Mutuality Matters

(Intersectionality) Theology that Turns the World Right Side Up with guest Dr. Irie Lynne Session

This week on the Intersectionality thread, host Angela Ravin-Anderson speaks with Dr. Irie Lynne Sessions about why Dr. Session is a womanist theologian, how womanist theology liberates everyone, the joys and challenges of being a Black woman in pastoral leadership, the specific insights Black women have to offer the church, biblical interpretations that can help free men and women of all races, ethnicities, and classes live into their God-given calling and gifts, and more!  

You can follow Dr. Session on Twitter @revdririe. 

Check out these Mutuality magazine issues from CBE:  

Learning Lament, Building Empathy, and Joining our Sisters at the Intersection of Race and Gender  

Womanist Theology: Unraveling the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism  

(New Voices) Womanist Maternal Thought and Scripture with guest Dr. Stephanie B Crowder

Show notes:  

This week on the New Voices thread, hosts Blake and Erin speak with Dr. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder about her book When Momma Speaks: The Bible and Motherhood from a Womanist Perspective.  The conversation ranges from defining womanism, exploring the complexities of motherhood, to hearing Dr. Crowder discuss a few of the Old Testament mothers she engages in her book.  

To keep up with Stephanie’s work, make sure to follow her on Twitter @stepbcrowder and pick up a copy of When Momma Speaks! 

Related Reading: 

CBE's review of When Momma Speaks 

"Womanist Theology: Unraveling the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism," the Autumn 2020 issue of Mutuality magazine 

“Why Womanist Theology Is Vital to Me” by David Hart 

(Global Impact) Public Health and Women’s Equality in the Church

This week on the Global Impact thread, Mimi interviews her co-host Kim Dickson, a public health worker and egalitarian activist. They discuss Kim’s experiences as a Christian public health worker and specifically her time serving in India, exploring the ways the good news of Jesus for women changed communities. In this episode you’ll hear many stories, including one about four young women who had believed God created them to be “feebleminded,” and through Bible study and conversation, learned that instead God created them to be capable, strong daughters of God, created in God’s image. 

Within the interview, Kim and Mimi reference Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.  

Read more from CBE: In the “Freedom to Flourish” issue of Mutuality magazine, theologians, humanitarians, pastors, and social justice advocates explore connections between what we believe about women and how that impacts the way we empower women around the world.  

(Women & Men Leading Together) Co-Pastoring While Married with guests Jeff and April Fiet

This week on the Women and Men Leading Together thread: What do mixed-gender partnerships look like when you’re married...to your ministry partner?!? Layla and Rob learn from Jeff and April Fiet, married co-pastors of First Presbyterian Church in Scottsbluff, NE. Putting their 14 years of co-leading to work, the Fiets provide a long and helpful litany of practical tips for joyful and sustainable ministry partnerships between spouses. 

 

Here’s how to connect with the Fiets: 

• Jeff’s Twitter handle is @jeffreyfiet 
• April’s handle for Instagram and Twitter is @aprilfiet, and her website is aprilfiet.com. Sign up for her newsletter, At the Table with April Fiet, here, and April’s book, The Sacred Pulse: Holy Rhythms for Overwhelmed Souls, is coming in December from Broadleaf Books.  

 

Read April's story in her article, "Life by Committee," for CBE's Mutuality magazine. 

(Intersectionality) Widening the Table with guest Dr. Renita Weems

This week on the Intersectionality thread, Angela sits down with Old Testament scholar Rev. Dr. Renita Weems to talk about how Christians can widen the metaphorical table of Bible interpretation to examine biases, face difficult passages, and be formed by different perspectives. Dr. Weems discusses how race and gender and class represent multiple systems that interrogate our context and should challenge us as we read the Bible in community with one another. As Dr. Weems warns us, "Always remember interpretation is about power and those with power determine which interpretation becomes the dominate one.” 

Resources mentioned in the conversation:  

 Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope by Joan D. Chittister and Franciscan Media 

 
Check out these Mutuality magazine issues from CBE: 

Learning Lament, Building Empathy, and Joining our Sisters at the Intersection of Race and Gender 

Womanist Theology: Unraveling the Double Bind of Racism and Sexism 

(New Voices) Finding a Prophetic Roadmap for Successful Mixed-Gender Teams - Dr. Rob Dixon

This week on the New Voices thread: He’s an author, practitioner, AND one of our very own co-hosts for this podcast—Dr. Rob Dixon! It was our joy to get a chance to sit down with Rob and talk about a book you will want to buy not only for yourself but for everyone you know in ministry. Together in Ministry is one of those books that will not only change the way we think about women and men working together in ministry but it shows us how. Enjoy this interview and then go follow Rob and listen to the episodes he produces with his co-host, Layla Ven Gerpen.  

 

Find Rob at drrobdixon.com on Twitter at @robfdixon. 

 

Purchase Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships here and Mary Kate Morris’ Making Room for Leadership here.  

 

Read more by Rob Dixon on CBE International’s website: 

Raising Up Allies: A Standardized Pathway for Developing Men into Allies to Women 

Jesus' Vision for Masculinity: The (Actual) Best A Man Can Get 

The Way God Intends It: Men And Women As Gospel Partners 

We’re Back and We Brought Friends! - Meet the New Pod Team

This week we’re so excited to finally introduce you to the new and improved Mutuality Matters podcast! We’re now officially a part of CBE International! In this episode, you’ll get to meet the new hosts who are joining the team and learn more about what this means for the podcast going forward. The group had a great time recording this podcast, and we hope you’ll have a great time listening! We also hope you’ll stick around, as we’ll be dropping podcasts on the following topics WEEKLY! 

 

Global Impact: Egalitarian Activism and Human Flourishing with Dr. Mimi Haddad and Kim Dickson 

 

Intersectionality: Where Race, Gender, and Religion Collide with Rev. Dr. Angela Ravin-Anderson

 

Women & Men Leading Together: Stories from the Field with Dr. Rob Dixon and Layla Van Gerpen 

 

New Voices: The Latest Conversation on an Age-Old Struggle with Rev. Dr. Erin Moniz and Blake Dean! 

 

Visit cbeinternational.org for more resources on egalitarianism and mutuality in the church, world, and home! Follow the CBE on Facebook and Twitter. 

 

You can support the new Mutuality Matters podcast by giving securely online here.

BIG AWESOME ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

THE DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED! Erin & Blake have some BIG NEWS about the future of the podcast.

The Women In Ministry Conference at Beeson Divinity School

Mutuality Matters went on a ROAD TRIP to Birmingham Alabama to attend the first ever Women in Ministry Conference from the Center for Women in Ministry at Beeson Divinity School! If that were not awesome enough, we have a special guest who helps co-host this episode with us. We are excited to share about our time at this wonderful conference and we hope you check out Beeson, the Center for WIM, and the great work Kristen Padilla is doing!

*We had some technical difficulties on this one but opted to release it anyway because the content is so important. Thanks for your patience.*

Women & Poverty

Poverty. When poverty is a variable, a number of other power deficits and abuses can follow. In this episode, Blake & Erin go through the stats, locally and globally, to show how poverty disproportionately affects women. So many categories of gender and justice start with the prevalence of poverty. We hope this episode is sobering but also inspiring. Our hosts provide their own tips and call to action so that we can all work towards a biblical imperative to care for the "least of these as unto me."

 

Books:

Scars Across Humanity - Elaine Storkey

Half the Sky - Kristof and WuDunn

Evicted - Matthew Desmond

Spending and Orgs:

Thriftbooks

Bookshop.org

Preemptive Love

Mercy House