Dr Harold Ristau, pastor and author, has served in ministry and mission in widely varied contexts, and taught in seminaries in Canada and Africa. He holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Waterloo (1996), and a PhD in Religious Studies from McGill University (2007). During Lent, we shared an article from Dr Ristau on Fasting and Feasting, based on one of his books, When You Fast: The Sacramental Character of Fasting. His other works include Spiritual Warfare: For the Care of Souls, At Peace with War, My First Exorcism - My First Exorcism: What the Devil Taught a Lutheran Pastor about Counter-Cultural Spirituality, a novel and a bilingual children’s book.

In this article we learn more about Dr Ristau’s journey, the new challenge he has embarked on, and his reflections on theological education.

Deaconess Kathleen Mills shares her reflection on the role of women in the body of Christ.

What is the church? What is my place in it? How do I know where I belong? These questions are common, and answers can vary by denomination, and even by congregation. It can be hard to “find one’s place” in the world, and the same holds true in the body of Christ. Paul tells us in  
1 Corinthians, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”  Chapter 12 is a beautiful and often quoted section of Scripture, defining how all of us are working together as one body. Different parts have different functions, but we all have the same goal. It’s amazing – and sometimes maddening, because we aren’t told by Paul or any other passage which part of the body we are!  Am I a foot or a hand? An ear or a mouth? Who knows, I might be the pinky toe! 

I find this lesson of the body of Christ particularly useful when I think of my role in the Church as a woman. I think sometimes it can feel a bit like we are “pinky toes” – that we are unnoticed, unappreciated, or unsure of whether our lives make a difference to the Church. Scripture gives me no specific directive to tell me I’m a hand or a foot, it only tells me that I’m part of the body. The joy and the reality of this passage is that being part of the body is enough. ALL the parts are needed. The truth is that the body isn’t thinking about which part I am the way I think about it. How often do you stop to consider how your ring finger functions as a member of your body? Do you give thought to your right kidney? Paul says that even parts of the body that seem weak are indispensable.  

How has God used the women he created to reveal the message of salvation? Where do we see the parts of the body of Christ, completing the functions for which they are made? The question of my role in the church is really the question, “can God use me?” He promises that he can, and he does. He has given me the testimony in Scripture of faithful women who have gone before me to show that he redeems us all, and then uses us all to accomplish his purposes. Here are just a handful of body parts that come to mind.