A church leader once told me my husband was the head of the household (and therefore responsible for a small ministry decision - but I knew we had made that decision together). I thought, “I don’t think that’s in the Bible?” So I looked and it wasn’t.
I'm seeing a stream of tweets from women saying, "I wouldn't be preaching if not for
@rachelheldevans
. I wouldn't be in seminary if not for her." (I'm one of them) God, thank you for Rachel's work in raising up your daughters to serve your church. Heal her now.
#prayforRHE
I have accepted an offer of admission to Wheaton College’s PhD in Biblical and Theological Studies!
@esaumccaulley
will be my advisor this fall for a dissertation on emotions and liberation in Luke. I have been so generously supported by many scholars in this process.
#phd
I wouldn’t be in seminary on the track to becoming an ordained pastor if it weren’t for
@rachelheldevans
. I can’t believe she’s gone, and I have so many questions for God.
#becauseofRHE
@Anna_Duggar
Anna, if you need help getting out, DM me. I know a lot of women who would love to come together to support you and your kids to get free and safe.
In my academic life, I adore Jesus. I'm delighted to do Gospels scholarship. My research is also an act of worship.
In my church life, I am barely hanging on to him. I'm surrounded by Christian institutional abuse, and going to church often feels unsafe.
Anyone else feel that?
I got invited to interview for my top-choice PhD program! I applied to study New Testament at Wheaton College. I’m so profoundly honored and relieved.
#phdchat
#PhD
#womeninacademia
It’s now been 10 years and I am working on a PhD in New Testament. Today I am leading seminary students on a study trip and we are going to Ephesus where I will teach them that 1 Tim 2 correctly interpreted does not bar them from equality with husbands nor church leaders. ❤️
Relief flooding my body… anti-mask parents pressured our school board to make masks optional. I was seriously considering keeping my kids home this year. Thank God the IL governor just used executive order to mandate masks. They can go to school, and I can work!
I got my grade for my last seminary class. A+. 10/10 for every test and my final paper. It was a hard term, personally. I am so proud of myself for finishing strong.
I passed my proposal defense today! The PhD committee at Wheaton College approved my dissertation plan (with some revisions), and I can start researching this summer. So grateful to my advisor
@esaumccaulley
and my second reader
@AubreyBuster
. Congrats to
@cgow10
who also passed.
Just watched the first episode of Shiny Happy People. Who else is watching or planning to watch?
As a homeschooled kid who attended a Gothard conference and has followed these abuse stories since they broke, I am grateful the truth is getting more widely known.
“The thing about Bible scholars is that we can be old.” -
@esaumccaulley
today encouraging me that I can still have a 40-year academic career ahead of me even though I am just starting my PhD at age 41. 😹😹😹
I was just going through RHE’s blog archives preparing to write about her, and I found this wonderful open letter she wrote to
@scotmcknight
.
#becauseofRHE
My gift to academics: If you are not yet using Zotero for citations, go download it now. Also get the Chrome and Word plugins. One-click works cited pages and perfect footnotes every time.
I'm tear-smiling over this line I found in a blog post from Rachel Held Evans. She wrote in an open letter of thanks to
@scotmcknight
: "Your footnotes have cost me a lot of money...
If you are a woman who would love to do a master’s degree or doctorate in Bible or theology, what is keeping you from doing it? Lack of childcare/funding/time/support? Something else? Please retweet.
I miss Rachel Held Evans. I cried for days when she died then went and got this tattoo. It says “woman of valor.” I remember her every time I cheer on another brave woman with a hearty “eshet chayil!”
I am so grateful to
@KaitlynSchiess
for taking time on her holiday break to Zoom with me and help me with my PhD application materials! I love, love, love women supporting women.
I can't go two days without running into another instance of mishandled abuse in Christian institutions *I am personally connected with.* It's not out there on the internet, it's my friends being harmed. I'm exhausted from it and begging the church to just BE GOOD.
I took the GRE online at home today. After tech issues that left me wildly stressed and starting the exam an hour late, I was even more worried about how I would do. I could not believe it when I saw my scores.
How long have you been in therapy? Let’s normalize it and encourage those considering it! Me: regularly since May of 2019 (I also went for a year in 2010).
@HopeOnGrace
I am so sorry. Been there. Please do see a trained trauma therapist who understands religious trauma and C-PTSD. Healing is possible and you will find joy and peace and safety again.
God, sometimes I get weary of asking for miracles because I don't see them coming to pass. Sometimes I worry about asking for miracles because how will I explain if you don't seem to answer? But today I'm asking in faith for a miracle of healing for Rachel.
