The conversation about the role Mother's Day should play in a church's calendar is fascinating if only b/c it reveals what kind of Protestant you are.
I want to say this carefully & sincerely, knowing that there is a lot of pain associated w/ biological motherhood, but I really do think celebrating the categories of motherhood & fatherhood are pretty important in a culture that doesn't widely understand begottenness.
Beyond this, Protestants especially need reminders about the symbolism of motherhood & the way God used motherhood to bring redemption. Both literally thru Mary & metaphorically thru the church & our own new birth.
So while I understand the concerns about singling out women who are mothers at the risk of devaluing those who aren't, maybe the problem is in how we celebrate the day, not in the focus on motherhood
Also, if you think of Mother's Day Sunday celebrations as evangelical Protestants backfilling their liturgical calendar to compensate for loss of categories associated with Mary the mother of Jesus, it kinda checks out.
IOW, the more liturgically Protestant you are, the less you'll see benefit of church-based Mother's Day celebration. But I'd venture that if you're non-liturgical Protestant (or even Catholic?) setting aside a Sunday to celebrate mothers & motherhood won't be problematic.
These thoughts brought to you by a happy baptist mother who doesn't necessarily fit tropes of motherhood & who loves that folks show up for church on Mother's Day as it's one of closest things we've got to a liturgical calendar in non-liturgical spaces.
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Those conservatives who are truly, convictionally, exegetically conservative irt to gender (& aren't just using the label for cover) are those who make every possible effort to hear women's voices & enable women's giftedness for the sake of the Kingdom.
Those who go out of their way to do the opposite are... something else.
At some point, labels & claims are meaningless. Instead, show me your actions. Show me how you have honored the Holy Spirit's work in & thru *all* God's sons & daughters. Show me how you've removed barriers & equipped them to run fast toward the work He's calling them to.
Biological motherhood within the church =/= spiritual motherhood of & for the church.
Both are beautiful. Both are lifegiving. Both call us into a greater reality for purposes beyond our own self-fulfillment. But one cannot replace the other. And they are not necessarily dependent on each other.
A woman may be called to one or both & will exercise her calling out of deeper resources of faithfulness, service, & love for God & others. But while similar modes of being, biological motherhood & spiritual motherhood are distinct & cannot replace each other.
Some good comments on it about how the larger rhetoric around biological mothering affects one's ability to access & engage in Mother's Day celebration.
I think these fall under "how we celebrate" critique. ISTM that a church & culture built on personal experience will unintentionally personalize other features of worship & life. In such spaces, motherhood loses its power as a *category* & becomes a matter of personal identity.
So we often DO end up celebrating Mother's Day as a kind of personalized day which cuts out those who aren't mothers or who experience pain in this their personal experience of motherhood.
Guys, this is worth your 1:48 if only to observe how some women respond when they feel uncomfortable. It may seem counterintuitive to men, but women often react to discomfort by becoming *more* polite & conciliatory. Don't read it as agreement.
The logic's simple: As a class, men outmatch women physically & in aggression. When men are in position of authority--whether by age or role--this affect is augmented. Direct confrontation is not an option for women so we must get out of uncomfortable situations thru other means.
Why point this out? If you're a man in leadership or just want to be a good friend or Xian brother to women in your life, recognize how a woman's response to the same situation could look completely different to yours. Read her actions as coming from a *woman* not as from a man.
I'd venture that his observations also help explain part of the exvangelical phenomenon. Both those who leave Christianity altogether & those who shift to Christian traditions outside evangelicalism.
Apparently there are just no shortcuts here. No programming or gimmicks that can replace the honest, deep work of living out of your own faith (& struggles!) in front of your children.
Don't laugh but @n_d_anderson & I did some white boarding for our family over the weekend & sure as anything, we included "Keep our faith" as one of our goals.
The kids also added "house w/ a creek" & "another dog" so take it for what it's worth, BUT...