Marking the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of his Christian Broadcasting Network, Pat Robertson said he will no longer make political endorsements.
“When I was in charge of the Christian Coalition I was available to mobilize grassroots support for somebody,” Robertson told The Associated Press in an interview. “I don’t have any army right now. It’s just an opinion, and that isn’t quite as good as it used to be.”
What does it say about the state of the evangelical church that 83 percent of women’s ministry leaders are not compensated? That’s the question that Russell Moore and Jen Wilkin, an author and Bible teacher, pose at the beginning of their conversation on this episode. Wilkin, who spent most of her years leading women’s ministry in a volunteer capacity, talks about how the fifth commandment to honor our parents prompted her to grow more curious about how the church treats its mothers.
Wilkin and Moore discuss how churches can better value women as leaders, staff members, and congregants. They consider the challenge of being one of the only women on a church leadership team as well as the pros and cons of single-gender ministries. Wilkin and Moore explore the importance of encouraging biblical literacy and teaching theology within the local church. And they consider what it means that, as Wilkin says, “all theology is autobiography.”
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
You Are a Theologian: An Invitation to Know and Love God Well by Jen Wilkin and J. T. English
“Honor Thy Church Mothers—with Wages” by Jen Wilkin
Lifeway Women Academy
To Be a Woman: The Confusion Over Female Identity and How Christians Can Respond by Katie J. McCoy
Do you have a question for Russell Moore? Send it to questions@russellmoore.com.
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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper
Host: Russell Moore
Producer: Ashley Hales
Associate Producers: Abby Perry and McKenzie Hill
Director of Operations for CT Media: Matt Stevens
Audio engineering by Dan Phelps
Video producer: Abby Egan
Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton
Fifty years to the day after his first broadcast on Oct. 1, 1961, Robertson on Saturday recalled his network’s humble beginnings in an address to a crowd gathered outside CBN’s headquarters in Virginia Beach, Va.
“I came down here to buy a television station and I didn’t even own a television set,” he said.
Robertson said his first deposit in the network’s corporate account was $3.
“You take what God has and you praise him for it,” he said. “Now at the end of 50 years, I can look back, and I said it’s all God.”
Robertson’s network now produces programming in dozens of languages across about 200 countries. Robertson ran as a Republican for president in 1988, and later channeled his supporters into the Christian Coalition. His last endorsement was of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in the 2008 Republican primaries.
Over the years, Robertson has been criticized for various comments, most recently for suggesting that a man whose wife has Alzheimer’s could get divorced to marry another woman. He later said he was “misunderstood” and thinks spouses should support each other during illnesses.
