Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr

Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr

I grew up in the evangelical world. My Southern Baptist church was full of love and laughter. It was where I met Jesus and learned to read my Bible. Those things are true. Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. What is also true is that the beautiful ocean of my evangelical world had undercurrents. They were gentle, at first, but hard to resist.

Artistic rendering of a shattered statue of Edward I installed at Caernarfon Castle. “Where is Edward? You are made of lead, The man who made the castle so brilliantly. Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s post is by someone dear to me both personally and professionally. Lynneth Miller Renberg completed her PhD with me in 2018; she was the first PhD student I had the privilege of advising. She is a brilliant scholar and beautiful person, as well as the author/editor of two published academic books and one forthcoming (with another soon to follow).

Watching fireworks on the banks of the Brazos in Waco several years ago with family and friends. I have mixed feelings about celebrating the Fourth of July. I hate how my country is treating our neighbors (immigrants to the U.S. as well as fellow Americans to both the north and south). Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I am going to start with something not Southern Baptist. So just hang on. Last year I read Ian Forrest’s Gender and Authority in the Late Medieval Church. It helped me sort out a tension I face between the reality of male dominance in church leadership and the reality of women’s recognized leadership & authority in church history. Marginalia with Beth Allison Barr is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

From my research trip last week inside the SBC headquarters in Nashville. *this post blends some abridged & summarized text (in block posts) from Becoming the Pastor’s Wife with new material to help you better understand why SBC pastors’ wives were so critical to the success of the SBC’s quest to institute a male-only clergy. *Trigger alert: I include a letter written to Dorothy Patterson that may be triggering for women who have lived in controlling relationships.

Let's start my feminism series by looking at how the most influential Protestant denomination in US has portrayed it I’ve been thinking about this post for almost a year. Last spring, a woman sent me a podcast episode title, “A Pastor’s Wife Role in Ministry,” at the Pastor Well podcast with Hershel York. York is a self-described pastor-scholar and Dean of the School of Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

If you aren't sure, if the word makes you uncomfortable or afraid, this post is for you. This is me, a feminist. This is the year I got tenure at Baylor University. I had a 3 year-old and a 9 year-old and spent most of my weekends (and Wednesday nights) doing youth ministry with my husband. I made my daughter a sandwich this morning. Like my husband and son, she prefers a toasted sandwich.

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