Tony Jones at http://www.patheos.com called for a schism. I then contacted Tony and he printed my suggestions to bring about equality for women. Read it here.
Tony’s original post: It is time for a schism regarding women in the church.
Please read this and pass it on. Post a link on your website, on your facebook page, tweet it, whatever you need to do.
Will you join us?
bWe Baptist Women for Equality's Blog 
Sorry, no. I can’t support this. I don’t think the time for dialogue is over yet. And there are a lot of things that can be done in many complementarian churches short of schism. How about egalitarians in such a church uniting and choosing one Sunday to give a show of absence? We haven’t done nearly enough to resolve this short of schism.
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There are bound to be a lot of feelings about this. But the problem is that we cannot dialogue with anybody. Nobody will talk with us. We are just talking to ourselves. It is a one-way dialogue. In addition, we did not create the schism. They have already separated from us. We are like the bad relatives who refuse to go home. We are sticking in there, but we are not welcome. Thanks for expressing your opinion.
> Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 02:29:02 +0000 > To: bwebaptist.women@live.com >
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I see your point, Shirley– but my church is very soft complementarian, and they have not separated from me. They know I’m egalitarian and fully accept me anyway. And they are listening. Not convinced yet, but listening.
I would not stay in a church that treated me as unwelcome because I’m egalitarian.
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I find that this article reflects my feelings very well: http://www.zhoag.com/2013/11/26/yay-schism/
To become the gatekeepers of True Christianity (TM) who draw a line in the sand over a non-essential doctrine and shut everyone else out who disagrees– this is to become the very thing we’re trying to combat. There are already multiple groups of complementarians who are quite willing to say I’m a heretic simply because I believe women should be fully equal– even though we worship the same Christ.
I won’t become like them.
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Kristin, you have been a reader and supporter of my blog for a very long time and I hope that you continue. You know that I believe that the church is in sin when they deny women full equality. They allow partial equality, but that is an oxymoron. No such thing. I have long called for Reformation. I still call for Reformation. In my view (which is narrow, I admit), there is no other doctrine or practice as important as this one. Once our eyes have been opened, there is no going back. But this doesn’t surprise you that this is how I feel. I have made no secret of that. My book calls for pastors to repent of this sin. Thank you for sending that to me. There will be many who agree, and it is good to read another viewpoint or passion. > Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 00:18:19 +0000> To: bwebaptist.women@live.com >
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Shirley, I would never break fellowship with you over a difference of opinion like this one. You are a crusader for justice, and I believe your zeal is from the Lord. Kudos and applause!
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Thank you. As I have said before, we are in this together, bringing our callings and our gifts. That means a lot to me.
> Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 18:43:44 +0000 > To: bwebaptist.women@live.com >
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I agree with you Shirley. Paul is very clear that what he writes in 1 Corinthians 14:1-33 is the Lord’s commandment. (1 Corinthians 14:37) And if anyone does not recognize this, he is not to be recognized. (1 Corinthians 14:38)
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I would like to say that we are all one in Christ, there exists no longer the walls of division that enslaved us for so long, neither male nor female, slave nor free, Jew nor Gentile. The men who stand against women preaching and teaching are promoting division by gender which is going back to the former things we were saved out of. This needs to be rebuked gently and with wisdom, understanding that all of us have at one time or another held to false doctrines. Only as and how the Spirit leads can we walk away from those who refuse to listen to the Spirit. Even Jesus refused to bring down destruction upon those who rejected him. John and James wanted him to rain down fire from heaven upon those who rejected him and he told them he came to save not to destroy. We need to show patience and love to those whom we would require to do the same.
Paul makes it clear that we are to separate ourselves from those who encourage division. (1 Corinthians 1:10-13, Romans 16:17,18 Titus 3:9-11). Yet this separation is not to happen in the body of Christ. We separate from those who do not preach the gospel, Paul identifies them as not having the Spirit. I have read some of Tony’s blog and it occurs to me that he enjoys being controversial. His blog topics read like a tabloid newspaper….”Death to Homeschooling”…..”Is it time for Christians to celebrate pre-marital sex?”. I don’t believe he is walking in the Spirit here because the very nature of his language is promoting division and controversy. If you read the comments on his blog, there is a great deal of meaningless and foolish debate, a lot of which isn’t even on the topic of the post. This is something to note. He is pursuing readership and fame (or infamy) at the expense of genuine love for the body of Christ. I don’t believe his call for ‘schism’ is a work of the Spirit.
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Thank you for a well-thought out response to what Tony Jones wrote on Patheos when he called for a schism between those who want female equality and those who are adamant against it. I know many people think the way you do. But the way I see it, it is encouraging churches in sin. When we know to do right and we don’t do it, I believe that the continuation becomes a sin. I will compare it to the defense of slavery. England had already reached the understanding that slavery was evil and that it was a sin to own people, even though scriptures seemed to allow slavery. But Americans were much slower to give up their practice of owning slaves, and continued to use those scriptures to justify slavery. Today we understand that it is sin to hold a person captive against their will, or to own them. I call for Reformation. In fact you will see that in my book Dethroning Male Headship and in my book direct to Kindle in February, called Women Equal-No Buts. Powered by the same Source. I push for Reformation, and will not be content until Reformation comes. I hope you will use your voice and join me. I am a woman and while waiting for female equality might be easy for a man, it is different story when it comes to women. We have been abused while waiting for equality. We will continually be abused and rejected as being fully human until Reformation comes. Will you help us?
> Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 21:04:12 +0000 > To: bwebaptist.women@live.com >
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