In their company as military leaders are Boudica and Elizabeth I. Boudica was the first century queen who led an uprising against the Romans in what is present day England. While Elizabeth I may not have fought on the battlefield, it was under her leadership that England started to make gains toward becoming a world power. 1588 and all that. I’m generally a peace loving individual and I abhor war. But there is something about female military leaders that inspires me. Perhaps because they are historical evidence of women’s ability to be physically strong and to strategize. I grew up in a town that had really strong girls’ sports programs, but when I went to college, I discovered that my athletic skills were still largely considered an anomaly. To this day, I still run into guys who are surprised when I can score a touchdown on them or make a free throw. After four decades of Title IX, it really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone anymore. That’s why teaching history is so important. Throughout all of recorded time, we can point to examples of women who took on the physical (and strategic) challenges of war and succeeded. (And what are sports but socially sanctioned war without the killing?)
On the spiritual side of things, you know how I feel about women in church leadership roles. That’s also why Deborah and Joan of Arc have such appeal to me. However, there’s a church leader whose story is a little different: Aimee Semple McPherson. The founder of the Foursquare Church and one of the first evangelists to use radio and film, McPerson’s story is fascinating to me. She did many amazing things including promoting interracial harmony and providing for the poor during the Depression. Her sermons drew huge crowds, and even Charlie Chaplin came to see her preach. Yet, her life was also riddled with scandal and tragedy, much of it a result of her being female. Her second husband left her because he couldn’t stand her call to the ministry and wanted to live a more comfortable life. (Her first husband died of dysentery when they were serving as missionaries.) Many people falsely accused her of having affairs. She died alone of an accidental overdose of sleeping pills, yet 45,000 people attended her funeral and it took eleven trucks to deliver all the flowers to the cemetery. In some ways she is an inspiration. Yet in other ways, hers is a cautionary tale.
Aimee reminds us of how lonely it can be to be a woman of God. Like I said in “Joan of Arc Syndrome” (7/1/11), it seems that women who serve as leaders to both sexes in the church tend to be single. But there is hope found in a little known woman of 16th century Germany. I discovered her when I took a Reformation class at Western. Her name is Katherine Zell. She married Matthias Zell, a priest who was among the first to marry as part of the Protestant Reformation. Katherine wrote religious pamphlets and hymns as well as ministered to the sick and to refugees from the Peasants’ War. She defended herself against men who would silence her based on her sex, and performed the funeral service for a woman of a “radical” sect (Anabaptist) even though it got her in trouble with the city council. You can find a little information about her online, though I recommend reading Roland Bainton’s Women of the Reformation in Germany and Italy. Not only is she an encouraging role model, (she even knew how to deal out some snark!), but Matthias Zell’s good sense in marrying her and treating her right is encouraging too.
It's interesting to note that Deborah, too, was married. Should we find it odd that we can go back to 1200 B.C. and the 1500's and find men who loved strong women rather than be intimidated by them? I don't think we should, but often we do. That's another reason why teaching history is important. To show that throughout recorded history, we can point to examples of men who took on the challenges of loving a woman with purpose, even when it was a social anomaly, and succeeded.