Introduction:Changing Women, Changing Worlds
Derek Poole

Comment
Ruth Hutchinson

From the Directors
David McMillan

Changing Women, Changing Worlds: The Question of Women
Fran Porter

Review...Delightfully Subversive
Cheryl Reid

Review...Opportune
Linda McClaughlin

Faith and Practice...Christine Bell
Ruth Hutchinson

Antjie Krog
Peter Stark

Review...Thought Provoking
Myrtle Hill

Review...Smashing Clerical Complacency
Malachi O'Doherty

Weston Park Amnesty

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THE QUESTION OF WOMEN
This article is an abridged version of the opening chapter of Fran Porter’s book Changing Women, Changing Worlds.

Women are highly involved in churches in Northern Ireland. Not only do more women than men actually attend church services, but they sustain much of the ongoing work of congregational life. Women also make up the majority of those involved in the community activism that has been a feature of Northern Ireland society over the past three decades. And women participate in political life, their contribution having been given more focus in the peace process of recent years.

All of this activism has been occurring at a time of enormous social change in the lives of women over the past 50 years. Many women are no longer occupied solely with the domestic world of home and family. Changes in educational, employment and economic opportunities, an emphasis on equality for women in social and public institutions, and a recognition of the need for legislation to safeguard women’s rights, however imperfectly realised, both reflect and contribute to women’s greater involvement in the world outside of the home.

Given this background of women’s high community and church participation in a context of social change, what is the contribution of evangelical women to civic life in Northern Ireland? How are they now involved not only in their churches, but in the wider society? What are the issues they face in taking greater participation in public processes? How as Christians do they make sense of the changes in the society in which they live? And what are the implications of all of this for evangelicalism? These questions are the concerns addressed in the book Changing Women, Changing Worlds.

These questions are of great interest to many people, but to raise them also causes disquiet. The way evangelicals relate to society is intrinsically bound up with matters of faith. And in an age increasingly finding it difficult to relate to Christianity, to raise the subject of women can appear threatening to evangelicalism. Indeed for some, the social changes of recent decades are ‘the sort of thing that has changed the world, and … turned everything upside down - all the values that we’ve always respected.’¹ This article outlines such concerns and explains why a focus on gender is needed. But first, it is important to say a word about the term ‘gender’.

A Word About Gender

Why have a book about women and then talk about gender? To talk about gender is to acknowledge that humanity is both female and male, to recognise that cultural expectations about the attributes and behaviours of women and men affect the way we experience the world in which we live, and to give attention to this reality. Used this way gender is differentiated from sex, which refers to biological distinction between women and men. Gender speaks of the way any given society believes women and men ought to be and should behave, that is, what is properly feminine and masculine. In many ways and in general usage the terms sex and gender are interchangeable because so much that descriptively may be to do with a person’s biological sex is also to do with gender, that is, expectations about being female or male.

Lack of attention to gender usually has meant that much of women’s lives and experiences have been ignored or become invisible because, in practice, a person whose sex is not specified has been presumed to be male. The use of ‘he’ in the generic form is an example of how the male is taken to be representative of women and men, as is the phrase ‘the man in the street’. To talk of ‘male church leaders’ when speaking of the men interviewed in this book may be an unusual experience for men in church leadership who are used to being referred to simply as ‘church leaders’ in a male dominated arena. However, in the context of this book it is important to distinguish between the comments of church leaders who are female and those who are male. Such matters are addressed throughout this book. For now the point is that speaking about gender is a way of giving focus to women’s lives. While it is becoming more common today to have gender raised as relevant when thinking specifically about men, it more frequently occurs in relation to women. This is because, when gender is not given a focus, it is usually women who are invisible and suffer the resulting discrimination or exclusion. In other words, ‘in general (as the record of history makes clear) women as a group suffer devaluation and injustice in gender relations more than men do.’²

Changing Women, Changing Worlds focuses on women and in doing so explores their gendered reality. Consequently it is about the way women and men relate together on a personal and familial level and through social structures and institutions. Hence, it concerns not only women, but also men. Simply to talk about gender is not to presume a particular understanding of how gender is constructed and operates. Indeed it is the subject of much discussion, disagreement and controversy, as will be evident in the book. However, to talk of gender is to affirm that not paying due attention to the reality that humanity is female and male does a disservice to our understanding of ourselves and the way we function in our churches and wider society.

