The Bible was sometimes described as the Sword of the Lord; there was, in fact, a newspaper of that name. An organization at my college was known as Swordbearers. We did not, I am thankful to say, brandish our Bibles threateningly. We were small groups of Sunday School teachers and musicians, available to churches local and not. We were ambassadors and advertisements, not only for Jesus, but also for our college. We were bright and shiny with matching outfits and, above all, happy. Swords, as we called ourselves, had team leaders who wrangled us to music rehearsals. We sang some of our pieces to recorded music, but we had to be careful about that—and other things. In the early 1970s, some churches were so conservative that we were not allowed to hold microphones. We could use them on mike stands, but we couldn’t pick them up or walk around the stage with them, as some singers did. I cannot explain this, but you surely can see the sexual innuendo in holding a microphone. We did not want to offend. This was a Scriptural command. Don’t offend your brother. Abstain from every appearance of evil. We erred on the side of being too kind; it was not our job to enlighten the churches we served. Sword teams also went on tour during spring break. I spent one March break in Michigan, where we got snowed in, spending several days in Battle Creek. We had to cancel some of the churches on our itinerary. I have never been very good with young children, but I love teaching teens and adults. Our team was divided into areas of ministry; I was paired with our leader, Nathan, to teach adults. I have no memory of the content—perhaps ncouragement?—but I mentioned the way we put Scripture verses in intracampus mail, or tucked them into a friend’s pocket or purse. After that session, a man came up to me and handed me a folded piece of paper. I smiled, thinking he was handing me some encouragement, and he moved on. “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority,” the note read. The verse was from I Timothy, Paul’s repudiation of the gifts of half the human race. (Years later I learned that the book’s authorship was in dispute, and also learned something about historical context.) We held a team meeting. Clearly, I was to be the sacrificial lamb; we could not risk offending other men in other churches. These men had the potential power to dissuade young people from attending our college; they might have sat on the church’s deacon board and cut off funding. No group might ever be invited back. We couldn’t take the risk. For the rest of the tour, I was consigned to the children, a foretaste of what my life in ministry would become.
1 Comment
Denise Wells
3/5/2023 11:11:10 pm
So glad you figured out that you should go elsewhere!
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Baptist GirlI was a conservative Baptist girl who grew up to become a career Christian, working first in a Baptist school and then in a Baptist college. For about three decades, it was very good until it wasn’t, and I had to leave. But the Baptists formed me. This is my homage to the good times and good people of the world I left, finally, at forty-three, when I became an Episcopalian. These are my memories; others might disagree with my recollections. So be it. Archives
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