The Junia Project

A Community Advocating for Women's Equality in the Church

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About Gail Wallace

is a co-founder of The Junia Project and the Associate Pastor at Foothill Free Methodist Church in Azusa. A former MK from Japan, she lives in southern California with her husband of 42 years, and enjoys spending time with her family, especially her five grandkids! She holds a B.S.N. and M.A. from Azusa Pacific University and a Ph.D. from Walden University. The focus of her graduate studies included Christian education, adult development and learning, women’s development, and spiritual formation. Gail also holds a Certificate in Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Did Jesus Really Spend Most of His Time with Just 12 Men?

March 28, 2018 by Gail Wallace 24 Comments

Did Jesus Really Spend Most of His Time with Just 12 Men?

An argument often used to restrict women from church leadership is that Jesus spent most of his time on earth investing in a group of 12 men. [1] But a close reading of the gospels shows that his band of followers also included women disciples. I’ll leave the reader to their own survey but offer […]

Filed Under: sexism in the church, women in the bible Tagged With: women disciples

BEST OF 2017: OUR TOP TEN POSTS

January 2, 2018 by Gail Wallace

BEST OF 2017: OUR TOP TEN POSTS

THANK YOU to all of you for supporting us in year four of blogging at The Junia Project.  We are delighted to have four new authors in the Top Ten posts written in 2017.

Despite commitments that limited our time to write (Kate started seminary and did a ton of speaking and we both stepped into Associate Pastor positions at our respective churches), the blog content kept coming in.  Here are the top ten:

Filed Under: General, women in the church

The Women Who Stood Near the Cross

April 14, 2017 by Gail Wallace

The Women Who Stood Near the Cross

“Some women were watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, these women had followed and supported him, along with many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him.” (Mark 15:40-41) We know from all four gospel writers that a […]

Filed Under: Easter, Jesus and women, women in the bible, women in the New Testament

Weekend Links: April 8, 2017 Edition

April 8, 2017 by Gail Wallace

Weekend Links: April 8, 2017 Edition

It has been another interesting couple of weeks out there in cyberspace so we’ve put together another links post for your weekend reading. Here are the things that caught our attention. Easter is almost here! Who Were the Women at the Foot of the Cross? Gail Wallace We were pleased to have this Lenten reflection […]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: Billy Graham rule, easter, weekend links

Resources for Women Preachers

March 14, 2017 by Gail Wallace

Resources for Women Preachers

In this process of learning to preach it has been important to me to hear what other women preachers have to say. I’m sure that at some point I will read some more traditional books on the subject, but right now I’m hungry to hear the experiences of women. Here are some resources that have been helpful on the journey.

Filed Under: leadership, preaching, Resources, women in the church Tagged With: preaching, women preachers

Weekend Links: March 4, 2017 Edition

March 4, 2017 by Gail Wallace

Weekend Links: March 4, 2017 Edition

Have you noticed that the internet has been flooded with voices supporting the egalitarian perspective lately? We have! It is remarkable to see the tide changing. We wanted give you a second chance to explore these resources in case you missed them this week. So grab a cuppa and settle in for some great reading. PODCASTS […]

Filed Under: General, Resources Tagged With: news, weekend links, women's history month

Male-Female: Equality in the Gospel of Luke

January 14, 2017 by Gail Wallace

Male-Female: Equality in the Gospel of Luke

When we view scripture from the 30,000 foot level we see it moving in the direction of a more equal partnership of men and women, defying the convention of the times. The male-female pairings in the book of Luke are one intriguing example of this movement. In today’s post Gail takes readers on a quick trip through Luke pointing out male-female pairs in the narratives, the parables, the miracles, and Jesus’ public teaching. It is an intriguing look at how Jesus elevated the status of women.

Filed Under: Spanish Translation, women in the bible, women in the New Testament Tagged With: Luke, male-female pairings, male-female pairs, parallelism, parallels

Best of 2016: This Year’s Top Ten Posts

December 29, 2016 by Gail Wallace

Best of 2016: This Year’s Top Ten Posts

It’s time for our annual Top Ten list. And what a year it has been! In 2016 more than 236,000 people visited The Junia Project website – and we had over 916,000 page views*. We are delighted that the #1 spot went to Cheryl Bridges Johns (Professor of Spiritual Formation and Christian Formation at the Pentecostal Theological […]

Filed Under: General Tagged With: 2016, top ten posts

Manhood & Masculinity: 3 Great Studies for Groups

November 4, 2016 by Gail Wallace

Manhood & Masculinity: 3 Great Studies for Groups

“I’m looking for book recommendations that are egalitarian friendly and address the subjects of manhood and masculinity. I can’t find anything and our men’s ministry leaders are asking me. Please help!! Thank you!!” B.
An interesting thing happened on the way to writing this post. Since I am not a man, I asked eight men for book suggestions and got back ZERO recommendations. Not because they don’t care about the topic, but because 1) they were not aware of any resources on this, or 2) because there has not been much interest in studying “biblical manhood” in their circles. ALL of them told me they were very interested in anything we could find! It is encouraging that manhood and masculinity are not “hot topics” in church circles that support the shared leadership of men and women in ministry and socials contexts. But there is still a need to provide resources for churches that push back against the harmful “authentic manhood” rhetoric that is popular in some Christian circles today. Here are three books that would work well for individual or group study and are written from an egalitarian perspective.

