In most job interviews, asking candidates’ wives if they will prioritize their husband’s career, contribute unpaid labor to the organization, and have children would be downright absurd, but for some evangelical churches, it’s the norm. Baylor University historian Beth Allison…
‘All the Buried Women’ podcast weaves a story of women and abuse in the SBC
Beth Allison Barr is well-known for her two bestselling books — The Making of Biblical Womanhood and Becoming the Pastor’s Wife — but now she’s added podcaster to her resume. Baylor University students know Barr as a history professor, but…
SBC’s attack on women as leaders is ‘historic,’ Beth Allison Barr says
The Southern Baptist Convention’s current attempt to put women in their place “is one of the harshest measures against women in ministry” in history, according to Baylor University history professor Beth Allison Barr. “If you follow church history, this is…
As SBC debates authority of women, WMU sets a standard in transparency
When the Southern Baptist Convention holds its annual meeting in Dallas in two weeks, the role of women in ministry will take center stage — again. An issue many thought was settled 25 years ago just won’t go away for…
Here’s what we’ve been talking about on ‘Highest Power’
It’s been one month since the launch of my new podcast with BNG, Highest Power: Church + State, which is currently ranking within the top 20% of all podcasts nationally. “I’m thrilled with the podcast and what you’re doing here,” BNG…
Politics, faith and mission: A conversation with Beth Allison Barr
Beth Allison Barr holds the James Vardaman Chair in History at Baylor University. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the new book Becoming the Pastor’s Wife: How Marriage Replaced Ordination as a Woman’s Path to Ministry and…
Of Elisabeth Elliot, Beth Allison Barr, Kristin Du Mez and Karen Swallow Prior and who gets a seat at the table
It seems no matter what table a Christian chooses to sit at these days, powerful men are determining who gets a seat, when they can talk and what stories they’re allowed to tell. This marginalization of voices on the underside…
Josh Butler isn’t done talking about God and sex yet
When The Gospel Coalition and The Keller Center scapegoated Josh Butler due to his article about sex and the church — an excerpt taken from his Beautiful Union book they previously hailed as “the Protestant magnum opus on sexual ethics we’ve been waiting for”…
Want to understand why the SBC expelled its largest church? Listen to W.A. Criswell
W.A. Criswell would be so proud of the Southern Baptist Convention this week. The man who once was the spokesman for why women should not — cannot — be pastors has reached peak influence 114 years after his birth. About…
Beth Allison Barr and Kristin Du Mez: The history of women, patriarchy, inequality and challenging conservative views
Historians, academics and authors Beth Allison Barr and Kristin Kobes Du Mez discussed the challenges and rewards of being Christian women in a male-oriented world and profession during a wide-ranging discussion at Baylor University Feb. 16. Barr, the James Vardaman…
Your words are not enough, Beth Allison Barr tells male SBC pastors on sexual abuse after Johnny Hunt’s ‘restoration’
Pastors guilty of sexual abuse never should be restored to ministry, Baylor University professor and author Beth Allison Barr wrote for a news service in the United Kingdom Dec. 9. The opinion piece published by Premier Christianity addresses the case…
Butler and Barr connect the dots between race and gender and patriarchy
“Race and gender and patriarchy always go together,” Beth Allison Barr said at the outset of a lively conversation with Anthea Butler during the Friends of BNG dinner June 30 in Dallas. Barr, a history professor at Baylor University and…