Equality Junction

Report from the Street Evangelist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reports from the street evangelist can be read at bWe Baptist Women for Equality

 

 

 

Report from the street evangelist. The toilet at the church where I work was leaking again, so I called the plumber. In the 9 years I have been there, Nick the plumber has been called many times. This time as he was squatting down by my desk writing out the charges, I said, "Nick, are you married?" Now, I am probably 25 years older than Nick, but he was still surprised. He said he was. I told him I had a book I would like to give his wife. I reached behind me and got "Women Equal - No Buts" and handed it to him. He thumbed through it, and looked and looked at many pages. I wasn't sure what he was about to do. He said, "My wife loves to read. I just took home a box of books for her yesterday." I said, "What is her name?" Let me sign it to her. He walked out with the book in his hand.

 

Report from the street evangelist. Now I am worried. I just received a response from the Franklin Graham Samaritan's Purse Chaplain. I had written to Mr Graham about my concern that he might be teaching male headship in his Alaskan retreats for soldiers and spouses. The letter is from the chaplain and I knew by the first sentence that he is male headship and certainly was confirmed by the last sentence "Men especially need to have 'bands of brothers' in Christ, where they are encouraged to be healthier and stronger men in every facet of their lives, especially in their marriages." My problem with this is that they have just come from a war in male headship countries where they have helped little girls go to school and women go to work. Now they are told they themselves are to be 'heads' of their families. And the female soldiers are told that they are to submit to their husbands much like those women had to. Then I checked this chaplain out and he is Presbyterian PCA which does not allow women to be pastors or deacons and of course, men are the heads of women. What do I do?

 

Report from the street evangelist. Got a turn down from Dr Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I had written him asking for a few minutes to sit and talk with him. His reply letter: "Thank you for your letter of April 17 along with the book "Dethroning Male Headship." In a sense, I am not fully certain why you wrote me. Obviously I am on the other side of this issue. You, of course, have every right to hold your position and to propound your position whenever and wherever you want. The issue in the final analysis is not really about gender, however. It is about the sacred Scriptures. Given the extensive misrepresentations of our own positions that I read in your book I do not think anything is served for us to sit down and talk. Especially is that true when all such discussions take away from the time we might spend leading men and women to faith in Jesus Christ. Thank you, however, for the communication and may God richly bless you in every way. Until He Comes, Paige Patterson."

 

Report from the street evangelist. Time for a haircut. As I have mentioned to several people, I go to different stylists to cut my hair. I have gotten some bad haircuts this way, but evangelizing in hair salons is an easy thing to do. They have to stand there and listen (maybe that is why I have bad haircuts?!), but in reality, I have found stylists to be interested in what I am saying. So yesterday we talked about gambling at Coushatta were she and her mother were going to right after work. Then she remembered that the last time I had seen her I had mentioned my book. "Yes, and I have brought one for you today." I signed it and gave it to her. It was raining and a slow day so I think she will thumb through it. If not, the title "Women Equal - No Buts" will be seen and who knows?

 

Report from the street evangelist.  Went to the dermatologist today. As I was going into the huge almost empty building, a young very pregnant woman came in with me and we rode the elevator to the doctor's office. She and I were the only two in the waiting area and I asked her when her baby was due. She said June 9. And that it is a little boy. She has one little boy already. I told her I had 2 sons. She said, "I'm going to be outnumbered." As a mother of boys, I knew exactly what she meant. Camping and Star Wars and such. When I was leaving, the waiting area was full of people, but as I went to get on the elevator, she was coming down the hall and I held the elevator for her. I said," You are going to be outnumbered with the boys! But I want you to remember that you are Equal - No Buts." I handed my street evangelist card to her.

 

Report from the street evangelist.  Overdue time for a mammography and bone density test. This is a one-on-one 30 minutes time with a woman technician, so I tucked a book Women Equal-No Buts into my purse. When we were finished, I told her that I wanted to give her a book I wrote. I pulled out my book and wrote “To Betty” and signed it. I told her that my background was Baptist. Sometimes you just know when to say that. Anyway, she said she was born Catholic but became Baptist and she and her husband attended a large Baptist church here for 14 years. They loved the music, but now attend a large non-denominational church. They still miss the music. I said, "My sister went there for many, many years and she loved the music, too. But then she realized that she could not stand for the pastor (who has been there 30+ years) to say anything more against women. So she left." Sounding surprised, Betty then said, "I guess he does." She had not put a finger on what the preacher was saying, but when it was brought to her attention, she saw it.

 

Report from the street evangelist. I have written three books, but the one I give away on the street is Women Equal-No Buts: Powered by the same Source. My other two books are Dethroning Male Headship and Outside the pastor’s door: Reflections of a church secretary. All three of my books are in our local library. Last week a woman found my Outside the pastor’s door: Reflections of a church secretary which also promotes women equality, and is a collection of columns that I have written for the church newsletter.

 

Dear Shirley,
I just picked up your book “Outside the pastor’s door” in the "new book" section of the library and am so enjoying it! I think it was another "God-incidence" as I have been asked to do a break-out session on good inspirational reads this weekend at our retreat for our church’s Women’s Retreat. I will definitely be including your book. Shirley, I feel like I know you from reading this book and would love meet you, maybe for lunch? I am a retired elementary school librarian, and love the Lord. Let me know if you are interested. Have a great, blessed day! Signed Martha (name changed).

