Well there’s a meeting that some of my readers, especially those of the female persuasion, would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for.
Left to Wright:
Nadia Bolz-Weber: Blog, Twitter
Sarah Bessey: Blog, Twitter
Jamie Wright: Blog, Twitter
Noticeably absent: Rachel Held-Evans: Blog, Twitter
What’s in the dishes: Location, somewhere in Denver, described as a “meatball bar” by Jamie the VWM
Who asked for the hot sauce: Unknown at this time, we’re investigating.
Fred Clark produced this labor of love at Slacktivist on the weekend under the title “Men on Top: Where are all the Christian Women Bloggers?” The first part of the title is in reference to the Top 200 chart which comes out every year. Perhaps he should have explained that more clearly. One thing he didn’t explain is that embedded in this post is a link or two (or closer to 150) to some of the women that are out there. (Apologies to those of you on dial-up internet for whom this post might pose a challenge.) Since this blog wins the Sausage Award for the number of links it already contains, it seemed a shame to let all Fred’s work not get seen by the widest possible audience…
As Church Relevance faces another round of criticism for it’s latest male-dominated list of the “Top 200 Church Blogs,” Kent Shaffer looks to dig his way out of the hole with a post titled “An Open Letter to Christian Women Blogs.”
It’s not a terribly constructive response, although it does helpfully provide a neat illustration of why the critics are right.
This “Open Letter” praises “how far women’s rights have come,” and laments that “the inequality gap is still and may always be a great chasm.” And if Church Relevance’s list reflects that great chasm, that’s hardly their fault, right?
I mean, look, Church Relevance is focused on leaders — top-level, influential, transformational, inspirational, highly effective leaders. What could people like that possibly do to change the status quo?
Here’s a bit more from Shaffer’s “Open Letter” and from his earlier response to the same criticism: “Where Are the Top Christian Women Bloggers?”
Almost every time I update the Top Church Blogs list, one question arises: Where are all the Christian women bloggers?
… We are not trying to exclude women, and since starting the list, have spent over 100 hours trying to find blogs written by women, non-whites, and non-Americans that fit the topical scope and have high enough traffic to make the rankings.
… Historically, men have occupied the overwhelming majority of church leadership positions. As most of you know, this disparity is deeply rooted in denominational and theological beliefs. At the same time, there have always been more male bloggers than female bloggers.
… Within the church blogosphere, I expect that for every female blogger excluded from the Top Church Blogs list, there could very likely be 3+ male bloggers excluded.
There have always been more male bloggers than female bloggers. And there have always been more male church leaders than female church leaders.
It’s a great chasm and there’s nothing to be done about it — at least nothing that influential, highly effective, Top Ministry Leaders can do.
(OK, too much cutting-and-pasting of links. Hands … cramping ….)
You should see the HTML for this post! To read at source, click here.
In addition to usual type of links this week, there are some general links to the whole of some blogs you know and some that will be new to you.
Speaking of videos, here’s the latest from Hillsong at GodTube.
Warning to all concerned: Never show up at The Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky on Date Night with a same sex date. (Typical date night pictured at right.) And tickets are non-refundable. But step back for just a moment: Why do they even have a date night? (“Hey Lisa, we’re going to the Creation Museum tonight.” “Oh Mark, you pick the most coolest places.”)