Evangelicalism, Women and Feminism

For the most part, evangelicalism tends not to give much overt attention to gender. While there is some focus in local churches on women as wives and mothers, most evangelical writing does not place a consideration of gender centre stage. Generally, when evangelicalism addresses its own identity, shares its vision, and seeks to be relevant to society, it does not consider the significance of gender, the lived realities of being female and male, in these enterprises. When the subject of women does occur, this is frequently by treating the matter as an ‘issue’ facing Christians, one of the many secondary matters of differing biblical interpretation that do not threaten essential evangelical unity. Mainstream evangelical opinion, therefore, has tended to set ‘the woman question’ as something outside its core identity.

One of the reasons evangelicalism has avoided the question of women is because of its association with feminism. And yet it is the expression of feminist concerns that has caused the church in recent years to address the question of women. This has either been directly through Christian individuals who share feminist concerns, or indirectly as a result of social changes in regard to women. Within evangelical literature that does look at this subject a number of authors identify (either directly or by implication) feminism as all or part of the source of challenge to much evangelical understanding concerning women, for which a response is appropriate or necessary.³

The dominant attitude towards feminism among those interviewed for the book is a negative one. One woman’s comments are typical: ‘Well just that word feminism, to me it’s quite a militant term and I don’t like it, you know. Um, what else can I say about it? No, I just don’t like it.’ Even when women support what they understand feminist ideas to be, which often focuses around sex equality, they distance themselves from the term itself because the negative perception of feminism is so pervasive. This negative perception includes viewing feminism and feminists as aggressive, extreme, anti-male and men-hating, and even a tool of the devil. The term is used as a negative judgement on women’s sexual identity, either in terms of their femininity or their sexual preference. In short, feminism has become a term of abuse, a put-down, almost a weapon against women.

Indeed, associated with a liberal social agenda, feminism has taken on a symbolic value in that it has come to represent in the minds of many Christians the dangers of a secular age which has no place for God’s law. In particular, there are specific fears for the family, and for the authority of the Bible, which is at the heart of evangelical identity.

The perception of feminism as an extreme position to adopt⁴ has meant that it has become associated with a threat to the family. This was demonstrated in an advertisement placed by the group ‘Christians Against the Agreement’⁵ in the run up to the referendum vote in May 1997. In a text entitled ‘The Sin of Voting “Yes”’ they stated, ‘The Bible strongly denounces attacks on the family unit, but the “Agreement” aims to destroy the family by promoting the causes of sexual perversion and feminism’.⁶ In Northern Ireland in particular, perceived threats to family stability are heightened by the particular context of community conflict, which has tended to foster traditionalism in the role of women.

For many evangelicals, the social changes of which feminism is a part also are seen as a threat to biblical authority. Indeed, feminism is seen directly opposing the source of authority within evangelical faith. For to challenge traditional and hereto accepted biblical interpretation is seen as a challenge to the faith itself. And to support a particular stance on women is to support a belief in the authority of the Bible. This sense is captured by one of the men interviewed for the book. While his views on feminism had changed in recent years, he spoke of a time when ‘Feminism was an ugly word to me, okay. Feminism spoke of revolution. Feminism spoke of anti-authority, anti-establishment, anti-institution.’
This is not the whole picture of evangelicalism in Northern Ireland in regard to women. It does, however, indicate the core concern that the subject evokes for many, namely, the foundation of their faith itself.

Exploring the Question of Women

If evangelicals tend to avoid giving too much consideration to the question of women, partly because the subject is linked to negative perceptions about feminism, why do so now? After all, there can often be disagreement and division, even conflict, when women’s position in the church is considered. It can be thought by some that to raise the subject does more harm than good. For others, however, it is a question long overdue for exploration. Whichever approach is adopted, issues surrounding women’s involvement in church, community and politics are implicit in the realities of many women’s lives.

Evangelical Women: Between Culture and Theology

Regardless of the perception of feminism, and the accuracy or otherwise of that perception,⁷ the position of women within church and society is a current concern. Fairly common phrases such as, ‘I’m not a feminist, but …’ indicate that while feminism itself may be disowned, the matters raised by the women’s movement are not. As one woman interviewed put it, ‘I don’t call myself a feminist, but I utterly believe in the equality of women and men.’ Another expressed her thoughts about the women in her church: ‘Well I certainly wouldn’t be, um, er, a women’s lib type person, um, by any means, but I look around me - I look around my own church and I see the number of women who have so many gifts and so many talents, um, and really until let’s say probably over the past maybe three or four years, um, there maybe wasn’t the same opportunity to use those.’

