"Preach it, sister," I am bold to say.

My dearest ELCA, thank you. Thank you that I am not only allowed but encouraged to speak, preach, teach, and lead in whatever situation I find myself. Thank you for giving me a scholarship to attend seminary, to follow this dream I have of making a difference in the church and in the world. Thank you for all the amazingly powerful female classmates with whom I share in this awesome experience.

Sure, we haven't always been allowed. Sure, some parishes still won't call us. But as a national body we have declared -- more than a generation ago, now -- that women are called to this vocation and should be given equal opportunity to serve the people of God. We as a national body have declared that the voices of women are welcome in the pulpit, in the classroom, and in the boardroom.

Today, I eavesdropped on a conversation between two women studying at an evangelical seminary that does not afford them the same. They are free to pursue degrees in things like "discipleship" and "Christian education" -- they'll be leaders of women's groups and Sunday school -- honorable, necessary, faithful work -- but they are relegated to domains not led by men. They're also encouraged to pursue marrying their male classmates, who are studying to be preachers and teachers and leaders.

One of these women was lamenting -- confessing, even -- to the other that sometimes, the deepest desire of her heart is to be a preacher. She was mad at herself for this sin, she said. This sinful, prideful desire. She said that it should not shock her one bit that Satan had this kind of power over her -- that the right thing to do was to suppress these feelings, because they were dangerous. And that her desire to preach was empty, because the Spirit would not give her words to say if she stepped into a pulpit. Her desire to preach was completely self-serving, she said.

I wanted to say something. I wanted to weep. I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs that she should be allowed to do the same! That it was not sinful and prideful to want to preach the Gospel to her people -- that's what we do here! That's what each and every one of us is called to do. And she can preach the Gospel to her fellow women and she can teach children and that will be wonderful and she will do great things with her deeply faithful servant heart. But if she feels so loudly called to this vocation, she should be able to honor that.

And that, dearest ELCA, is why I love you with my whole heart. Because you allow and encourage me to yell at the top of my lungs about the God who loves me. And about Jesus the Christ who came to teach and to serve and to save. And you allow and encourage me to speak truth to power -- to your own power! -- when injustice scars our communities. You allow and encourage me to participate fully in the life of this Church.

We the ELCA are not perfect. But we're not called to be perfect. We are called to love and serve to the best of our ability, whatever our ability is.

I am weepily grateful that I have not had that fearful conversation. That I have not been afraid to stand in the pulpit and proclaim the good news. That no person in a position of power in this Church has ever told me, "you can't." And that I have never told myself that I can't.

There is not a way for me to solve the problem that this woman finds herself facing. But what I can do is keep using my voice until she can use hers. Because I am allowed an encouraged to use my voice.

And for that, thanks be to God.

Mark Driscoll cannot bully me.

Rachel Held Evans wrote this blog post in response to this facebook status posted by Mark Driscoll.

This is merely the latest in a series of disgusting statements, sermons, tweets, and other worded behaviors from our favorite man from Mars Hill. The links she shares (which I implore you to read at your earliest convenience) provide you with the full span of flippant, blatant disregard for the dignity of anyone who is not Mark Driscoll that he has made himself famous for.

Over the last two days (since RHE wrote the post) the internet has provided me with abundant responses and comments and rants and letters and tears reflecting just how Driscoll's words have hurt people across this country.

And, sure, there are plenty who make excuses for Driscoll, saying that he speaks to/for a specific demographic, not for everyone. Or that if we don't like his preaching, we should just stay out of his church. If only his words stayed within the walls of his church, maybe that would be possible.

But as RHE claims, he is a bully. And we cannot (and will not) sit idly by as he bullies thousands of Americans into bullying thousands of Americans. This is far-reaching, whether you'd like to believe that or not. A generation of men are being taught that God only loves them if they are ultra-masculine and have attractive, submissive wives. And a generation of women are being taught that they must be those wives. And these people will teach their children, as Driscoll has taught his, that their futures also lie in these outdated, ridiculous, misogynistic gender roles.

As RHE writes, Godly men do not seek to humiliate, shame, ridicule, bully, or harm others. Especially not in the name of Christ. This behavior is irresponsible and he has been at it in the public eye for over a decade.

