Destroying the church and other things I've been up to

After a wonderful couple of days in Waco, TX, last week, I had a full 1 1/2 hours at home before I left for Chicago, but this time with my two girls for a little end-of-winter-break respite.

Chicago smiled upon us with an unseasonably warm and sunny couple of days and we made the most of them—Les Mis, Chicago-style pizza, the Nutella cafe, boba, poke, macarons from Sugar Bliss, hot pot in Chinatown, and a lovely stay at the Palmer House where my youngest and I stayed up late watching a historical documentary on the Great Depression. It was as close to perfection as a winter break could come.

I was at Baylor for a Student Life Leadership series event, where I had the incredibly fun opportunity to sit down with friend and colleague Beth Allison Barr to share with students lessons we’ve learned as female academics doing work in public spaces. We share a lot about our professional journeys and swap stories. Feel free to listen in here:

As you’ll hear here, Beth and I go way back. The author of The Making of Biblical Womanhood, Beth is working on two follow-up books, the first of which is The Pastor’s Wife. She also just started her own Substack newsletter, and if you follow her here you can keep up on her writing and speaking.

After that event, I stayed around for an extra day to attend Truett Seminary’s Racism in the White Church conference. I spoke at last year’s conference, and I knew the event drew a remarkable group of academics, church leaders, and laypeople, so I decided to stay and reconnect with several old friends. It ended up being a precious time to connect with so many people I appreciate and admire: Jemar Tisby Esau McCaulley, Beth Moore, Sean Palmer, Greg Garrett, Malcolm Foley, and other friends as well. It was such a beautiful time to share in one another’s work. I’m grateful to Truett and to Baylor for hosting these important conversations.

(Fun fact: While there, I learned that the talk I gave at last year’s Racism and the White Church conference is the second most popular video on Baylor’s YouTube channel, pulling in over 300k views. What’s the most popular video, you ask? Apparently I came in second only to Waco native Joanna Gaines giving her testimony. With only a few million more views, I might catch up. I did suggest that maybe next time they should bring the two of us together…imagine what that might do!)

The links will be up soon from this year’s talk. I wasn’t able to attend all the sessions, but I heard that Sean Palmer’s sermon was stunningly good, and I can attest that Esau McCaulley and Beth Moore both spoke with incredible eloquence and power. The in-person experience was riveting, so much so that I plan to listen again to the recordings to take it all in.

Here’s a picture of some of these lovely people.

I live-tweeted Beth’s talk to try to capture some of her key takeaways:

Kristin Du Mez @kkdumez

Listening to @BethMooreLPM on the white church & her experience in it: “If you want to control us, tell us everything is a threat.”

Predictably, the thread drew the ire of the Christian nationalist set. As I acknowledged on Twitter, it really did have everything: race, gender, Kristin Du Mez, Beth Moore, and…a pulpit: perfect catnip for the Christian nationalist boys.

Here’s one memorable response from self-proclaimed Christian nationalist Stephen Wolfe, claiming that this apparently proves that white women are “the greatest threat to the church.” Absurd, yes, but also illuminating, and so I decided to spell out why:

Kristin Du Mez @kkdumez

I’ll admit I have a very hard time taking things like this seriously, but worth considering what Beth Moore & I have in common: 1. We’re blond 2. We’ve called out abuse in evangelical churches 3. We’ve called out racism in evangelicalism

Here’s the thread:

I’ll admit I have a very hard time taking things like this seriously, but worth considering what Beth Moore & I have in common:

1. We’re blond

2. We’ve called out abuse in evangelical churches

3. We’ve called out racism in evangelicalism

We all know it’s no sin to be blond in white Christian spaces, so #1 can’t be the problem. But why is it *white* women who have such destructive power? Are other women not pointing these things out? Of course they are. But they’re just more easily ignored in white Chr spaces (#3)

And why *women*? We could look at the whole Eve thing, or complementarian logic, or outright misogyny, sure. But I’m struck by how many Chr men stay silent in the midst of all this. Men who know better but prefer to play it safe every time rather than call out a “bro in Christ.”

Who show deference to male authority figures even in the face of flagrant abuse of power while insisting that they’re God-ordained protectors of women & claiming to be protecting “the church.” So what exactly is this church they’re so keen on protecting?

The deafening silence among so many “God-ordained protectors” who refuse to acknowledge the reality of carefully documented & vetted cases of abuse, who ignore & discount the testimonies of God-fearing women in their own churches & communities, is stunning really.

If you don’t like that a woman says these things or where or how she says it, fine. Drown us out with your own condemnations of abuse & racial injustice. Show us that you can be complementarian and also show zero tolerance for abusers, *especially* for complementarian abusers.

Call the church to righteousness & refuse to give cover to perpetrators just bc they parrot “biblical manhood” talking pts or affirm your theological or political special interests, whether they’re SBC, PCA, ACNA, or fans of CBMW.

As a scholar of Am Christianity, I’ve been observing Beth Moore closely for years. I used to think we had little in common. But despite differences, we ended up seeing the same things. She lived it, I saw it over & over again in the sources.

In a couple of days, I’m heading out to Colorado Springs where I’m thrilled to be giving a talk on Jesus and John Wayne. Details here, but a heads-up for anyone hoping to attend—I’ve learned that the event is over-registered by several hundred, so do come early to be sure to find a seat. Also, I’ll be having a book signing/meet & greet before the talk, so come say hello!

From Colorado Springs, I’m heading out to Wichita, where I’ll be giving FOUR different talks. If it seems a bit much to you, it does to me too! I’m going to work hard to keep them entertaining. After that, I’m looking forward to a short break where I get back to writing and listening instead of so much talking…

Thank you all for your support through this all. Some days are exhausting, but as I tell people everywhere I go, I’m incredibly fortunate to meet so many wonderful people along the way.