By Eva Hedtke, special contributor
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| Rachel Held Evans, author and blogger, speaks at Asbury UMC in Prairie Village. (photo by Eva Hedtke) |
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| Rachel Held Evans, center, poses with Rev. Gayla Rapp, Asbury UMC senior pastor, and Rev. Jeff Prothro, Asbury UMC associate pastor. (photo by Eva Hedtke) |
In an attempt to take “biblical womanhood” as literally as possible, Evans brushed up on her cooking skills, learned to sew, celebrated many traditional religious holidays and called her husband “master” over the course of one year.
However, Evans went much deeper; she truly explored all texts referring to biblical womanhood in the Bible to get at the deeper meaning of how God calls us to truly live.
She came to the conclusion that the Bible is not a blueprint of how women should be. If it were, all women would be the same.
Rather, women should be women of valor, like many of the great Biblical ancestors.
“We were very excited to host Rachel,” said associate pastor Rev. Jeff Prothro. “Her unique voice was insightful and accessible. There were a variety of folks from the surrounding community that gathered together to hear a warm, funny, poignant and touching story of one person’s deep dive into learning more about the Bible and our relationship with it. Her spiritual depth was amazing, and everyone was blessed to hear her speak.”
Evan’s stories about her experiences captivated the diverse audience and made for a wonderful evening.
Eva Hedtke is the communications director at Prairie Village Asbury UMC.