Mary Magdalene, Witness and Evangelist

 

In one daily scripture reading resource the passage for today is from is from the gospel of John, chapter 20. It is the story of Mary Magdalene sharing with the disciples the Good News of her encounter with the Risen Christ at the empty tomb earlier that day. Her despair turned to joy as she is able to see her Teacher after mistaking him for the gardener.

Despite the scriptural testimony that Mary was the first person to experience the Risen One, and that she was the first evangelist, there is still so much misogyny in the Christian church, ironically cloaked in the language of biblical faithfulness,

The Roman Catholic church continues to exclude women from priesthood on the basis that no women were disciples, even though those male disciples were hiding away in fear that first Easter. They were hardly shining examples of courage. 

So many Fundamentalist and so-called Evangelical denominations go through their own gymnastics to exclude women from leadership roles. The Southern Baptist church in the States has gone through a considerable controversy over a popular bible study leader named Beth Moore who stepped over the line (in the minds of male leaders) when she preached in a congregation. Moore has called Southern Baptist leadership to task for supporting Trump, and has finally left the denomination which was her home for decades. These groups tout Complementarianism, which is essentially relegating women to subservient roles in family and church, claiming that this is biblical. 

I'm grateful that the United Church respects the role of women in leadership, including as ordained and commissioned ministers. Several of our Moderators have been women as well. This doesn't mean that women are always respected. We have a good friend, a member of an  of an early youth group, who has been in ministry for more than 20 years now, and is loved by her current congregation. Yet when there was controversy with a male colleague in a previous congregation, she was the one asked to leave even though no blame was attached to her conduct.  He was gone within months because of his behaviour while she has gone on to a successful pastorate. 

We can thank God for the witness of Mary Madgalene. The community of Christ is at its strongest when the gifts of all are recognized and employed for sharing the Good News. It's in the bible, so it must be true!

                                                                    Resurrection -- St. John's Bible