#prayforRHE
but they’ve led me to other books that have led me to other books that have led me to other books that have helped me make sense of my faith."
And I'm like, same, girl, same.
@edstetzer
@MaryDeMuth
and
@girlnamedanne
are writing books on this. Please elevate their voices as actual survivors and insightful minds on addressing the church’s poor track record on handling abuse!
My COVID cough is getting worse and heart racing with minimal exertion. Did a virtual apt and doctor told me to go to urgent care this afternoon to get checked for blood clots and pneumonia. Thanks to
@XianJaneway
for sharing her experience and helping me take this seriously!
@ErikReed
That’s not my experience at ALL. Every person I know who has struggled to stay Christian loved Jesus but was horrifically mistreated by the church.
A year ago I was stretched on the couch, hot tears coursing down my cheeks, crying over a woman I had not met but who had changed the course of my life. I am finishing my last seminary course now due to Rachel's influence and her connecting me with
@scotmcknight
.
#rememberingRHE
Someone asked me how Andy Savage’s church should have handled Jules’s report that he abused her. It’s so simple. Associate pastor should have called the police, told the senior pastor, and announced it to the church inviting other victims to testify.
#churchtoo
About me
Working on a doctoral dissertation about emotions in Luke w/ Esau McCaulley
Grad of Northern Seminary w/ Scot McKnight, delighted to adjunct there!
Mom of 5 mostly neurospicy kids, navigating my husband & me both having Big Jobs
Love my geriatric Bengal cat Bugaboo
I can't stop thinking about the profound piece of writing advice I got from my advisor
@esaumccaulley
last week. He was looking at my dissertation proposal and noticed that my writing felt a little flat. He asked me if I manuscript my sermons when I preach--I do. Then he asked,
Mind blowing. He was able to articulate something I didn't realize I was doing and show me how to fix it.
Does anyone else notice this disconnect between writing something to speak versus writing something to write?
#phdchat
#AcademicChatter
#AcademicTwitter
#phdlife
These are the two most important books I have read on emotion. The research these authors have done has truly changed the trajectory of emotion science. How Emotions Are Made by
@LFeldmanBarrett
and Between Us by
@BatjaMesquita
(Plus…don’t they look gorgeous together?!)
The
@nseminary
library was selling old books for $1 each. This week I went twice and spent $112 and obtained 128 books. (There was a free table too!) Book worm heaven.
After I saw
@juleswoodson11
‘s NYT video last night, I stayed up till 2 am finishing this piece: Thanks for telling your story, Jules!
#metoo
#churchtoo
My bibliography for my master's thesis on Jesus and emotions is far too male-heavy and white-heavy. Help me find more women and people of color writing about emotional health in Christianity! Retweet and make recommendations. Thank you.
A blessing to all the moms starting seminary right now: may you succeed and thrive, enjoy the journey, and grow spiritually and academically. This is me 3 years ago, nursing my youngest child, Iunia, during a break from my first week of seminary. Now almost done!
#seminarywomen
It was such a bad decision for them to do this when every New Testament scholar in the world is together in Denver right now and ready to talk about this together. 😹
Telling women this is a great way to keep them in abusive marriages. If your spouse is doing things that concern you or hurt you, talk with safe, supportive friend who can help you figure out if your spouse is destructive or abusive. Don’t keep your pain to yourself.
Speaking poorly about your husband to your friends, family & even strangers is the death-knell of intimacy.
Even if he never finds out, you have begun the process of poisoning your heart.
The infection leads to disrespect, & ultimately a loveless relationship.
Guard your words
@_nomadic_soul
A ministry leader told me my husband was the head of the home and I realized the Bible never says that. So I started looking at what the Bible DOES say.
A friend asked for gift basket recommendations for a woman called to theology / pastoring. What would you add to my list?
-earplugs to drown out men saying “1 Timothy 2:12”
-a dress with POCKETS to hold a lapel mic for preaching
-sturdy boots for stomping out crisis fires
1/
This thread is about Sheila Gregoire’s decision to speak at a Dave Ramsey branded event and then to withdraw, and the impact of this interchange on Christian abuse survivors, particularly Amy Fritz.
It shocks me when people are unaware of the abusive actions of Christian leaders. This stuff has been on the internet for a decade in most cases. Am I the only one who regularly googles “leader name” + abuse or + scandal? The stories are not hard to find. Please investigate!