 

Hi Martha,

I am so glad that you enjoyed the book "Outside the Pastor's Door." Several people told me that they really enjoyed it, but that it was not what they expected by the title. I always countered with "I can't reveal any church secrets because I don't want to lose my job or be sued!"

You can't imagine how pleased I am that you will be taking it to the Women's retreat. I hope they enjoy the book. If they are interested, I have some here at home that I sell for $7.50 each.

 

Another reason this is very important to me is that I am also a member of your church. My husband Don and I attend the 8:30 morning worship each Sunday. I would love to meet you and have lunch sometime. I still work as a church secretary but could meet for lunch one day.

 

Again, thank you so much.

 

Shirley Taylor
Street evangelist for women's equality
author of Women Equal - No Buts: Powered by the same Source.
author of Dethroning Male Headship.
author of Outside the Pastor's Door: Reflections of a church secretary.
www.bwebaptist.com

 

Shirley, I'm so sorry I did not know you were a member of OUR church. I knew your name sounded familiar but I couldn't think why! When I return from the retreat, I'll email you about lunch.  Now I really am excited about sharing your wonderful book -wow - one of our own has authored this book! Thanks for getting back to me! Have a blessed weekend. Signed: Martha
 

Report from the street evangelist. Went back to the auto dealer today to take care of business. Saw the young woman, Megan, who had explained our paperwork and was such a pleasure to work with. I had given her my Street Evangelist card when I left last week. A different young woman helped me today, but I saw Megan and she seemed glad to see me. When we finished, I told Megan that I had a book for her. She came to the counter and said, "For me? The whole book?" It is amazing how thrilled a person can be over a book! She was happy and said she was putting it in her personal things so nobody else would get it. I wish I had taken another book to give to Britney who helped me, but I just had one book. I did give her a card. One person at a time.

 

Report from the street evangelist. Bought a new car yesterday. Mine was 10 years old and it was time for safety reasons. The first salesman was named Allie, and she was very nice, but Mark called and said that Allie was going to be off Friday, so he would be the salesman. I called Allie to make sure this was ok with her. When I arrived, I found her manager and gave him my book Women Equal - No Buts with my card Shirley Taylor - Street Evangelist stapled to it. He promised he would give it to Allie. Does Allie want the book? I have no idea, but I am sure the title will interest her. Now I have to put new decals on this shiny car and a new bumper sticker. Because I am the street evangelist and now am driving around in a fancier car. (The regular people in town who see my car may wonder how much a street evangelist is paid!) The answer is Nothing!

 

Report from the street evangelist (and Equality Junction). As a co-founder of Equality Junction, I wrote a letter (with Jocelyn's agreement) to Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona in which we protested the use of pink jumpsuits which tell men they are 'girlie' or 'weak women.' The good sheriff responded with this: "Dear Shirley and Jocelyn, Thank you for sending me your letter and comments. I will give your concerns to my staff for their review."

 

Report from the street evangelist. Time to make new Wills since there have been changes in our family since we last made Wills. The following letter I sent to the attorney explains why women are still battling this sexist thing.

 

Dear Attorney,

Oh, my! Imagine my consternation when I opened the envelope your office sent to our home.

Mr. and Mrs. Don Taylor

My intention is that my husband and I would be purchasing two Wills at the price of $$$$ total, but it appears that we are purchasing only one Will. The draft Will and other end of life documents sent are for DonTaylor only.

I have been lost in this process.

 

This is exactly what I was leery of when I decided to choose an attorney for our Wills, so I found an attorney who I believed would be sensitive to the equality of women because of the Methodist connection.

 

For the past eight years I have been battling sexist teaching in churches because religious institutions such as churches, mosques, and temples are the last holdout against women being treated equally. Truthfully, I did not expect to see such blatant example of male headship in my legal dealings. Implied possibly, but not actually arriving at my door.

 

Now, I am sure that you did not mean anything about this. I am sure that you thought that since the Wills are the same that we could just proof one set. But they are not the same. One is supposed to have my name on it. And that, therein, is a significant difference.

 

Signed Shirley Taylor, Street evangelist for women's equality.

 

Report from the street evangelist in Ireland. Part 3. There was a couple from Abilene and this was their first trip abroad, so Don and I (being seasoned travelers) connected with them. I immediately surmised that they were Church of Christ members and that proved to be correct. At breakfast the next morning while Don was at the buffet, the husband was sitting beside me and said, “What does Don think about this?” Meaning, of course, my card that I had given them which declares to the world that I am a street preacher for Christian women’s equality. “He is the one who opened my eyes to how women are treated in church,” was my reply.

 

 What does Don think of this? Don is like many men who sees injustice toward women and is in the struggle to change it. Think of the tour driver who was happy to give my book to his wife.

 

Then there was Eddie, the Irish history storyteller. Eddie had finished his stories. Knowing how hard it is to sell a book, I wanted to buy one of his books. I picked up a book on an old railroad in Clare, and told him that I write books. He asked what I write about. Women’s equality in the church, I told him.  “There is no reason women can’t be equal in the church,” Eddie, the storyteller said. “By the time the church gets around to treating women equally, there may be no churches left for them to serve.”

 

What happens when the backbone of the church, the women, drop out of church. Like the leaders, the men, have already done? Will there be a church left?