Women in the Bible – Lesson 8: Women in the Early Church, As Seen in the Epistles

A youth Bible study on Women in the Bible based on the Yale Bible Study.

Practice Duration 60 minutes
Lesson developed byJill Olds and Victoria Crook
Materials Checklist
  • Bibles or copies of the focal scripture
  • Pens/Pencils
  • Paper
  • Whiteboard or large piece of paper
  • Load the video clip “Like a Girl” for everyone to view

Gather

  • Begin with a check in with members
  • Open with prayer

Engage

Activity 1: Game

  • Break youth into groups and have them make a list of their favorite tv shows/movies/books. Have them create a list of the group’s top 3 choices.
  • After a few minutes bring them back together with their lists of the top 3 movies, books, and tv shows.
  • Write them down on a white board, or large paper so everyone can see. Designate a group to look up who directed the movies/shows, a group to look up who wrote the movies/books, and a group to look up who produced the movies/shows.
  • Circle those directed by a woman in a specific color, square in another color if it was produced by a woman, and triangle if it was written (including screenplays) by a woman.
  • Look at how many women are involved in the production of their favorite media. Is it surprising one way or another? Why might that be?
  • What about if you changed it from women to Black women, or Indigenous, or Immigrant? How do these results change?

Activity 2: Video

Watch the video clip, “Like a Girl” together

 

Reflect

Read the focal scripture and reflect on the following questions together:

  1. What does it mean that women (Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, and Junia here) were listed as faithful apostles frequently in some of Paul’s letters to the early churches?
  2. What does it then mean to see other texts that do not lift up women?
  3. What does society teach us about such things today? How might we lend our voice to that conversation? (And not just with women, but with any group that has been historically marginalized?)

 

Send Forth

Close the meeting in prayer (either the leader or a group member).