used to give me my first chance at leadership.

And so at a young age I was comfortable with leadership responsibilities. But growing up as a Puerto Rican female, and initially unfamiliar with God’s thoughts on women as revealed in his Word and in the life of his Son, I was not particularly disturbed by the machismo I observed in the male leadership of my church. That type of behavior was expected in my culture and, although I was hurt by it, I accepted it as the way things were.

But as I got more involved in city-wide and even national events and partnerships through my 10-year involvement as an employee of the Latino Pastoral Action Center (http://www.lpacministries.com/), the disparaging attitude about women in ministry leadership did start to offend me, especially when I realized that it was not limited to Latino men but was prevalent within the broader church. Rather than remaining in resentment or even joining the debate, however, I felt called to give voice and visibility to women in my circle of influence so they could fulfill their God-given destiny.

In 1996 I founded the Center for Emerging Female Leadership (CEFL), and Enid Rios Rivera--the woman who gave me my first leadership opportunity back in Sunday school--joined me as ministry partner and associate director (she also became my sister-in-law, and was the first full-time female pastor to be installed in the Primitive Christian Church). CEFL was born from my belief that the gospel promotes a radical equality that extends across the artificial gender, racial, and socioeconomic barriers that humans love to erect. And so, like many of the sisters who have gone before me and many who now walk alongside me in the journey, I move onward toward the high calling that God has placed on my life and seek to help other women do the same.

Honored to author this new column on issues related to women in ministry, I have decided to call it In Like Manner...the Women, because in various epistles Paul used these words to state similarities between men’s and women’s roles (see 1 Tim. 2:9, 3:11). Rather than join the theological debate on women in ministry, this column will tell the stories of women who themselves have put the debate on the shelf and have gone on to “just do it.” It will also identify and tell stories about the issues that trouble women in ministry. My ultimate hope is that readers will go beyond spirit-stifling attempts either to label others or to accept labels ascribed to them by others, so that all can go forward to fulfill their calling regardless of gender.

Many women have determined that they have no time to squander on the “great debate” and are mobilizing themselves by the thousands to fulfill what we are all here for: Christ’s Great Commission. They have gone beyond the labels and are moving toward their call. Their mantra? Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Join me here in the next issue for some storytelling!

Elizabeth D. Rios is a bi-vocational lead pastor of a church plant called Wounded Healer Fellowship (www.woundedhealerfellowship.com) in Pembroke Pines, Flor, where she lives with her husband and two sons. Founder of the Center for Emerging Female Leadership (www.cefl.org), Rios is also doctoral candidate in organizational leadership at Nova Southeastern University, and consultant to faith-based nonprofit agencies. Visit her weblog at http://latinaliz.typepad.com.

Documenting Myself

In the last few years, I have written a few things here and there for Christian newspapers in NYC (Tristate Voice/Love Express), for National Magazines (Faithworks, Shout, Prism) and most recently for a book by Hispanic Churches in American Public Life. A friend urged me to document myself and post all of this stuff on the web. I have finally listened. My main blog is at http://latinaliz.typepad.com but this is where all my articles will be hosted because I want you to hear my voice...(at least read my writing) that is at the heart of Latina Liz.