The Sydney chapter of Christians for Biblical Equality was formed in August 2011 (incorporated in March 2013) with the aim of promoting the Bible’s message of gender equality and justice in the home, church and world.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.
This is the report that Paul Perini presented at our AGM on the 23rd of February, 2013.
CBE Sydney was established in 2011. Our original contacts came from people in Sydney who were members of CBE International. We formed an executive consisting of Jeannette Fogarty, Margaret Mowczko, Lesley Gray, Tom Mayne, Jo Holland, Alex Croyle, and myself. We advertised in church newspapers that we had commenced. We developed a website and face book page.
Our message is simple. We believe leadership in the church should be determined by experience, understanding and character, not gender. We believe within marriage both husband and wife are called to mutual service. We believe these understandings of church and family are an out working of the gospel. They reflect the mind and the purposes of God.
Paul’s words to the church in Rome apply to us all.
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
New International Version – UK (NIVUK)
Our first public meeting, a Saturday Brunch, featured Barbara Deutschmann from Tear Australia and a member on CBE Melbourne. In 2012 our speakers were Mrs Robyn Claydon, Dr Alan Cradock, and the international president of CBE; Dr Mimi Hadad.
Although our message is simple, within much of the church it is controversial. To many, it is mistaken. CBE Sydney faces the challenge to have an egalitarian understanding of leadership in the church and within marriage accepted as being authentically biblical, beneficial for the life of family and church, and good for the proclamation of the gospel in a society, where both men and women clearly give good and capable leadership, and in a world where a patriarchal understanding of relationships has been cruel and oppressive.
CBE Sydney has a vital role to play in the life of the church in our city. We must offer a biblically supported alternative to a patriarchal/complementarian understanding of relationships. We must be able to critique such an understanding with clarity and grace. We must be able to point to best practice within marriages and churches. We must always have as our final objective the glory of God, who makes all things new.
Paul Perini 23 February 2013
On Saturday the 23rd of February, we at CBE Sydney will be holding our first Annual General Meeting. We will kick off at 10 am with a light brunch. Venue is St Johns Glebe.
Plans for the meeting are to make CBE an incorporated association and to discuss our goals for 2013.
This meeting is open to all CBE Sydney members. Come along and have your say.
John Dickson is well known in Australia as a New Testament scholar and Sydney Anglican minister. John’s new ebook “Hearing Her Voice” is one of three ebooks in the series “Fresh Perspectives on Women in Ministry” that were released on Christmas/Boxing Day 2012. In his book, John argues that women can speak – preach, exhort, exposit Scripture, prophecy, pray, etc – in church meetings.
The Rev Dr Kevin Giles, an Anglican minister who has strong ties with CBE International, has written a response to John’s book. His response was published on a website of the Bible Society here.
Margaret Mowczko, a member of CBE Sydney, has also written a response to John book here.
John Dickson’s ebook is free to download via Amazon for a limited time.
“Many Christian women (and men) have become distrustful of feminism: it can sound very strident and can relegate men to the sidelines, and while western feminists talk loudly about reproductive rights they don’t place those rights alongside the responsibilities of family relationships. But recent news stories of the violence and hatred facing many women just because they are female, remind me that we need some Jesus feminism.”
This quote was taken from “Amanda Advocates” a blog on the Micah Challenge website. You can read the whole article here.