Years ago, when a female pastor was at our church, I started learning about feminism and racial justice. Now, I am in my 60s and planning to return to school and working toward becoming an ordained pastor, a career not widely available when I was starting a career. Now I look forward to serving God in a different capacity at a time when most people my age are sitting back and taking it easy.
At this time in my life, along comes Junia. The first Junia I met was my new pastor’s two-year-old daughter. When I asked about her name, I was told Junia was a female apostle mentioned once in the Bible (Romans 16:7). After reading about Junia, I found out about The Junia Project, dedicated to the feminist voice in God’s church. It has been totally eye-opening!
Going forward in my ministry, the name of Junia will be mentioned often, along with names of other women, silenced for too long by the church and by history. Women’s voices are finally being heard.
This message is excerpted from “Junia: Prominent among the apostles” by Nancy Giddings from the June 8, 2015, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today we commemorate Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, 444.
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