I am interested in how you refer to God's justice in your story Deb.

The whole concept of God's justice, and social justice, has really only just opened up to me, but the justice of God relating to women was obivously something which was at the heart of your struggles over a decade ago.

Living justly and understanding God's justice for all humankind I think is at the heart of the whole gender issue.

I was interested recently to read this in an interview with the Social Justice Director of the Salvation Army in Australia:

"Question: Should we view ‘women in leadership’ as a theological issue, an equality issue, a social justice issue, or a mixture?"

"Answer: It’s a mixture. Keep in mind that the inequality of women is top of the social justice issues of the UN. In every country around the world women suffer injustice. So the issue of women being oppressed and mis-treated and under-utilized within the church is part of a global systemic injustice towards women in general. I think that's partly why it has halted in developed worlds – we think we've already dealt with women issues because we can vote and hold jobs etc. But the systemic, larger injustice faced by women needs to be addressed – particularly in the church where we ought to be the example of a just world."

I had never considered this angle before - I do not know why, because it's as clear as day that to silence godly women at Business Meetings (though this practice seems to be dying out), and to prevent godly women from contributing and presenting their God-given insights, is plainly unjust, and does not reflect the true character of a just God.