The Voices Found Women's Theology Book Group met again last Thursday (Oct. 19th) at Borders Bookstore in Orland Park. We discussed Letty M. Russell's Household of Freedom: Authority in Feminist Theology. Russell defines a household of freedom as a place where
"the charisma of God's Spirit is recognized among the people, but those who lead find that their job description is one of diakonos, servant, and the job description is to work themselves out of a job. Charisma becomes a gift of empowerment for others rather than one for dominating and manipulating others" (p. 98).
Like Russell, we too questioned, "How would we recognize a household of freedom if we were lucky enough to stumble across its threshold?" (p. 87). Each of us was able to offer up small examples of such households - for one of us it was the home of an adult niece and her children, for another it was in how we use our authority in the workplace. I played around with this conversation a bit more after our meeting and the result, in part, is reflected in my sermon (published here).
Please feel free to add your own comments about Household of Freedom by clicking on "comments".
Also, know that all women are invited to join us next month - November 16th at Borders Bookstore in Orland Park. We will be discussing the first half (Introduction through chapter 3) of Anne M. Clifford's Introducing Feminist Theology. The book can be ordered from Borders or may be available at your local library.
"the charisma of God's Spirit is recognized among the people, but those who lead find that their job description is one of diakonos, servant, and the job description is to work themselves out of a job. Charisma becomes a gift of empowerment for others rather than one for dominating and manipulating others" (p. 98).
Like Russell, we too questioned, "How would we recognize a household of freedom if we were lucky enough to stumble across its threshold?" (p. 87). Each of us was able to offer up small examples of such households - for one of us it was the home of an adult niece and her children, for another it was in how we use our authority in the workplace. I played around with this conversation a bit more after our meeting and the result, in part, is reflected in my sermon (published here).
Please feel free to add your own comments about Household of Freedom by clicking on "comments".
Also, know that all women are invited to join us next month - November 16th at Borders Bookstore in Orland Park. We will be discussing the first half (Introduction through chapter 3) of Anne M. Clifford's Introducing Feminist Theology. The book can be ordered from Borders or may be available at your local library.
Comments