This fall, in downtown Hamilton, a group of male pastors from America ran a conference called “Act Like Men”. The conference was part of a far greater movement that believes it is crucially important for men to “step up” as the leaders in their church and home. Most of us would agree that men should be mature and Christ-like, and we celebrate that aspect of their conference. However, many of us were very familiar with this particular “men’s movement” and the emphasis it puts on male leadership in the home and the church.
This caused a bunch of local Christians, pastors, and church leaders to gather together and ask the question “what does the bible say about gender?” We aimed to ask this question, and broaden the conversation by inviting in eight presenters to talk about the bible and gender.
Eucharist partnered together with St Paul’s Presbyterian, Epiphaneia, and many other Hamilton churches (The Commons, Mount Hamilton Baptist Church, Little Bethel Baptist Church, and many others!) to pull the event off, and we think it was a huge success!
You can read more about the event, the spirit behind it, and reflections on the evening on The Hamilton Commons Blog (another excellent church in downtown Hamilton)! Click here to read their reflections.
Many people were unable to attend the event, but were interested to hear what it was all about.
We wanted to give everyone an opportunity to hear the presentations themselves, so they were all recorded and have been uploaded below for free! Please share them around and help us spread this Good Gospel News.
To download a session click on the speakers photo, name, or title, and it will begin to stream. To download directly, right click and click “save link as…”
You can also download all of them through iTunes by subscribing to the Eucharist Church podcast!
To subscribe to the podcast and download them through iTunes, CLICK HERE.
Karen Lowe
“Stuck in a Moment”
Karen Elliott Lowe is an ordained pastor with the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec. She is transitioning into being a pastor after working as a frontline social worker in Hamilton for about 10 years. She is excited to be co-directing Lectio House, an urban retreat house, with her husband Dr. Matthew Lowe. Karen is seeking certification as a spiritual director in order to be able to provide direction at Lectio House. She is currently between pastoral roles but is looking forward to sharing news of a new pastorate soon.
Stuck in a Moment — The story of the creation and fall of humankind has been used to justify patriarchal and complimentarian viewpoints. This presentation will provide a re-reading of Genesis 2 and 3 focusing on God’s prognosis of Adam’s situation, “It’s not good for the man to be alone,” and Adam’s justification for disobeying God, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Is humankind destined to be stuck in that moment of blame, or is there a way for us to live into the beautiful realization that both male and female have been created for each other in the image of our God?
Cynthia Westfall
New Testament & Acting Like A Man
Dr. Westfall has been at McMaster Divinity College since 2005, teaching courses in New Testament, Greek exegesis, biblical interpretation and women in ministry, which are devoted to a commitment to transformation by God’s word through its application to all aspects of life and ministry. She is completing a book on Paul and Gender for the Library of Pauline Studies, which is a work that concerns one of the most pressing issues in evangelicalism. It offers a fresh perspective on texts that have been a conundrum while weighing in the significance of additional data of Paul’s teaching on both genders.
Finding Jesus On The Gender Margins
Wendy is an internationally recognized contributor in the conversations around faith and sexuality. As an avid student of the church, she is committed to equipping the local congregation to nurture radical hospitality.
Active in social media, check Wendy out on Twitter, Facebook and blog and join in the conversation!
Wendy has served as the Executive Director of New Direction since 2002.
Email Wendy
Wendy’s podcasts
Dallas Friesen
“Let Me Introduce You To My Pastors Husband”
Dallas Friesen has been pastoring at Mount Hamilton Baptist Church with his wife Leanne for over eight years. He has studied at a Lutheran and a Baptist school and has recently completed a doctoral program at Tyndale Seminary. He is a father to two kids. He loves to play basketball, the Appalachian dulcimer and bass guitar. He is a repurposer and enjoys making soup. This talk is about the story of a man who is in love with his wife, his family, his church and his senior pastor. Dallas has served as a Pastor alongside his wife for over eight years. From this experience, he has gained some insights about the role of women in the church and the importance of communication in relationships.
