Equal to the Task: Men and Women in Partnership

by Ruth Haley Barton

Would you like to God has created male and female to live in community as one. Yet in the church we have created systems that segregate and limit us rather than unify and free us. But we can be together the way God intended--not only as husbands and wives in the safety of marriage but also as brothers and sisters in the safety of community. The disciplines of biblical community, partnership in marriage, good communication and more can help us serve God together. Only a radical return to Christian community can take men and women beyond ineffective relational patterns to genuine models of mutuality and interdependence. Ruth Barton's biblical insights, personal experience, extensive research and real-life interviews will help you take significant steps toward true teamwork in all of your cross-gender relationships.

Genres: Womens, Leadership, Gender, Christian

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Ruth Haley Barton (Doctor of Divinity, Northern Seminary) is founding president/CEO of the Transforming Center, a ministry dedicated to strengthening the souls of pastors and Christian leaders, and the congregations and organizations they serve. For over twenty years, she has ministered to the soul care needs of pastors and leaders based upon her conviction that the best thing we bring to leadership is our own transforming selves. Trained at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and the Institute for Pastoral Studies Loyola University Chicago, Ruth is a seasoned retreat leader and spiritual director. A sought-after speaker and preacher, she has served on the pastoral staff of several churches and teaches frequently at seminaries and graduate schools. Ruth is the author of numerous books and resources on the spiritual life, including Invitation to Solitude and Silence, Sacred Rhythms, Longing for More, Pursuing God's Will Together, and Life Together in Christ. She continues to share her thoughts and perspectives on soulful leadership through an online resource called eReflections as well as a podcast entitled Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership.

Reviews

[Charles Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite my conservative upbringings, I've been convinced regarding the equality of women in the home & church for quite some time, so if this book were a conversation, I'd be saying "I agree with you... you don't need to keep convincing me."

BUT - I thought the last five chapters or so were quite good, in that they got to the nuts-and-bolts of men and women working together. I liked chapter 9, "Mutually Empowering Marriage" because it gave me some new ways to say to young couples what I often remind them in premarital counseling, namely that if you choose a hierarchical marriage you will miss functioning the way your were created.

I thought chapter 10, ""Partners in Parenting," was also thought-provoking. I think of myself as a "modern dad" - I do a lot of the cooking in our family - I'm not afraid to talk about emotions with my boys, I make an effort to get home from work at a decent time so I can be with them almost every day - but still, our culture doesn't make it easy, when dad is often the one away from the home because he can earn more. It's not fair - but it is what it is.

Chapter 11, "Love, Sex and Friendship," - I have no idea what to do with. Some of it was so good and I resonated deeply with it - but at other points, like talking about having a dark, quiet dinner with a friend of the opposite sex - I just find that too intimate - it would be weird for me.

Anyway - overall, a good read - a book that would probably lead to good conversation among church staffs.

[Patricia Tillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's 1998, so a bit outdated by now, but the sentiment concerning men and women working together in leadership is the same, even 20 years later... I love all of Ruth Haley Barton's books. I read this one as research for a book I'm currently writing concerning male/female relations in leadership.