by Kelly Pelton (written 28 Nov 2020)

If you tolerate second-class treatment
in the name of submission, my sisters,
you are agreeing that God is partial;
you're complicit instead of resist-ers

who hold out a non-gender-based ideal
of healthy love, of mutual respect.
You do no one in the church a favor
by being hesitant or circumspect.

The timid hold back for fear they are wrong
and thus deserving of the punitive;
I've been there, intimidated by men
who think abuse is their prerogative.

Once you reject the punitive powers
and embrace God's opinion of your worth,
you'll gain a Spirit-inspired dignity:
"female" is not a misfortune of birth.

The daughters of God can articulate
what's fair and loving in relationship;
male and female is not a hierarchy
but a divinely ordained partnership.

Let's keep pushing prayerfully for equal
treatment, daughters of the one holy King,
fearless of inevitable pushback,
sheltered by the Fortress to which we cling.

by Kelly Pelton (written 21 Nov 2020)

Tonight was a great feeling of non-belonging
at a church of my childhood denomination;
only later could I appreciate the peace
I had at this wedding, a festive occasion.

The absence of self-doubt, defensiveness, tension
went unnoticed as my inner preference declared,
"I belong with the secure men, not that ones who're
threatened by Spirit-led women who have now dared

to follow their calling in to the ministry
of preaching and teaching the Lord's holy scripture,
enlightening their congregations on Christ's love
that molds His people in to a Jesus-picture."

I felt no scorn or condescension, no sadness,
no anger, no caustic sarcasm, no dismay,
but only acceptance and maybe compassion
for men not yet healed, who must engage in role play.

They're on their own timetable in God's healing plan,
as are we all, and ultimately we belong 
in His body, the unseen kingdom, citizens
not of this world. To disown my brothers is wrong,

though they limit my freedom out of their own fear;
they are still my brothers, less trustworthy than some
who cheer their sisters on in the work of the Lord
and know that through both genders His kingdom will come.

I don't belong in churches of gender bias
but I won't be long in this temporary state
of existence; none of us will be long, really,
getting to where we belong, where we no longer wait.

by Kelly Pelton (written 17 Nov 2020)

Subordination of women, they say,
is one of those things we must just accept
when God's ways don't seem logical or fair;
never mind that their misplaced faith has leapt

over Junia (female apostle)
and the deacon Phoebe, countless others
of Paul's trustworthy female co-workers
ministering alongside their brothers.

The dash to defend church gender bias
has trampled our need for full expression
of Holy Spirit gifts during worship;
we instead have female voice suppression.

The conclusion that pastors must be men
jumps over true interdependency,
loving mutuality, and justice
to land on gender partiality.

If there's a leap of faith to be made here,
let's use the springboard of Jesus' mercy,
soaring toward an unprecedented
era of equal camaraderie. 

by Kelly Pelton (written 30 Oct 2020)

If people could be convinced by logic,
they'd know by now that subordination
of women in the church is not God's plan
in growing the unseen kingdom nation;

it's inherently disrespectful, this
practice of keeping their voices muted,
treating them poorly based on their gender.
The interpretation is polluted

which juxtaposes Greek philosophers's
biases against women with scripture,
promoting permanent prohibitions
which lead to a distorted God-picture.

Subordination's inherent wrongness
cannot be argued; the gentle dawning
of truth in hearts indwelt by the Spirit
dispels the shadows beneath pride's awning.

by Kelly Pelton (written 21 Oct 2020)

If you form a doctrine from one particular
Bible verse (or a few of them) but you neglect
to read them by the light of guiding principles
throughout scripture which even a child could detect,

you'll find yourself defending unjust practices,
dismissing the Christians who disagree with you,
impugning their character, doubting their motives,
your proud hypocrisy on display in plain view.

Let the prayerful people interpret the Bible,
women and men who spend time with the Dearest One
whose Spirit gives them understanding of His words
so His loving, compassionate will may be done.

A godly belief never leads one to behave
in a disparaging way toward a Christian;
contentious debates about doctrinal disputes
are not the way we fulfill the Great Commission.

