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Perhaps the time is right for egalitarians and complementarians to work together to further the cause of Christ and advance the gospel of life in a culture increasingly marked by violence, decay, and death. I want to suggest a tentative agenda—nine tasks that I believe could be helpfully pursued by persons of goodwill and high moral imagination from both communities.

Egalitarians and complementarians have, of course, been studying the Bible overtime on gender issues. But apart from several books on the subject that present varying views, much of this work exists in discrete silos of scholarship that lack the dynamism and cross-fertilization of an interactive approach.

Evangelicalism at its heart is a renewal movement within historic Christian orthodoxy. Egalitarians and complementarians stand together on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ—the only foundation that can be laid, Paul says—expressed in the great creeds and teachings of the church. These are not trivial theological ideas, but the very heart of the gospel message, which Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 15 to be "of first importance."

People change their minds from time to time. I would like to hear stories from those who have undergone conversions on this issue. Such testimonies can help us understand why certain ideas are persuasive, causing us to ask where we sense the Holy Spirit may be leading us. I would like to hear a discussion, for example, between Craig Keener, an egalitarian scholar who used to be a complementarian, and Father Patrick Henry Reardon, an Antiochian Orthodox priest who used to be an Episcopalian egalitarian.

I propose a symposium of complementarian and egalitarian scholars, liturgists, and theologians on gender-inclusive language for God. Whatever one may think about gender-inclusive language for humans, the use of feminine appellatives for God seems to be of a very different order. While no complementarians, to my knowledge, would countenance gender-inclusive language for God, the best arguments against this practice have been put forth by egalitarians such as the late Elizabeth Achtemeier, Northrup Frye, Robert Jenson, Geoffrey Wainwright, Elizabeth Morelli, Donald Bloesch, Thomas C. Oden and, most recently and most thoroughly, John W. Cooper. This topic could benefit from the careful, exegetical study that both complementarian and egalitarian scholars have shown themselves capable of doing.

In a culture of death, egalitarians and complementarians can work together to oppose abortion on demand, an issue on which egalitarians stand together with complementarians against mainstream feminism (with the exception of the tiny Feminists for Life group).

While demonstrating a Christian and neighborly approach to all people, including homosexuals, egalitarians and complementarians can agree that homosexual activity is not a God-ordained lifestyle that should be approved within the Christian community. Certainly both can agree to welcoming but not affirming homosexuals and to supporting the understanding of marriage as a God-ordained union of one man and one woman.

Every person I have read in the current discussion believes Christians should not countenance any form of sexual abuse. Why not form a joint complementarian-egalitarian task force to study this issue, propose a concrete action plan for pastors and congregations to use in dealing with sexual-abuse cases, and develop literature for churches, colleges, and seminaries to use in raising the consciousness of the evangelical community on this matter?

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November 2005, Vol. 49, No. 11