FireFall Vol. 10: Friendship with God + Others
"Friendships in Every Season," Faith Eury Cho's "Experiencing Friendship with God," women in The Salvation Army, Know Your Mothers art, Sarah Williams on Josephine Butler, Rt Rev Lydia Neshangwe
Welcome to Volume 10 of the FireFall weekly email amplifying the voices of women leading in the church and academy. I’m so glad you’ve found your way here. Please remember to follow links and share these resources as part of our efforts to amplify the voices of women. With Mary and Elizabeth not far from my thoughts, the resources highlighted this week began to orbit around a powerful theme of friendship; friendship with God, and friendship with others.
God of every season, every space, every place, every face: enliven us with the gift of Your friendship, and enliven us with the gift of friendship with others. You have searched us and known us: You perceive us from far off. Before a word is on our tongue, You know it completely, Lord. Through Christ, You befriended alienated humanity. Give us compassion to befriend those living in misery. Amen.
Listen: “Friendships in Every Season” from the Network of Women Ministers Grow Together series
What does pastoral ministry mean for your friendships? The Network of Women Ministers from the Assemblies of God are providing great resources applicable across denominations. Over on YouTube, they have multiple playlists and series of podcast videos packed with practical wisdom.
Maybe it’s the image of Mary and Elizabeth having the gift of each other as they faced such unusual, miraculous circumstances: this week, NWM’s “Friendships in Every Season” episode caught my attention.
It's such a gift when someone says, "I've been through something similar." Mary and Elizabeth didn't navigate miraculous pregnancy alone. They didn't have to explain themselves. They could proclaim and affirm God's work in the other. What a gift to them both. You don't have to be the same age or stage to receive the oxygen of friendship. Maybe you just have similar stories of how God disrupted your life with gifts uniquely challenging to bear.
Does the gift you bear also isolate you? Ask God for your Mary or Elizabeth in this season.
Network of Women Ministers Grow Together host Rev. Dr. Saehee Duran welcomed guests Mary Lyons Brown, Rhonda McGinnis, and Erica Grant to explore the practicalities of “navigating friendship in different seasons – finding and maintaining friendships.” Duran quotes a ministerial friend, saying, “I’m in a season of collecting friends.”
They discuss Erica Grant’s book, The Friendship Lifeline; how to respond to seasons of loneliness and the leadership burden of loneliness; the pragmatic realities of close friendship scattered geographically; how to discern who to welcome into your inner circle – people who have “access to your heart;” and intentionally pursuing friendships across generations.
Rhonda McGinnis encourages women in ministry facing seasons of loneliness with this: “I try not to panic, but to lean into it. I allow myself to feel those feelings. And I invite the Lord into it, asking questions. God, is there something you’re trying to say?”
Read: Experiencing Friendship with God by Faith Eury Cho
“If knowing the presence of God is our greatest desire, then every season of our lives has significance – even the wilderness.” – Faith Eury Cho
Pastor Faith Eury Cho brings us her new book, Experiencing Friendship with God, with a gripping subtitle: how the wilderness draws us to his presence.
In only twelve words, Pastor Faith just unpacked so much: you and I can experience friendship with God. Friendship with God doesn’t keep us out of the wilderness. Sometimes the wilderness will be a unique place that wraps us closer to God’s presence. Somehow, that both unpacks a lot while also carrying more to be unpacked.
What a great title and subtitle, because you know the instinct: the one that says, “I’m in the wilderness!? God – I thought we were friends!? Why have you dumped me in the wilderness? Have I lost my friendship with God? Was it there in the first place?” and all those wilderness-y thoughts that come when wide-open space drags whatever lies buried up to the surface: the good, bad, and ugly.
I can’t wait to read this book. Have you read it yet? If you have, share your thoughts in the comments.
Pastor Faith Eury Cho, MDiv, “has been a gospel preacher since she was 19 years old. The mission of her life is for all to know and enjoy the gift of the gospel, which is the Presence of God. Currently, she is an international speaker, pastor, church planter, author, and CEO and founder of the Honor Summit, a nonprofit organization that centers Asian American women in the mission of God. Faith is a coach and collaborator for Propel Ecclesia. Alongside her husband, Pastor David Cho, Faith is co-founder and co-pastor of Mosaic Covenant Church in New Jersey. She and David have four children.” (The Honor Summit features gatherings and conferences for Asian American women – it’s one of the conferences listed over at the “2024 conferences for women in ministry” resourcing page.)
The Salvation Army: Catherine & William Booth; Women Preachers
In previous weekly newsletters, we’ve explored some denominational resourcing to help break down denominational silos, learn from each other, celebrate each other, and practice broadening perspective with an occasional birds’ eye view of women leading in the Body of Christ.
Many people don’t automatically associate “denomination” with The Salvation Army; in part, a testimony to just how mobile and organized they are in local and global relief work. The Gospel comes with soup, as their old saying went: “soup, soap, and salvation” – a testimony to their commitment to befriending those experiencing misery. (I once listened to a fantastic Salvationist webinar on work with refugees and came away stunned at the efficiency, clarity, and relational infrastructure. A common joke goes something like, “How many Salvationists does it take to change a lightbulb?” “None, they already changed it.”)
The founders of the SA were William and Catherine Booth: Methodists who founded it in London. But long before The Salvation Army was full-grown (it’s part of the Wesleyan/holiness/Methodist branch of the Christian family tree) Catherine Booth wrote, “Female Ministry: Woman’s Right to Preach the Gospel” in 1859 – pre-U.S. Civil War. She wasn’t alone in her sentiments; a groundswell was rising in Britain and America. (Archival information on women in ministry in The Salvation Army here.)