The thing is, so much of getting a PhD in New Testament is BORING. There is a lot of sitting in front of Anchor Yale and Hermeneia and BDAG and academic monographs and following footnote trails. The ability to deal with the boredom is why
@LauraRbnsn
actually has a PhD.
I just finished Rachael’s book 10 min ago and I am still sitting here processing it so I have a very fresh perspective on what it cost her to report.
All the systems are stacked against victims. All of them.
Please read and understand.
A significant reality in my choice was literally saying to Jacob "what I need to do could kill someone else. I know I can live through it. If I don't do this, someone else will have to, and they may not survive it."
Reporting is not that simple.
@bethallisonbarr
@TGC
They’re really going to say that a New Testament scholar, Anglican canon theologian, and author of an entire book on writing Anglican prayers…doesn’t know how to properly shape prayers of confession?
.
@andysavage
I will keep reporting on and writing about your sexual assault of Jules and the long-term coverup. You are disqualified from ministry leadership. Do not think you can quietly create a comeback.
The new volume in the Everyday Bible Study Series is here! Acts joins James/Galatians. Each day: Scripture, short commentary by
@scotmcknight
, and reflection questions by me. Retweet this plus follow me and Scot to win these. US addresses.
I’ve been seeing
@philvischer
all around Wheaton at coffee cafes for two years…tonight I’m excited to hear him speak at the College at an event where it might finally be not-creepy to say hi to him. 😹
I went through like 17 emotions in 3 minutes when I found out I got accepted
@WheatonBTS
! I’ve been working toward a PhD in New Testament for several years. Amazing moment!
I have managed to keep this secret for two years! This volume is a Festschrift honoring the scholarship of
@scotmcknight
. I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to contribute a chapter on living the gospel by caring for abuse survivors.
Massive Bible nerd alert - just found a podcast on textual criticism of New Testament manuscripts and said, out loud, to myself, in my empty office, “I’m so excited about this!”
I just tithed on a preaching honorarium to the church of
@bethallisonbarr
and her husband with
@CBMWorg
in the memo line. Want to join me in supporting this small church in the face of CBMW’s attack on them and Beth?
@costiwhinn
Dear Pastor Family Member,
Beloved one. Your feet are beautiful for carrying the Good News of Jesus to Asia. May God who called you and gifted you to preach continue to sustain you in your precious and faithful ministry. I and many other sisters and brothers stand with you.
When I moved back to the US three years ago, I intentionally joined an Anglican church. I loved the liturgy; I also believed the claim that having priests and bishops and archbishops meant oversight that meant abusive leaders would be properly dealt with.
After updating our database last night with some recent cases, we realized that in fact we're tracking abuse allegations in 14 (out of 28) dioceses in
@The_ACNA
. Abuse and its mishandling by those in power extends far beyond
@midwestanglican
.
#acnatoo
@BethMooreLPM
My husband also got bored in my most recent sermon but at least he had five kids to care for in the pew who kept him from falling asleep 😹
You do not want to find hair cuttings in the bathroom.
You REALLY don’t want to find a trail of long snips all the way to the trash can.
You very much do not want to see your 8-yr-old girl with a reverse fauxhawk.
Like.
The entirety of her part line is cropped to the skull.
It is okay for survivors to not jump in to celebrate or even accept an apology. Apologies do not remove the harm done. Let survivors take all the time they need to feel the hurt without rushing them to be glad about a course correction.
I’m prepping to teach tonight at a church in the US (via Zoom) to train ministry leaders about mental illness, abuse, trauma, and emotional health. What would you want to learn? What would you want to teach them?
Anyone else ever open a book on trauma to read it for research and feel suddenly overwhelmed with waves of physical discomfort? I didn’t think this would be so hard to read, but I feel sick all over.
Today was a major traumaversary for me. I was worried how my body would respond. I have felt calm and even happy all day. Thanks to regular trauma therapy and doing the work of healing, I am delighted at the life I am making for myself. I choose good things for me.
So it turns out that if you are looking for books on discipleship in the Gospels, but your search terms on Amazon are "apprentice" and "Luke"...
you get Star Wars books.
@BethMooreLPM
Faith deconstruction and reconstruction is excruciatingly painful. Feels like your guts are getting ripped out and stirred around. I’ve been at it for 9 years. Keep persevering. There is so much freedom with Jesus on the other side!
Today is the day! I’m at Wheaton College for a day of meal meetings and my interview. Can you believe this perfect coat I found at Goodwill yesterday that flawlessly matches my dress? (And my wall)