Читать книгу Becoming His Story - Mary-Elsie Wolfe - Страница 9

Chapter 1

My Story

As a fairly new believer I would say, “I just want to follow Jesus.” One morning while jogging, I reflected aloud to a friend on an upcoming course paper that I was assigned. As each step carried the weight of my stride, I verbally scrolled through my options of possible topics, pausing when I got to the role of women in the Gospel of John. My friend interjected, “I think that’s what you should do!”

I reflected on this. I sensed that my life had and would continue to have calls of leadership, but for whatever reason, I resisted. It would have been irresponsible of me not to acknowledge that I was “surrounded by…a cloud of witnesses” who could give me insight via my research into the subject (Heb. 12:1 NRSV).

Until that point, I had no need to research the topic. I was raised Roman Catholic, where the ordination of women certainly wasn’t an option. In addition, I was influenced by conservative Protestant teaching. I even recall my reaction when, at a cross-denominational Bible study in downtown Ottawa, I met a woman who announced that she had just quit her job and enrolled in seminary in Toronto. The voice in my head said, Why would a woman go to seminary?

A few weeks after this encounter, my employer announced a restructuring of its Ottawa office. It seemed like a perfect moment to seize; within weeks, I too was on my way to Tyndale Seminary (then Ontario Theological Seminary).

Well into earning my degree, I remained content to study about God, his relationship with his world and his plan for keeping relationship with us. Here I was in seminary, seeking to delve into God’s Word as it pertained to me and my relationship with God and yet disregarding my gender—even at the same time as the issue of gender was sometimes a hot issue in the church and at seminary. By God’s very gentle prodding, I realized I needed to look honestly at how Jesus interacted with women. I did so, on my knees, with tears of humility, before the God I follow. Thus began an intentional review of women in the Gospel of John, leading me to deepen my journey to Becoming His Story.