Irrespective of the name given to it, there is a concern over the way women are viewed and treated. There is awareness that women’s participation in church and society is not all that it either could or should be. And there is expectation of equality in areas such as education, employment, and law. All of this reflects the social culture that has developed in the past 30 years. For what not all women recognise, although some women do, is that the equality in society which they expect to receive and sometimes actually experience is largely the result of feminist endeavours.⁸
As already noted, questions around women raised by contemporary culture are often avoided because of their association with negative perceptions of feminism. As Mary Stewart Van Leeuwan points out, ‘feminism is a term that many people use imprecisely and very emotionally. And to an extent this is understandable: when new social movements threaten old categorical certainties, it is tempting to dismiss them with a sweeping, pejorative label whose negativity, it is hoped, will persuade movement members to revert to the status quo or at least keep quiet.’⁹ Such ‘unreflective name-calling’,¹⁰ however, does not change the realities of the contemporary culture. Engagement rather than avoidance was endorsed by one male church leader interviewed: ‘I think if - if somebody complains to me about something in the church, say, you know, “I really don’t like the worship here”, I have a choice. Either I say, “oh you’re out of order, you’re silly”, I ignore what you have to say. My attitude is if somebody makes a criticism there’s usually a grain of truth in it. Usually somewhere there’s - anybody who’s being negative - there’s something that’s causing hurt, um, and something that needs addressed. Likewise I think feminism, even in its extreme forms, which would make me very uncomfortable from a Christian point of view, they’re still actually saying something the church needs to address, and therefore I think whatever happens, any movement that comes along the church needs to say, “well what can we learn from this,” um, and that’s the way I look at it.’

The notion of women having all kinds of legal, economic and social entitlements on a par with men in society has become part of public rhetoric, regardless of how unrealised it may be in practice. In their belief in various forms of equality for women, evangelical women in Northern Ireland are reflecting the ethos of the culture in which they live. It is a product, in part, of second-wave feminism and the movement for women’s liberation, that is, eradicating inequality women experience on the basis of their sex. The negotiation of Christian faith with this culture is something evangelical women are facing, whether consciously or not, through their participation in the church, community and political world. For evangelicals this faith involves not only various theological positions (about gender relations and Christians’ relationship to society), but also a sub-culture of its own.¹¹ And for women in Northern Ireland, an additional backcloth is the cultural patterns evident in a society experiencing civil conflict, which have tended to foster conservative gender roles for women. Evangelical women are, therefore, participating in church and civic society and making sense of their lives negotiating between culture and theology, or perhaps more accurately, between cultures and theologies.

Changing Women, Changing Worlds explores the different areas of this ongoing negotiation. Despite the expectation of equality of opportunity women are still underrepresented in certain jobs, responsibilities and roles in church, community and politics. Chapter two, The Participation Question, outlines the current situation of women’s involvement in each of these areas and considers the various mechanisms that facilitate women’s greater participation in those areas traditionally populated by men. However, while such participation may be achieved, the actual experience for women is not always one of full inclusion. Drawing on women’s experiences in new and their more traditional spheres of activity, chapter three, The Question of Inclusion, considers a variety of both good and difficult experiences told by the women interviewed. The chapter identifies elements that enable and those that hinder women’s inclusion in church and civic life.

One of the pressing questions surrounding women’s participation in church and society concerns whether their contribution is different to or the same as that of men. This question is rooted in deeply held beliefs about the natures of women and men, which in turn are intrinsic to our sense of personal identity. Chapter four, The Difference Question, explores the significance the notion of difference has in women’s church, community and political participation, looking at what can happen when we use differences in status and power between women and men to form our sense of identity.

For Christians, and especially for evangelical Christians, integral to any discussion of women’s participation, particularly in relation to the church, is the matter of biblical interpretation. Women’s increasing participation in all areas of church and civic life is bringing them into positions of responsibility and authority previously held mainly by men. Entering into these new roles means women (and men) are having to examine their understanding of authority and its gendered application. Chapter five, The Question of Authority, investigates this subject and in particular the theological notion of ‘headship’ with its contemporary understanding and practice, exploring the relevant biblical material.

Domestic needs are very much a factor in women’s church, community and political participation. Traditionally in Northern Ireland domestic care responsibilities for homes, children, husbands and other family members rest in the main with women. Related to the question of women’s natures raised in chapter four, the matter of domestic responsibilities is woven into the fabric of women’s lives. Chapter six, The Domestic Question, explores the practical and personal realities of this for women, including some women’s responses that challenge a narrow understanding of female identity.

In the midst of the pressing political focus of Northern Ireland’s divided society on the one hand and the general concerns of Christian churches about maintaining their life and witness on the other, the needs, aspirations and gifting of women have often taken second place. Drawing together the themes in the previous pages, chapter seven, The Question of Priority, considers the importance of focusing on asking the question of women for women themselves, for men, churches, evangelicalism and civic society.

