FireFall Vol. 6: A Prayer for Joy
Susan Angeline Collins; "Called: A Leadership Resource for Women in Ministry;" The Wynkoop Center; Rev. Joyce Tonui; Logia Scholars Database; Theologian Sweatshirt
Welcome to this week’s roundup amplifying women in ministry, church leadership, and the academy!
God, drench these readers in the incomprehensible reality of Your joy. It is Your joy that is our strength. In hardship, sorrow, setback, or discouragement, protect these leaders with cushion of Your joy hidden in their hearts even in the midst of trouble, loss, infirmity, or calamity. In Your mercy, remember we are small, and buoy us up. Let our joy be a witness to the power of Your Spirit. Amen.
Spotlight: Susan Angeline Collins, an “African American Woman’s Incredible Life as a Methodist Missionary”
We need to hear each others’ call stories, but it’s so powerful to learn from womens’ call stories in other times in history, too.
And I love that this one includes some wadded-up newspaper.
Susan Angeline Collins, born in 1851, went to Upper Iowa University and started her own business; eventually, God called her to be a missionary to Angola. This under-five minute video shares the witness of her life:
“Called: A Leadership Resource for Women in Ministry” by Assemblies of God Network of Women Ministers is a must-read digital + printable magazine in English + Spanish
This. Is. Packed. with good stuff that applies way beyond denominational silos. It’s a great resource for all women discerning a call to ministry, ministry students, women actively pastoring, and men who champion women in church leadership. (Way to go, AOG Network of Women Ministers!)
Browse the digital magazine in Spanish here or print this Spanish PDF version.
Browse the digital magazine in English here or print this PDF version – you’ll find testimony, statistics on women in this denomination, round-ups like “things I wish I knew before entering ministry,” coaching questions and practical leadership tips, and insightful segments like “what things do you wish our male colleagues knew about our journeys?” along with “book recommendations for future male champions.”
One fantastic article is “Productivity vs Stewardship” by Cynthia Gandhi Dobbs on page 47 – after a rough day of interruptions, she shares, “God reminded me that He had called me to stewardship, not productivity. He invited me to assess the success of my day through the lens of my stewardship…had I spent this day taking care of the things of God in my life?” To practice stewardship rather than pursue productivity, she describes the differences between the two postures.
Another great reflection with coaching questions included is “While You Wait…Coaching Questions to Help Direct Your Posture of Waiting toward the Lord,” also by Gandhi Dobbs.
She writes, “Waiting takes courage. The calling of God can take you into difficult and unrecognizable territory…what dreams have you given up on because they seem too scary to attempt?” later asking, “what is one thing that brings hope to you as you wait?”
I A M A T H E O L O G I A N
Years back in my first undergrad systematic theology class, my professor opened by confronting a common pastoral phrase: “well, I’m no theologian…”
No, insisted Dr. Bounds, that is part of what a pastor is – you don’t have to be a scholar, but implicitly, every pastor is a practical theologian and your church members need you to be able to act, lead, and respond with good theology and to communicate it well.
So he asked us to raise our hands and say something out loud. And in a class at least 75% male, I heard my voice alongside the voices of my classmates: “I am a theologian!” (And in this little exercise, my male classmates heard these words from women.)
So for many reasons, I looooove this theologian sweatshirt from Kayla Maysong (her Sealed & Sent Co. also has other garments available here), and if like me you can’t wear white without attracting every drop of coffee in a five-mile radius, it’s also available in other beautiful shades.
As she shares on her website, Kayla is a marketing manager for Seminary Now. With an MA in Systematic Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, she’s also a Bible teacher and speaker.
The Wynkoop Center for Women in Leadership at Nazarene Theological Seminary
The Wynkoop Center develops and shares great resources, in addition to providing some **research and scholarship funding** for women pursuing theological studies as well as travel grants to women graduate students whose papers are accepted at conferences.
The webpage includes some handy links on the topic of womens’ ordination, but the don’t-miss resources include practical, professional, and theological videos hosted on the seminary’s Praxis hub, many of which thankfully don’t require a subscription or even free trial to watch.
Browse The Wynkoop Center for Women in Leadership playlist on this Praxis video page for videos on topics like self-advocacy in the church, a resume workshop, mentoring in the church, self-denying love for female leaders in a Wesleyan theology of leadership, and many more.
Why the Wynkoop center? As celebrated on the homepage, “Mildred Bangs Wynkoop (1905-1997) was an influential educator, missionary, and theologian whose work impacted the Church of the Nazarene and beyond. The Wynkoop Center for Women in Leadership…provides opportunities, assistance, and resources to explore and encourage the giftings and callings of women in traditional and new frontiers of leadership.”
Sermon on Mission: Rev. Joyce Tonui
Rev. Joyce Tonui is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Africa Gospel Church in Kericho, Kenya. Here, at Taylor University chapel in 2019, she preaches on mission and God’s call out of ourselves for the sake of others (with a few delightful Wakanda references).
For students, researchers, scholars, writers: St. Andrew’s Logia Scholars Database
There are quite a few online lists, portals, websites, and databases that catalogue the scholarly work of women. St. Andrew’s Logia Scholars Database is one of the explicitly academic databases, as the website describes:
“Below is a categorized list of women scholars from across the Divinity disciplines spanning the 19th-21st centuries. This list is not exhaustive but includes over 500 women who have published full-length books or book chapters within one of these areas (though some have published in more than one area). Given the interdisciplinary nature of many of these women’s work, the categorizations are not fixed, but will hopefully serve as a starting point for those wanting to learn from these scholars and integrate women’s scholarship into their course readings.”
Pros: This is a fantastically extensive list, with scholars grouped in their primary general specialization and listed alphabetically by last name under those headings.
Cons: It’s the nature of the beast - many academics move institutions a lot, meaning that keeping links up-to-date for scholars must be nearly impossible; though scholars with CV PDF links avoid dead links.
Still, a quick Google of a scholar’s name will get you where you’re trying to go or at least will put someone’s name on your own radar or portal or database.
Thanks for remembering to amplify your sisters and resources for women in ministry by clicking links!
FireFall is now active on Instagram! Follow FireFall on Instagram to find some unique content like a job listing at Friends University or a spotlight on the first woman ordained in Japan. Click below for a short video about a resource shared in Vol.1 - Preacher’s Block.
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