What follows is part of the syllabus for the class I’m teaching in Dallas Christian College’s FLEXCampus™ starting this week.

Catalog description of the class:

A study of women’s roles in Christian leadership from a theological, historical, and practical perspective.

Student Learning Outcomes:

This class focuses on a single complex question, “What limitations (if any) should churches today place on the leadership roles taken by women?” Students will:

EXPLAIN the features, implications, and underlying rationales of the two major views (egalitarian and complementarian) and variations thereof on the issue of women’s ministry / leadership roles in the church.

1. SUMMARIZE the biblical teaching on the question.
2. INTERPRET one of the major NT passages (as assigned) addressing the question by applying the model from Fee & Stuart (How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, chapters 3-4) and formulating recommendations for churches today.
3. CREATE a mature project explaining the student’s own views on the issue, their reasons for holding this position, and how this class has affected (either affirming or changing) their position.  The project can be a research or reflection paper, but creativity (e.g., visual arts, mixed media, etc.) will be rewarded.

Required texts:

James Beck and others, Two Views on Women in Ministry, revised edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005).  ISBN: 978-0310254379.

Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, 3^rd edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003). ISBN: 978-0310246046.