{"id":7611,"date":"2022-09-13T14:26:48","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T18:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/?p=7611"},"modified":"2022-09-13T14:26:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T18:26:58","slug":"an-encouragement-for-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/","title":{"rendered":"An Encouragement for September"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Center for Leadership Excellence, in partnership with COSROW, is pleased to lift up the voices of women in ministry encouraging fellow women in ministry. Please enjoy this month\u2019s Encouragement from Claire Clyburn, pastor at First UMC in Graham, NC.<\/em><\/em> Anyone can sign up to receive these monthly emails\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the final day of the Wild Goose Festival, an event I have attended every summer since its beginning in 2010. The final worship service this year included a riveting sermon by Diana Butler Bass (watch here<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0read the transcript<\/a>). Though I would not normally advocate beginning a sermon with news of ongoing New Testament research, this message rocked the house at the festival. I heard several people saying \u201cthis changes my dissertation focus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the gist of what Bass related to us: By studying the digitized copy of Papyrus 66, the oldest and most complete copy of the gospel of John, dating to about 200, a graduate student, Libbie Schrader, noticed something no one had ever noticed before. She noticed that in John 11, the story of Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus, someone had made a change. The name Mary in Greek is spelled M-A-R-I-A. The I is the Greek letter iota. Iota looks like a short line with a dot, like our lower-case i. Libbie noticed that that letter iota had actually been written over with a new letter, theta, which looks like a circle with a line in the middle of it. Theta is TH. Someone changed Mary to Martha in John 11. The English Bible says, “Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister, Martha.” But the Greek text, the oldest Greek text in the world doesn’t say that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read: John 11:1<\/strong> (according to Papyrus 66, before the scribal edit)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, at the village of Mary and his sister, Mary.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflect: <\/strong>There are two Marys in this verse!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you go any further, Martha, busy Martha, is not going anywhere. She\u2019s still in Luke, fixing dinner. All our sermons about being Marys in a Martha world can still be preached! But in John\u2019s gospel, we see something else. We are seeing textual evidence from an ancient papyrus that in the early church, Mary Magdalene had a greater role than history has remembered. We don\u2019t know why the ancient editor changed the letter, but it could point to a desire to lessen Mary\u2019s influence in the life of the early church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s why this matters. In the early church, we have two confessions of Jesus as the Christ. Peter makes his confession \u201cyou are the Christ\u201d and is called Peter the Rock. In John 11, Mary (not Martha) makes her confession – you are the Messiah. The word \u201cMagdala\u201d in Aramaic means \u201ctower.\u201d Mary the Tower offers the same confession as Peter the Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Magdalene \u2013 Mary the Tower. How might your ministry be strengthened, how might you be encouraged, by this news? When clergywomen are still struggling in places for their gifts and ministry to be affirmed and received, how might Mary the Tower give you needed strength?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Action:<\/strong> It turns out that the feast day of Mary Magdalene is my birthday. This year, that had special meaning for me, as Mary the Tower invited me to stand a little taller and straighter as I do what I have done for almost 40 years, proclaim the resurrection. Sisters, this month I invite you to do the same. Let us together stand up with Mary the Tower to give witness to the resurrection of our Lord!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are curious to learn more about the dissertation Diana\u2019s sermon references, check out this article in\u00a0Duke Today<\/em>:\u00a0\u201cMary or Martha: A Duke Student\u2019s Research Finds Mary Magdalene Downplayed by New Testament Scribes.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In partnership,
Center for Leadership Excellence and the Commission on the Status and Role of Women<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Check out these events open to women clergy and laity alike.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Criminalization of Black Youth<\/a>
United Women in Faith
September 13, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith Talks<\/a>
United Women in Faith
September 15, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COSROW Book Club<\/a>
NCC COSROW
September 20, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just Energy 4 All Monthly Webinar<\/a>
United Women in Faith
September 21, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voices From the Field I Answering the Call to Serve<\/a>
United Women in Faith
September 27, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was the final day of the Wild Goose Festival, an event I have attended every summer since its beginning in 2010. The final worship service this year included a riveting sermon by Diana Butler Bass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6,12,7,13,10,14],"class_list":["post-7611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-center-for-leadership-excellence","tag-commission-on-the-status-and-role-of-women","tag-effective-leaders","tag-encouragements","tag-resources","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nAn Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was the final day of the Wild Goose Festival, an event I have attended every summer since its beginning in 2010. The final worship service this year included a riveting sermon by Diana Butler Bass.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Center for Leadership Excellence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/nccumc\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-13T18:26:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-13T18:26:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nccumc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nccumc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"An Encouragement for September\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-13T18:26:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-13T18:26:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":725,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/18\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Center for Leadership Excellence\",\"Commission on the Status and Role of Women\",\"Effective Leaders\",\"Encouragements\",\"Resources\",\"Women\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/\",\"name\":\"An Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/18\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-09-13T18:26:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-13T18:26:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/18\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/18\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":404},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/2022\\\/09\\\/an-encouragement-for-september\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"An Encouragement for September\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/\",\"name\":\"Center for Leadership Excellence\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\",\"caption\":\"North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nccumc.org\\\/leadership\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/facebook.com\\\/nccumc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/nccumc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/nccumc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"An Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"An Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church","og_description":"It was the final day of the Wild Goose Festival, an event I have attended every summer since its beginning in 2010. The final worship service this year included a riveting sermon by Diana Butler Bass.","og_url":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/","og_site_name":"Center for Leadership Excellence","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/nccumc","article_published_time":"2022-09-13T18:26:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-09-13T18:26:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":404,"url":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nccumc","twitter_site":"@nccumc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"An Encouragement for September","datePublished":"2022-09-13T18:26:48+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-13T18:26:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/"},"wordCount":725,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg","keywords":["Center for Leadership Excellence","Commission on the Status and Role of Women","Effective Leaders","Encouragements","Resources","Women"],"articleSection":["Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/","url":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/","name":"An Encouragement for September | Center for Leadership Excellence | North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg","datePublished":"2022-09-13T18:26:48+00:00","dateModified":"2022-09-13T18:26:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured.jpg","width":720,"height":404},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/2022\/09\/an-encouragement-for-september\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"An Encouragement for September"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/","name":"Center for Leadership Excellence","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/#organization","name":"North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church","url":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/nccumc","https:\/\/x.com\/nccumc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/nccumc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":""}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2022\/08\/Encouragements-Featured-600x404.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7611"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7611\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7614,"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7611\/revisions\/7614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccumc.org\/leadership\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}