Female theology lecturer helps lead the church towards equality
Sara Thompson
Public relations assistant
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
Dr Wendy Jackson is in a unique position. She is the only woman on the academic staff of a school whose focus is in a discipline that has valued men more than women.
Dr Wendy Jackson feels there is a need to begin efficiently using the talents of women within the church.
Credit: Joel Slade.
As a lecturer in systematic theology at Avondale College of Higher Education, Wendy has a prominent role in training students for the ministry.
“My colleagues are very supportive,” she says. “While some students are surprised to see a female lecturer in a school of ministry and theology, most have no problem with it.”
Wendy’s experiences have helped shape her view of the debate about the role of women in the church, particularly the role of women who feel they have been called to the ministry.
“I believe God has gifted everybody in the church and that we should be actively using the talents of the females in our churches in whatever way God has gifted them,” she says.
Reflecting on her own calling, she adds, “Theology is not something I would have done voluntarily. It wouldn’t have been on my radar screen to even think about that as a career. . . . There are those who suggest women come into ministry because they are power hungry. I’m not coming to it for any other reason than God indicated this is what He wanted me to do.”
Wendy is passionate about portraying a church community with depth, as is demonstrated in the vision statement she created for the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific. The statement focuses on knowing, experiencing and sharing our hope in Jesus Christ, something Wendy feels is important to each of us in our everyday lives.
“What I wanted to do was suggest that Adventism is not just about a set of beliefs. Knowledge itself is not enough. Beliefs must make a difference to the way we live. They must inform our daily experience. Then as our hope in Jesus transforms our own life, we have something more meaningful to share than a simple list of doctrines.”
See TEACH Journal of Christian Education Vol 7 No 1 for Sara Thompson’s interview with Dr Wendy Jackson.