Listen to the godly people whose compassion
and respect are anathema to the scholar
who only knows the Bible and not its Author
whose goodness towers above His book infinitely taller.

by Kelly Pelton (written 10 Oct 2020)

He said, "Women just want to take over"
more times than I can enumerate,
as though men haven't controlled the world stage
for all of human history to date:

controlled, not shared, the power in the world,
and sadly, Christians have followed suit
in my lifetime, and much of church history,
rendering Jesus' teachings almost moot

that greatness is made in the serving
and not in the scrambling to be the first.
Our peace comes from trusting God's sovereignty,
not gaining the power for which we thirst.

Why don't we focus on edifying
the body of Christ with all of our gifts,
giving control to the Holy Spirit 
who through each believer the church uplifts?

by Kelly Pelton (written 13 Oct 2020)

Meekness does not accept abuse because of fear
we might deserve it, or uncertainty within;
it stands its ground against the punitive tactics,
calling out the disdainful people on their sin.

Why do we fear the revilers or the scornful?
Ask this question, women, as you lay low, tiptoe,
dodge the scorn of the church misogynists lest their
feathers get ruffled and they descend to the low

practice of trying to humiliate women,
who can't be humiliated without consent,
unless fearing we're deserving of poor treatment,
as though flawed, mistaken, worthy of their contempt.

Look deeply in your past, women who once were girls,
at how you endured emotional punishments,
not knowing that derision is never deserved,
accepting without question the hostile judgments.

Meekness refuses to abuse our abusers
but it still speaks out against punitive powers,
certain of one's stand in the midst of disrespect,
remembering Jesus in His final hours,

who suffered for the sins of our punitive souls,
knowing His identity and our ignorance;
He showed us the way of giving up one's control
to trust the Messiah, God's great benevolence.

by Kelly Pelton (written 11 Oct 2020)

In the wake of feminism,
Christian men coined a new term called 
"complementarianism,"
a reactionary stance walled

off from thoughtful analysis
of New Testament scriptural
glimpses of co-ed emphasis
in a kingdom supernatural.

I've listened for forty-plus years
to men in their speculation
on why "God says" only male peers
can shepherd the Christian nation,

as if scripture were cut and dry
(as at first glance one seems to be):
the church should its women deny
the leadership of God's family.

"Why would He do such a thing?" they
ask with faces of wonderment,
"His way is higher than our way,"
as though God defies sound judgment.

"It could be a deficiency,"
they offer, "Women tend to cave
because they think emotionally
on issues spiritually grave.

God equipped them for different roles,
not teaching or leading the church;
most likely their vulnerable souls
would be misled. Let us then search

for godly men whose grasp of truth
is not obscured by their feelings;
compared with men, women are youth
requiring our patient dealings."

Believe me, sisters, that these thoughts
are circulating even now,
based upon traditional "oughts,"
which to gender hierarchy bow.

The idols behind such charades
are power and control, such old
venerated concepts with shades
of Satan's finest worldly gold.

by Kelly Pelton (written 06 Oct 2020)

What's needed for gender reconciliation
is for women and men
to be able to articulate to themselves 
what happened to them.

The wounds they suffered from the opposite sex
while still small and helpless
can be subtle omissions, emotionally complex,
hard to pin down, unless

a vocabulary of healing is provided:
words, phrases, concepts
to prayerfully consider. Internal dialogue
precisely expressed

gives God material to challenge our thinking
and illuminate
the faulty perceptions and painful conclusions
we secretly hate.

Our early life decisions become prisons
until we give the key
to Him who tenderly opens that narrow gate
to set us free.

by Kelly Pelton (written 04 Oct 2020)

Not one of us resembles God closely
although we're made in His image somehow;
our loving Creator who lovingly 
heals and molds our souls, before Him we bow.

It's tragic to misrepresent the Lord
while claiming to represent Him, pastors:
preaching favored spiritual status of men
with women treating men as their masters.

With God there is no partiality,
the Bible repeats again and again;
how many years must elapse before you
recognize gender hierarchy as sin?

God speed the day we figure out how to
include sisters in the clergy, leading 
congregations as representation
of our Lord whose sheep they're humbly feeding.