Below are some of the contributors to our Blog Conference from September 2009. We’ve asked them to provide a short bio so you’ll know a little bit more about them! Some are members of our church in Ryde, and others are special guests joining in the discussion.
Dave Woolcott – Pastor, Ryde Presbyterian Church
“I grew up in and around Sydney, Australia. I worked in the country as a school teacher, farmhand and sawmiller. I have since moved back to Sydney and am now the minister of a Presbyterian Church in Ryde. I am married with three great kids. I have a great shed with lots of metallic, greasy, wooden, rusty, broken, old and intriguing things. I love designing, building and repairing ‘stuff’. I love Rugby Union and playing and listening to music.
“The home I grew up in was that of a Sydney Anglican Minister. This resulted in me growing up with a “complementarian” perspective. Training at the Bible College did little to inform me about the women’s issue and so I decided I needed to look into it myself before beginning as a minister in a church. My understanding of Scripture led me to adopt what many refer to as an “Egalitarian” view, which I prefer to call an “interdependent” perspective.
“I do not consider men and women to be identical, as indeed I do not consider all men to be identical. Some are gifted and led by God for speaking/teaching ministry and others are not. I believe it is the same for women. We are all a part of one body where the finger cannot assume to play the part of the eye. As the analogy of the body has more than two body parts, so I believe the role people play in the church is divided by factors other than simply male or female gender.”
Ken Finis – Social Work Student, Ryde Presbyterian Church
“I’ve been a student for as long as I can remember now, and I’m really looking forward to becoming a real person (graduating) by the end of the year! I’m currently finishing off my final months of a Social Work degree at Sydney University. I’ve really enjoyed my field placements at a homeless youth shelter in the inner city and at a major Sydney hospital on the wards, emergency department and ICU. It’s taken a little longer to get to the end of the SW degree because I studied an extra year and graduated in 2007 from a Bachelor of Arts majoring in critical Biblical Studies, also from Sydney Uni.
“I feel strongly about the gospel, social justice, and the call of the church to show to others the same grace, mercy and love that we’ve been shown by God. We haven’t pursued our role perfectly in the past – I know I certainly haven’t – and there have been a lot of people hurt by our mistakes. But I believe that God works in our hearts to change us and make us desire to love and honour him and grow more like him.
“In terms of the topic of the Blog Conference, I have held different views over the years as I’ve read different papers and heard different sermons. However at the moment I would describe myself as not fully decided, due to feeling there are currently more pressing issues that I’m having to work through and try to understand! That’s probably why I’ve been cast in the role of Moderator for the Blog Conference, trying to hold a neutral ground for now. I do understand the importance of discussing this issue, and that it can be one which can divide and hurt if not done with respect and sensitivity. I hope that a result of the conference will be that we all come away with a better understanding of the issue, (if we hold to a particular perspective to understand the other perspectives better), and that in the end we’ll still be unified by the fact that we’re brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, who he has died to save and make whole.”
Peter Barnes – Minister, Revesby Presbyterian Church
“Born 100 years ago, became a Christian through reading Romans and Augustine’s Confessions and City of God. Have served in Vanuatu (1980-1983), Namucca River (1983-2000), and Revesby (2000-). Write a lot, and have been involved in Christian schooling.”
Doug Haley – Minister, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Newcastle
“Douglas Haley was grew up in Springwood Presbyterian Church in the years immediately following the formation of the Uniting Church. His elder through those formative years was a wonderful godly woman named Pauline Parkinson. One of his fonder early memories was meeting her at the front gate once a quarter to receive the communion card and have a chat about how life as a 6 year old was progressing.
“He spent his schooling years playing sport, chasing girls, ignoring God, and discovering the ultimate emptiness of the above pursuits. After commencing his studies in Law he was convicted of his wayward life and came back to Jesus as the only truth in his otherwise relative world.
“He finished his studies in law and worked in various fields before heading to bible college planning to be a missionary. He was convinced at the time that his being a missionary in the area he had planned could only be helped by his having some pastoral experience. Consequently one day he woke up with three kids and a wife and people were calling him ‘reverend’ when all he felt was ‘tired’. Somewhere in there he got to love the bible as the standard of truth for all of life and has been trying to work out what it has to say ever since.
“My views on the women in ministry issue grow out of that mixed background. I have known female leadership as care in a world of apathy. I have known the bible as the absolute mark in a relative world, and I have known congregations varied and beautiful in their brokenness. I write as one in love with his people, and his Lord, and I hope you find it edifying.”
John McClean – Lecturer, Presbyterian Theological Centre (Sydney)
“John has worked in pastoral ministry and theological education for over 20 years. He teaches theology, ethics and philosophy at the Presbyterian Theological Centre. He is married to Elizabeth and they have two children Michael (14) and Brianna (11). The McClean’s enjoy camping and have just spent 5 weeks this year exploring the far north of Queensland. John also enjoys mountain biking, good coffee, nice food and reading. At present he is working hard to complete his PhD on the thought of Wolfhart Pannenberg, a contemporary German theologian.”
Cheryl Schatz – MM Outreach
“Cheryl Schatz is in full time ministry helping those in the cults come to faith in Christ. Her ministry also involves unravelling some of the aberrant teachings that have come into the church. Cheryl is one of the directors of MM Outreach, a US charitable organization, and she is the author of a 4 DVD set on women in ministry called “Women in Ministry – Silenced or Set Free?” She has also authored 2 of the 3 sections in the DVD set on the Trinity called “The Trinity – Eternity Past to Eternity Future” which deals with the issue of the subordination of the Son. She has been actively involved in correcting a popular teaching among complementarians called the Eternal Subordination of the Son. This view (ESS for short) attempts to prove the subordination of women by presenting an eternal subordination of the Son. Cheryl is currently working on her first book dealing with the hard passages of scripture on women in ministry and she is hopeful that this project will be completed in early 2010.
“Cheryl will be presenting an argument for the full freedom of women to serve in the body of Christ without restriction. Regarding the “roles” in the home, Cheryl’s position is that there are no “roles” assigned to men in the home that restricts women’s participation. She believes that God meant marriage to be a one flesh union and that this precludes any of the partners from claiming the position of ruler over the other.
“Cheryl uses the passages that are strongholds of the complementarian movement to prove that Paul’s writing was not a universal prohibition against godly Christian women teaching correct biblical doctrine to men. Cheryl teaches that one cannot properly understand 1 Timothy 2:12 without considering Paul’s full argument that ends in verse 15. Cheryl will focus her presentation on 1 Timothy 2:11-15.”
