Complementarianism, Gender and Evangelism

Retelling Sydney Anglican Stories
Examines how complementarianism shapes lived Anglicanism, focusing on the experiences of parishioners and ministry staff at three parishes in the Sydney Anglican Diocese.

Grounded in the author’s lived experience and research in the Sydney Anglican Diocese, the book provides a detailed study of individuals who worship and work at three parishes, covering both the stories told about Sydney Anglicans, and the lived experiences of Anglicans themselves, their identity, their faith and their communities.

This study theorizes that complementarianism is not simply a set of private beliefs, but rather a specific ecclesial discourse defining orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Embedded in language and in the relationships between church leaders and parishioners, this discourse is used as an operation of power which limits Christian belief, behaviour and belonging.

Rosie Clare Shorter offers a feminist, sociological account of lived Sydney Anglicanism and draws on the work of key theorists such as Sara Ahmed, Judith Butler and Joan Scott to explore the social consequences of complementarianism. Shorter provides a new frame for analyzing the specific discourse that uses gender to construct and regulate both faith and sexuality.

Furthering the study of global evangelicalism, Shorter unravels the ways in which gender, sexuality, faith and evangelism are entwined and held together by complementarian discourse. In doing so, it provides new directions for safer, more equitable and inclusive Anglican churches.