Complementarianism, Gender and Evangelism - Retelling Sydney Anglican Stories

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.

List of contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Gender and Evangelism in the Sydney Anglican Diocese
Chapter 1: Orthodox and Out of Step: Retelling the Story of Sydney Anglicanism
Chapter 2: Complementarianism, Orthodoxy and Gender Regimes
Chapter 3: Sydney Anglican Identity and the Call to be 'Counter Cultural'
Chapter 4: Inequality and the Cover Story of 'Equal but Different'
Chapter 5: Power, Preaching and 'Plain Teaching'
Chapter 6: Complementarian Discipline: Heteronormativity and Evangelism
Chapter 7: Complementarian Disruption: Women Preaching
Conclusion: Imagining the Future
References

About the author

Rosie Clare Shorter

Product details

• Authors: Rosie Clare Shorter
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 16.10.2025
• EAN: 9781350501997
• ISBN: 978-1-350-50199-7
• No. of pages: 256
• Series: Bloomsbury Studies in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; Sydney, RELIGION / Christianity / Anglican, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Feminism & Feminist Theory, RELIGION / Sexuality & Gender Studies, Religious issues & debates, Feminism & feminist theory, Feminism and feminist theory, Sex and sexuality, social aspects, Religious aspects of sexuality, gender and relationships, Religious groups: social & cultural aspects, Religious issues and debates, Christian aspects of sexuality, gender & relationships