The CBE is organizing its fifth annual essay writing contest: Writing for Mutuality!! This year the topics of the essays will revolve around biblical gender equality, egalitarian theology, and Christian Feminism. The CBE will pick out the top 15 winners from all the submissions and grant them with some crazy and fun awards such as getting published with CBE, a $20 amazon gift card, a copy of “Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships by Rob Dixon” and a free year-long subscription to CBE’s award-winning magazine, Mutuality. There is no specific restriction regarding eligibility. The submission procedure is simple and easy, discussed in detail later in the article.
The primary purpose of offering this scholarship is to encourage students to share their stories and insights about biblical gender equality, egalitarian theology, and Christian Feminism. The CBE is trying to spread the idea of giving women and men of all cultures, races, and classes the same level of equality as co-leaders in church, home, and the world. The candidates are allowed to consider each topic through a lens of the intersection of gender with other social justice issues like race or class. Your essay must be focused on CBE’s mission which is promoting equality and must align with the CBE’s statement of faith and core values.
CBE international is a non-profit organization supported by the community that believes in promoting equality. CBE does many collaborations with pastors, churches, schools, and NGOs around the world to eliminate gender-based violence and human trafficking and improve girls’ access to education by raising the status of women. With the help of supporters, ministry partners, and through various conferences, adult and youth curricula, multi-media resources, award-winning publications, a blog, and more CBE work for promoting gender-based equality.
Table of Contents
Brief Description
Here is a brief description for you concerning the following scholarship:
| Organization | CBE International |
| Educational level | All |
| Subjects | All |
| Amount | Not defined |
| Access mode | Online |
| Number of awards | 15 |
| City | Any |
| Nationality | Domestic |
| Country | US |
| Contest deadline | September 17, 2021 |
| Application fees | Not required |
| Requirements | Write-up |
Who is Eligible?
Everyone is eligible to apply for the 2021 CBE writing essay contest.
How to Apply?
To participate in the following contest, the interested individuals are required to follow the below-given instructions:
- Write and submit your 700-1,500 word essay on one of the five topics given, single-spaced Microsoft Word document attached in an email to Sarabeth at mutuality@cbeinternational.org
- In the email, please include the following: your full name, an author biography (50 words or less), and a high-quality JPEG profile image, provide the total word count of your submission (not including title) and Indicate which of the five topics you’ve chosen
- Title the document using your last name
- All submissions must honour CBE’s core values and should be tailored to the CBE mission
- You may submit more than one entry for consideration, but only one submission per person will be a Top 15 winner.
- No late submissions are accepted for the contest but can be considered for publication.
- All content should be original and not published elsewhere unless you host a personal blog that has a small audience. Please indicate if this is the case and send a link.
- All submissions should have correct spelling and grammar and include some form of citation or link for any outside sources.
- CBE’s communications team will edit your article before publication, and titles may be changed
Following are the topics given for the essay writing:
1. Bible Interpretation for the Everyday Egalitarian
- Which passages of the Bible have been instrumental for you in your journey as an egalitarian? What specific biblical passage or idea have you struggled to understand regarding its implications for biblical gender equality? Which Bible passages have been most instrumental in helping you understand your role as a man or woman in the global church, in the body of Christ?
- Who in the Bible—Old Testament or New Testament—has had a significant role in your journey as an egalitarian? Who do you look toward as an example for serving God and your neighbour? How is that influenced by your or their gender? Who has challenged your assumptions about gender because of how they are portrayed in the Bible?
2. Power Dynamics in Service and Leadership
- How can men and women as co-leaders in Christ keep each other accountable for leading with humility?
- How should church leaders embrace accountability to ensure there is no place for abuse? Reflect on the systems that enable prominent leaders to conceal their patterns of abuse—e.g., in the case of Ravi Zacharias?
- Why is it essential to create a space where those who have suffered abuse feel safe? How can we do so—as leaders in the church and as laypeople?
- What internalized power dynamics still exist in egalitarian settings—what would you say to the men and women wondering if true mutual egalitarianism is possible?
- What stereotypes do we need to dismantle—in the home, church, or world—to enable us to all share authority equally in service and leadership?
3. Human Relationships and God’s Design for Relationships
- What do Christian, egalitarian, God-honoring relationships look like?
- What does mutual submission look like for (celibate) single men and women? How can egalitarians better serve their single sisters and brothers? What about those who are newly married, longtime married, divorced, or widowed?
- What does the everyday lifestyle of an egalitarian family look like? How can egalitarian parents raise children ready to share leadership and service in the home, church, and world?
- How to not be afraid to work alongside women (#metoo implications…impropriety). What do God-honoring friendships between men and women look like? Can men and women be friends, independent of any scandal (e.g., address the Billy Graham Rule / Modesto Manifesto)?
- Moving beyond a mindset of objectification and suspicion—what is true biblical manhood and womanhood?
4. The Unrestricted Use of Women’s Gifts
- What ingrained / internalized beliefs keep women from serving God and the church fully in the body of Christ? Why is there a shortage of women workers even in denominations that fully affirm women’s equal leadership alongside men?
- Have you been part of a church that restricted the use of women’s gifts? How did that affect the efficacy of the gospel being preached to all people—regardless of class, race, gender, or culture? How were the women of the congregation and broader community affected?
- How do you know when it’s time to leave a church versus staying and trying to be a voice for gender equality?
5. Opposing Injustice and Patriarchal Teachings and Practices
- Describe a time when you stood against marginalization and abuse—or a time when you wish you had but didn’t.
- Why are women abused in complementarian situations (marginalized and subjugated) as well as egalitarian situations (elevated but then secretly abused)?
Benefits
All the applications will be reviewed and judged, and out of all, the top 15 final winners will be selected and be awarded the following prizes:
- Be published with CBE
- Win a $20 Amazon gift card
- Win a copy of Together in Ministry: Women and Men in Flourishing Partnerships by Rob Dixon
- Receive a free year-long subscription to CBE’s award-winning magazine, Mutuality
Application Deadline
The deadline for application submission for the following contest is September 17, 2021. No application will be considered after the deadline.
