Author: Janet Staines
Staines, Janet, 2021 “To lead the people”: resignifying gender in the Uniting Church in Australia , Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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Since Union in 1977 the theological statements of the Uniting Church in Australia have affirmed the role of women and recognised those women called of God to preach the Gospel, to lead the people in worship, to care for the flock, share in government and to serve those in need in the world. This study demonstrates the disparity that exists between the theological statements of the Uniting Church and institutional practice in the Queensland Synod. It claims the Church’s historical practice of the systematic exclusion of women from ecclesial leadership operates as an internalised patriarchy and an entrenched organisational norm. This argument is made through the use of historical Uniting Church sources, post-structuralist theory and an analyses of the masculinity of leadership in organisational discourses. It begins to develop researched strategies for transformative action to allow the Uniting Church in Australia to accomplish its liberating vision where both women and men are valued equally as the whole people of God.
Keywords: The Uniting Church in Australia, Women, Ecclesial Leadership, Post-Structuralism, Gendered Organisations, Gender Performativity
Subject: Theology thesis
Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2021
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Janice McRandal