Towards An Egalitarian Future: Empowering Girls Today to Become Leaders Tomorrow

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to develop an educational model for congregations that will help move the Church towards becoming more egalitarian. Recognizing a biblical mandate for egalitarianism, the author uses feminist theory to illustrate that true equality requires that all members of a community be allowed to exercise their giftedness in all forms of service. Unfortunately, many women continue to face oppression in their church communities, which is evidenced in particular when one considers the obstacles women continue to face in their journey to church leadership. Acknowledging the harm caused to community by such non-egalitarian practices, the author suggests that the best starting place for an educational model moving towards teaching egalitarianism is girls in the church. Such a model must include healthy modeling of egalitarian behaviours and intentional mentoring among women and girls. The author concludes that through such practices we can start a process whereby girls will grow to embrace church leadership roles as a step towards creating egalitarian church communities.</p>