(Women in Scripture and Christian History) The Free Methodist Church and the Silencing of Women with Dr. Christy Mesaros-Winckles

In this episode of Mutuality Matters, Christy Mesaros-Winckles traces women’s ordination and leadership in the Free Methodist Church. Highlighting three women evangelists, and a key ally in their efforts to attain ordination, Mesaros-Winckles traces shift of the Free Methodist Church from very inclusive to exclusive. Mesaros-Winckles speaks to the power of the messages people absorbed as society shifted, specifically in the context of a strong anti-suffragist movement. These messages slowed the egalitarian movement, silencing women and ordination until 1974.  

   

Bio  

Dr. Christy Mesaros-Winckles is an associate professor in the Communication Arts & Sciences Department at Adrian College. She has a doctorate degree in Communication Studies from Bowling Green State University and is a two-time graduate of Spring Arbor University, where she completed both her Bachelor of Arts in communication and her Master of Arts in communication studies/professional writing. The author of several academic book chapters and peer-reviewed research articles, she strives to make her research accessible to a wider audience through her blog Free Methodist Feminist.  

 

Resources Referenced 

Silenced: The Forgotten Story of Progressive Era Free Methodist Women by Christy Mesaros-Winckles

Ordaining Women (1893) by Benjamin Titus Roberts

Book Review by Kimberly Dickson: "Silenced: The Forgotten Story of Progressive Era Free Methodist Women," Priscilla Papers, Summer 2024. 

 

Related Resources from CBE 
Video: Silence, Women, and the Church with Aida Besancon Spencer (Spanish)  
Book Review: Voices Long Silenced: Women Biblical Interpreters through the Centuries Complicity and Silence: How Lament Could Lead Us Toward a Better Place 
 

 

Disclaimer  

The opinions expressed in CBE’s Mutuality Matters’ podcast are those of its hosts or guests and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of CBE International or its members or chapters worldwide. The designations employed in this podcast and the presentation of content therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of CBE concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.