It is our responsibility as people who do not endorse these "values" to step forward and stand up to Mark Driscoll. He is a bully, and we do not have to accommodate that any longer.

RHE asks that we call or write Mars Hill Church to report his bad behavior. If that's something you feel comfortable doing, please do not hesitate. [Their contact information is in her post, linked above.] Do not assume that someone else can say your words, or say them better. And it's likely that some poor intern has to deal with all the calls and mail. But that intern may need to reconsider working for someone like Mark Driscoll. And maybe someone will tell Driscoll the sheer volume of responses. Maybe, for even just one minute, he will feel badly about what he has said. And that, my friends, will be a start.

Mark Driscoll cannot bully me into believing that my gender renders me incapable of leading people to and with their God.
Mark Driscoll cannot bully me into believing that my peacenik Christ is any less than the macho one he proclaims saves only the manliest of men and the most submissive of women.
Mark Driscoll cannot bully me into believing that those members of the LGBT community who I call my family and friends are any less loved by their God than any other human being.
Mark Driscoll cannot bully me into believing that violence has a place in the hearts of those who follow Christ.
Mark Driscoll cannot bully me into believing that he has the last word on any subject, Gospel or otherwise.

Mark Driscoll cannot bully me.

It's hard to believe.

This morning I read a blog post about Mark Driscoll, and then someone brought him up in class during our discussion of radical Protestantism, and then I lamented about him over dinner with Kelsey. Have you heard of this man? He runs Mars Hill Church in Seattle, a megachurch among megachurches that has 8 sites and worships nearly 10,000 every Sunday. They've planted 300 churches in the US alone and are planning to plant more than 500 more. Mark Driscoll's goal is to have 250,000 people in worship each Sunday being broadcast his message. 250,000.

Mark Driscoll is young, and hip, and preaches in jeans and a hoodie, and didn't go to seminary [though he does have a BA in Communication!], and tweets and blogs and podcasts his sermons, and teaches his followers the most abrasive, destructive form of mainline protestantism I have ever encountered.

I know that I am usually all about loving my neighbor and respecting the opinions of all people, especially respecting the religious beliefs of all people. But I draw the line at beliefs that hurt the believer or those who come into contact with the believer.

It's hard to imagine that there is anybody in this country who when they hear the word "Christian" thinks of us, nice, boring Lutherans, instead of the rabid followers of this man. Based on the sermons of his that I have read (some of the most hurtful of which are linked below) I cannot think of a religious leader who I am more committed to combating than Mark Driscoll. You might say that Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church are worse, but there are only like 30 of them and they are most likely certifiably insane. Mark Driscoll has thousands of followers across the country and around the world, and knows exactly what he's doing.

As though we don't already live in a world dominated by men, Mark Driscoll is working to keep women down. He made an awful statement about the female bishop of the Episcopal Church, saying that if we weren't careful, the Episcopalians were going to elect a "fluffy bunny rabbit to lead God's men" next.

I was telling Kelsey that I hardly have words for this man. That might be why this post is so scattered. It just seemed like all of the contact with him I came into today made me need to get my words out.

A sermon on why women cannot be pastors. -- The most devastating part about this one is how he involves his daughter. How he teaches his daughter that she cannot grow up to be anything she wants. That all of the women in the history of the world who have fought to be equal to men are not only not equal in the eyes of men, but are not equal in the eyes of God. That's not just misguided, that's abusive.

A sermon on why Jesus is the only way to salvation and all other religions are too exclusive. -- Because Jesus is a "narrow door" and only so many of us can fit. And because other religions have too many rules. AS THOUGH his is not a religion of exclusion. And he calls out religions in these "sly" ways. Like, he lists these negative attributes and then slips in the word "synagogue" or "Mecca" or "reincarnation" so that we all know which heathens he's talking about this time.

A sermon about what it is to be the true family of Jesus. -- Here, we learn that we are the light to the world. We are the bearers of Truth, convictors of sinners (in that part, he never says forgiveness of sin, just finger-pointing), spreaders of the news that everyone needs to hear (esp our non-Christian friends and family). Not lovers of neighbors, or anything. [Also, he calls out women for having sinful wardrobes. But not men!]

I have to stop. That should be enough, anyway. If you want more fuel for your fire, just scope his sermons online. Or read any of the 13 books he wrote, like "Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe."