ABSTRACT
Exploring evangelical attitudes to gender, this chapter argues that there has been a surprisingly broad spectrum of both theology and practice regarding female and male roles within evangelical denominations and churches. It looks initially at the dominance of the idea of separate male and female spheres. Within the limited framework of separate spheres, many lay people, particularly women, found opportunities in the 'third sphere' of churches which were denied them in society at large, for instance through Sunday-school teaching, fund-raising for missions or church buildings, participating in prayer meetings or leading Methodist classes. The chapter uses two Christian magazines, Christianity Today and Renewal (later Premier Christianity) to chart the gradual change in evangelical attitudes towards gender in more recent evangelicalism. It concludes with a case study of the 'Victory Churches of India', demonstrating that the claim of some evangelical groups to empower women can sometimes have real substance.
