Feminist theology still has followers

From North Carolina-

About 30 women gathered this weekend to talk about Mother God,Lady Wisdom and other female images of God.

But what many of them shared, apart from an interest in exploring the feminine aspects of their Christian faith, was their age. The youngest was 41. The oldest wouldn't say.

Feminist theology is hardly mentioned in churches these days. At Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, there is still a cadre of women for whom the issue resonates. At Sunday's service, this group highlighted the forgotten women of the New Testament, and particularly the nine women praised by the Apostle Paul, including Junia, Phoebe and Priscilla.

"One of the frustrations I have with the church is that we don't talk to the younger women all that well," said Sheryl Scrimsher, 63, of Durham, a member of the church who attended seminary in the late 1960s, when feminist theology was beginning to challenge male dominance in the church. "We need to make more inroads that way."

Feminist theology peaked in 1980, said Reta Halteman Finger, a feminist theologian and a retired professor of the New Testament from Harrisonburg, Va., who led a workshop at Binkley on Saturday and preached a sermon there Sunday.

Finger, who is 69, suspects other issues, such as rights for gays and lesbians and a growing concern with the environment, have taken center stage in many mainline Protestant churches where feminist theology was once popular.

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