Theme: Feminist Biblical Interpretation, Jesus’s Scriptures, and Your Lenten Sermon
Even today, many of messages that pervade our culture about women and the Bible are harmful. Beyond the obvious difficult passages (e.g., “I permit no woman to teach or have authority over a man; she is to keep silent” [1 Timothy 2:12]), Scripture mostly gives its scant attention to women only if they are mothers of sons or support men. Given such texts, how can Scripture be liberating for all people, including the women who are many (if not most) of our congregants?
Old Testament scholar Dr. Julie Faith Parker will address this question in a two-part clergy day. In the morning, Dr. Parker will offer a presentation combining historical information, PowerPoint images, and examples from her own family and trace how the waves of the feminist movement have influenced biblical interpretation. Continuing the focus on feminism and the Bible, Dr. Parker will then introduce her most recent book, Eve Isn’t Evil (hailed by Publisher’s Weekly as “smart and impressive”).
In the afternoon, Dr. Parker will lead participants in a preaching workshop focused on Old Testament texts of Lent. After explaining why the texts of the Hebrew Bible are so valuable for preaching, she will introduce a preaching method and provide exegetical information on lectionary texts. Participants will then work in small groups to create a sermon outline for a Lenten passage and leave with one sermon of Lent well underway. The common theme is power and energy in making Scripture come alive.
The day promises to be theological, biblical, intellectual, and practical – and also fun!
About our Guest Speaker
The Rev. Dr. Julie Faith Parker is the Biblical Scholar in Residence at Marble Collegiate Church and a Visiting Scholar at Union Theological Seminary, both in New York City. She was awarded the Ph.D. with distinction in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible from Yale University. Dr. Parker also holds degrees from Hamilton College, Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and Yale Divinity School. She has taught as a professor of biblical studies at General Theological Seminary (NYC) and Trinity Lutheran Seminary (Columbus, Ohio), in addition to teaching at Yale Divinity School, Colby College, and New York Theological Seminary, where her students were incarcerated in Sing Sing Prison. An ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, she worked full-time in both congregational and campus ministry prior to doctoral studies.
Dr. Parker is the author or editor of many articles and eight books including, most recently, Eve Isn’t Evil: Feminist Readings of the Bible to Upend Our Assumptions (Baker, 2023), now in its second printing.
She is married to the Rev. Dr. Bill Crawford and they are the proud parents of two grown children, Graham and Mari.