Yet The Salvation Army is one of the only Wesleyan/holiness denominations with a strong heritage of celebrating womens’ leadership that practiced its early roots throughout the twentieth century. That’s a beautiful testimony to the SA. Women have been actively involved at varying tiers of leadership in The Salvation Army, including multiple women at the highest levels. This has been the case throughout its history.
For more on the history of women leading in The Salvation Army check out Colonel (Dr.) Janet Munn’s fall 2023 article, “One in Christ,” along with the rest of the digitized fall 2023 issue of SA Connects magazine that celebrates the theme “Women of the Church.”
Visit this gallery of photos and testimonies from Salvationist women from countries all over the world who are leading for justice.
Know Your Mothers – Anna
An Executive Pastor in California is shepherding a lovely artistic and study project through the Know Your Mothers website and app. Know Your Mothers is about “uncovering the buried stories of Christian women whose lives reveal a depth of insight, wisdom and empowerment needed in the church today.”
Founder and creator Pastor Cara shares on the website, “I received my Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2019. I'm an ex-advertising creative, illustrator/designer, a wife and mother of four kids. I currently serve as the Executive Pastor at Pacific City Church in Santa Monica, California.”
Pastor Cara explains, “the art is a significant part of this project and seeks to honor these women in a visually dynamic way. Inspired by the icons which are venerated in Eastern Orthodox and the Catholic church traditions, these ‘modern icons’ hope to aid in elevating these women to a place of honor. As you read through these stories and view these portraits, I hope you find encouragement and inspiration.”
I have so many “favorites” from this collection, including Phoebe. At this time of year, let’s sit with one of my favorite figures who welcomes the newborn Jesus: Anna. Anna is a beautiful model of someone who, in her loss, befriended God; a figure who seems lonely yet likely recognized, known, and beloved by those frequently worshipping in the Temple. Visit the website to read more about this lovely woman.
Visit the App Store to download the Know Your Mothers app and access wallpaper for your iPhone.
“The Praying Feminist” by Dr. Sarah C. Williams in Plough magazine
This 2021 article about Josephine Butler is superb. Dr. Sarah Williams manages to bridge church and academy with unusual fervor. The summary is the tip of the iceberg: “Josephine Butler, a pioneer of first wave feminism, sacrificed her respectability to fight for prostitutes – because of her Christian faith.”
After Dr. Williams sketches the significance of Butler’s work – “Butler had raised public awareness of the plight of destitute women, worked to address human trafficking, and led a vigorous campaign to secure equal rights for women” – she pivots to a moving and personal reflection.
“Over the last two years I have been studying this woman’s life, and I have been deeply impacted by her faith. Josephine Butler (1828–1908) lived a life immersed in prayer. Prayer emerges in her writing as an intimate dialogue with Christ but also as the pivotal dynamic in a radical social and political vision.” [emphasis added] One featured image displays an old poster announcing a conference led by Mrs. Butler and Mrs. Booth – Mrs. Catherine Booth, of The Salvation Army listed above.
Dr. Williams follows Josephine Butler’s footsteps through the clinking china of hypocritical dinner parties to workhouses and the wails of women she came to call friends. Butler faced an uphill battle advocating for these women and bringing social and legislative change.
“Butler was pelted with excrement when she stood up to speak, and on one occasion it took fourteen bodyguards to protect her from a violent mob as she moved from a train carriage to address an audience at a town hall. Throughout the campaign, Butler prayed with women on the streets, and taught others to do the same. She prayed with leaders from every political party and every religious denomination. She formed networks of prayer that connected those who lacked social and political agency with those who held great power.”
Propelled by personal tragedy, “in a unique way, Butler connected the experience of personal grief with the corporate grief of womankind. She understood her vocation as an act of intercession in which she entered into the experience of the outcast woman.”
There are so many gripping scenes, quotes, and observations scattered throughout this Plough article – and there’s also a quiet, inescapable beckoning.
Are my prayers and my feet in unison? Are my prayers and my feet guiding and prompting each other? Who am I willing to pray with? Am I willing to choose to step into the blast of vitriol next to those in its aim? Who are my Catherine Booth’s standing next to me – or who is God asking me to be a Catherine for? Who is my neighbor? Who do I call friend? Who can claim my friendship? Do people in misery know my friendship?
Congratulations! Rt Rev Lydia Neshangwe Elected President of All Africa Conference of Churches
Last month, the All Africa Conference of Churches elected Rt Rev Lydia Neshangwe the new AACC President at its 12th General Assembly. As reported on the website:
“After a highly contested election, the Rt Rev Lydia Neshangwe, a woman delegate from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA), emerged winner as the new AACC president with 65.71% of all the votes cast. Rt Rev Dr. Lydia is an ordained minister from Zimbabwe where she ministers in a diverse congregation at St Columbas Presbyterian Church in the mountainous city of Mutare.”
Rev. Neshangwe is the first woman to be elected of the AACC, which was founded in 1963. Read more here.
Thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting FireFall! Since launching just in October, FireFall continues to increase reach and gain subscribers, sharing resources and amplifying women leading in the church and higher education.
FireFall resources are now also being translated into Spanish with the launch of Fuego Descendió, thanks to Pastora Daniela Galindo-Cabriales.
Consider becoming an annual subscriber to support this venture as we set our sails for a new year, continuing to celebrate God’s anointing on women!
-Elizabeth Glass Turner