This is a new 2017 introduction, updated from the original 2009 description of this blog’s intended purpose as part of my general website.
The name “Letha’s Calling” has two meanings as I’m using it here. You can think of it like a friendly phone call. (Who’s calling? Letha’s calling.) But even more important, it refers to my personal calling to serve God by promoting gender equality and social justice in all areas of life, the essential message of Christian feminism.
In other words, I’ll be speaking with a Christian feminist voice.
Biblical Feminism
One thing I want to talk about is my own personal involvement in the biblical feminist movement that took root as part of the 1960s and 1970s women’s movement. Those of us who formed that movement believed that the Bible and feminism were not incompatible, and we wanted to share that message.
One of my goals here is to provide the “back story” behind my earliest Christian feminist writings, especially the articles that were published in Eternity magazine in the 1960s. The first of these articles, “Woman’s Place: Silence or Service?” (1966), questioned the traditional church teachings that barred women from leadership positions in the church. The second article, “Elevate Marriage to Partnership” (1968), argued for equal partnership in Christian marriage.
I’ll also tell the story of how Nancy Hardesty and I came to write our book, All We’re Meant to Be: A Biblical Approach to Women’s Liberation, published in 1974 after much difficulty in finding a publisher. In later editions (1986 and 1992), we changed the subtitle to “Biblical Feminism for Today.” Scholars now consider the book to have played a major role in launching the biblical feminist movement, sometimes called evangelical feminism.
The Journey Ahead
But 20th century feminist history is only one part of what I hope to write about here. Feminism,—in all its forms and in various faith traditions— is not just about yesterday. It’s also about today and tomorrow and many more tomorrows beyond that. It’s related to all areas of social justice and equality.
So much work remains to be done. So many miles of the journey still lie ahead.
I hope you will join me in the journey.
—————————————————————————————–
Below is the original 2009 post
Welcome to my new weblog.
I see this blog as a way of connecting, a way of sharing my thoughts as though speaking to my readers in a friendly phone call. But even more, I see it as an expression of my personal calling to serve God by promoting gender equality in all areas of life — the essential message of Christian feminism.
The posts you’ll see here will reflect both meanings of “Letha’s Calling.” Sometimes I’ll just share a personal reflection on life or Scripture — or thoughts about current news items that I think you’ll also find of interest. Often I’ll share links, such as those found in the two blogs I write for EEWC-Christian Feminism Today. One is called “Web Explorations for Christian Feminists” (a changing list of annotated links); and the other, co-written with Kimberly George, is a “cross-generational dialogue between two Christian feminists,” titled 72-27. I hope you’ll take a look at each of those blogs, too.
Christian Feminist History
In the 72-27 weblog, Kimberly and I often write about women’s history and point out helpful books and other resources on the topic. Here, on the “Letha’s Calling” blog, I’ll likewise include, among other topics, some recounting of feminist history. Specifically, I want to talk about my own personal involvement in the biblical feminist movement that took root as part of the 1960s and 1970s women’s movement.
One of my goals is to provide the “back story” behind my earliest Christian feminist writings, especially the articles that were published in Eternity magazine in the 1960s. The first of these articles, “Woman’s Place: Silence or Service?” (1966), questioned the traditional church teachings that barred women from leadership positions in the church; and the second, “Elevate Marriage to Partnership” (1968), argued for equal partnership in Christian marriage.
I’ll also tell the story of how Nancy Hardesty and I came to write All We’re Meant to Be: A Biblical Approach to Women’s Liberation,” which was published in 1974 after much difficulty in finding a publisher. (In later editions of All We’re Meant to Be, we changed the subtitle or tag line to “Biblical Feminism for Today.”) The book is now considered to have played a major role in launching the biblical feminist movement, sometimes called evangelical feminism.
The Journey Ahead
Feminist history is only one part of what I hope to write about here during the months ahead. Feminism, in all its forms and in various faith traditions, is not just about yesterday. It’s also about today and tomorrow and many more tomorrows beyond that. It’s related to all areas of social justice and equality.
So much work remains to be done. So much more of the journey still lies ahead.
I hope you will join me in the journey.