Conversation on gender + the church

Jenell Paris has been cranking out some excellent posts on gender and the church at her blog: The Paris Project.

Actually, what she has to say encompasses more than gender. She encourages more inclusion of people who aren't necessarily North American, white, male, and with a more or less evangelical theology. Talking about research, she asks, "Are you tacking on a single woman, and maybe Martin Luther King, Jr. for good measure, just to appear inclusive? Or are you really being shaped by people different than yourself?" I think these questions can apply to many other things besides research.

Paris also discusses the dominance of men in Christian circles, whether it be the emergent church, the blogosphere, or Christian conferences:

If your issue is, say, white men’s spirituality in English-speaking America, then by all means stack the deck with those guys. But if your topic is God, or church, or mission, then consider hearing from people with significantly different vantage points on the issue.