Filed Under: bible teaching resource, Book Reviews, egalitarianism, Gender Roles, marriage and family, masculinity Tagged With: 33 The Series, authentic manhood, Carolyn Custis James, Gareth Brandt, Malestrom, Man Enough, Nate Pyle, Under Construction

#SHELeads: Everything You Need to Know

October 15, 2016 by Gail Wallace

#SHELeads: Everything You Need to Know

#SHELeads is coming on October 29th! This is a one day summit convened by Missio Alliance for women who lead in church and ministry contexts. But it’s not just for women – it’s also for men who long to see the mission of God advanced through the “the Blessed Alliance”; the co-laboring of men and women […]

Filed Under: Events, General, women in leadership, women in the church Tagged With: #SheLeads, events, Missio Alliance

10 Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Pastors

September 21, 2016 by Gail Wallace

10 Reasons Why Men Should Not Be Pastors

“A man’s place is in the army.”

So starts David M. Scholer’s satirical list of reasons why men shouldn’t be pastors. Most of you have probably seen the list before; it’s been around a number of years. We’re sharing it as a reminder that humor can be very helpful when discussing a hot button issue like women in ministry. (And to do our part to keep this great piece in circulation!).

Keep in mind that Scholer’s purpose here is NOT to put men down, but to use satire to show that many arguments used to restrict women from pastoral roles are rooted in cultural expectations and gender norms. And so without further ado:

10. A man’s place is in the army.

9. For men who have children, their duties might distract them from the responsibilities of being a parent.

8. Their physical build indicates that men are more suited to tasks such as chopping down trees and wrestling mountain lions. It would be “unnatural” for them to do other forms of work.

Filed Under: General, inspiration Tagged With: David Scholer, humor

5 Reasons You Don’t Want to Miss #SheLeads

September 16, 2016 by Gail Wallace

5 Reasons You Don’t Want to Miss #SheLeads

On Saturday, October 29, 2016, the #SheLeads Summit will be convened by MissioAlliance. On that day, women and men will gather from coast to coast at regional sites, in churches, and in homes across the United States to talk about the unique challenges that women who lead in church and ministry contexts face and to advance a vision of shared leadership between men and women. The Junia Project is proud to be a sponsor of this event and hope you can join us, either in Pasadena or at a regional venue in your area. Mainstage speakers include Carolyn Custis James and Jo Saxton, and local venues will be adding their own flavor to the mix. Here are five reasons we think you won’t want to miss this event.

Filed Under: Events, General, women in leadership, women in the church, women pastors Tagged With: #SheLeads, Carolyn Custis James, David Fitch, Jo Anne Lyon, Jo Saxton, she leads

Stumbling Over Women: Reflections on 3 Years of Blogging

August 23, 2016 by Gail Wallace

Stumbling Over Women: Reflections on 3 Years of Blogging

On a recent tour of Germany I came across the Stolpersteine Project. Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) are small brass-plated blocks or stones embedded into the streets to commemorate victims of Nazi oppression. Each stone is made and laid by hand. They are usually placed just outside the place where the person named on the stone was forcibly taken from their home or business. Each stone begins with HERE LIVED…… One stone. One name. One person. The idea came about while German artist Gunter Demnig was painting a white line through the city of Cologne to commemorate the historical deportation of 1000 gypsies. The line would show where they had been chased to the train station. One day an older woman stopped to scold him, insisting that there had never been any gypsies in Cologne. Shocked, he investigated and found evidence that in the 1930s thousands of gypsies, as well as Jews, had lived side by side with Germans. To combat the human tendency to forget, he designed the first stones. To date, over 48,000 stones have been laid in more than 20 countries. In a sense, The Junia Project is very much like the Stolpersteine Project.

Filed Under: church history, inspiration, women in the church Tagged With: Argula von Stauff, Demnig, Emilie Schindler, Katie Luther, Stolpensteine, stumbling stones

Snapshot of a Traditional Egalitarian Marriage

July 16, 2016 by Gail Wallace

Snapshot of a Traditional Egalitarian Marriage

  Today would have been my parent’s 61st wedding anniversary. Mom passed away from complications due to Alzheimer’s two years ago and significant dates always trigger reflection on her life and her marriage to the wonderful man who is my dad. Today that reflection centered on the fact that while their marriage was traditional in […]

Filed Under: marriage and family, relationships Tagged With: Alzheimer's, Japan

6 Great Studies on Women of the Bible: 2016 Edition

June 28, 2016 by Gail Wallace

6 Great Studies on Women of the Bible: 2016 Edition

We often get requests for curriculum that supports the egalitarian view of women as full and equal partners in marriage and ministry. So last year we published 6 Great Studies on Women of the Bible (2015), a post that has become one of our most visited resources. Bible studies on the list met four criteria: a focus on […]

Filed Under: bible teaching resource, Book Reviews, General, women in the bible Tagged With: bible studies, bible study, bible women, named, the day I met jesus, unexpected love, women of the gospels, women of the torah

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