Real People, Real Lives

In order to find out about the experiences and thoughts of women themselves and of male church leaders about the participation of women in church, community and politics, 70 women and ten men from evangelical Protestantism were interviewed for Changing Women, Changing Worlds. Their stories and words appear throughout the book explaining and illustrating the questions it deals with.

While each woman interviewed was initially identified because of her church, community or political participation, in reality many had diverse experience both within and across these boundaries, providing a rich resource of experience and reflection. The picture provided by these 70 women is, therefore, varied, textured and extensive. The interviews were carried out on a confidential basis. The women talked not only about their current occupations but also past experiences. Sometimes they told what had happened to their women friends and colleagues. They narrated their stories and shared their thoughts. Sometimes they spoke of very private things, revealed their joys, fears, hopes, dreams and pain. The aim of the book is to convey something of this rich account of women’s reality, focusing on the common themes that are pertinent to exploring evangelical women’s church and wider civic participation.
Ten men were also interviewed for this project. All were evangelical church leaders with knowledge and experience not only of their own current congregation, but also of their denomination as a whole.

The intention of Changing Women, Changing Worlds is not to be an exploration of any particular church denomination or congregation, community group or voluntary sector organisation, or political party or form of government. Rather it is to consider the common issues facing evangelical Protestant women in particular, in their participation in church, community and politics. While these issues have a variety of nuances depending on each particular context, there nevertheless remains a core group of questions that are involved in evangelical women’s negotiation of the culture and theology that affects their lives. There are, of course, implications for individual religious institutions, community groups and political bodies from exploring these questions. The aim of the book is to make visible and foster understanding of the questions of participation, inclusion, difference, authority, domesticity and priority that concern women in their church, community and political involvement.

Dr Fran Porter was a Research Consultant for the Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland in 2000-2001 and is currently a freelance researcher and teacher.

¹ Words of one man to a woman interviewed for this project when he learned she was involved in education specifically designed to foster women’s personal growth and development and employment opportunities.
² Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen (ed.), After Eden: Facing the Challenge of Gender Reconciliation (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan), 1993,
p. 22.
³ For example, John Benton, Gender Questions: Biblical Manhood and Womanhood in the Contemporary World (Evangelical Press, Darlington, England and Auburn, MA), 2000; John Stott, New Issues Facing Christians Today, 3rd Edition, (Marshall Pickering, London), 1999; Nigel Wright, The Radical Evangelical. Seeking a Place to Stand (SPCK, London), 1996; Rob Warner, ‘Fracture Points’, in Clive Calver and Rob Warner, Together We Stand: Evangelical Convictions, Unity and Visions (Hodder and Stoughton, London, Sydney, Auckland), 1996.
⁴ Freda Donoghue, Rick Wilford and Robert Miller, ‘Feminist or Womanist? Feminism, the Women’s Movement and Age Difference in Northern Ireland’ Irish Journal of Feminist Studies, 1997, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 86-105.
⁵ This refers to the Belfast Agreement that came out of the multi-party negotiations and was finally reached on 10th April, 1998 which was Good Friday and hence is popularly known as the Good Friday Agreement. It was endorsed by referendum vote in May of 1998 by 71 percent overall, with a small pro-agreement majority among the unionist voters.
⁶ Newsletter, 24th April 1998.
⁷ Feminism can be defined as an ideology and practice of women’s liberation (not just of equality) based on notion that women suffer injustice because of their sex. There are differences in the understanding of why this liberation is necessary and how it is to be achieved. Hence, feminism is frequently referred to in the plural ‘feminisms’. For an outline of feminist thought and a Christian engagement with it see: Elaine Storkey, What’s Right with Feminism (London, SPCK), 1993; and Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen (ed.), After Eden: Facing the Challenge of Gender Reconciliation (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan), 1993.
⁸ While second-wave feminism was chiefly a secular movement, many Christians, including evangelicals, were involved in the endeavours of first-wave feminism.
⁹ Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen (ed.), After Eden: Facing the Challenge of Gender Reconciliation (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan), 1993,
p. 20.
¹⁰ Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen (ed.), After Eden: Facing the Challenge of Gender Reconciliation (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Michigan), 1993,
p. 21.
¹¹ A variety of evangelical theological positions and manifestations of evangelical sub-culture are provided in Glenn Jordan, Not of this World? Evangelical Protestants in Northern Ireland (Blackstaff and Centre for Contemporary Christianity in Ireland, Belfast), 2001, although gender is not a major analytical component in this contribution on evangelicalism.