Who is The First?

Hi! I’m Madeline. It’s nice to meet you. If you’ve already been to my home page, you’ll see that I am a 23-year-old seminary student. I live in the Midwest, USA with my husband and fill my time with reading and writing. I love learning about theology, deepening my relationship with God, and sharing what I’ve discovered with others. I hope what I write about will be meaningful to you in some way. And by all accounts, if you have any suggestions for topics feel free to shoot me an email at the address on my page. I’m so glad you’re here!

When I sat down to start this blog (after a little encouragement from my husband) I wanted to first figure out what my niche would be. “What do I have to offer to the world?” I asked myself. Since I have answered the call from God to go into ministry, it has been really important for me to share about my journey as a young, female theologian headed in the direction of pastoring and chaplaincy and I knew this would be a good place to start. I usually just share with my circle and sometimes will opt to share on my socials about my thoughts on this, but not everyone is as accepting as I wish they would be. I kept coming back to this idea that women in ministry now and throughout church history constantly have had their voices silenced. We get told that we don’t have the right to an opinion, God would never call us to leadership, and that we are only destined to be homemakers. Not only is this a pervasive narrative throughout Evangelical Christian groups (my home-base as a part of the Brethren denomination is Anabaptist Protestantism, but I grew up around a lot of folks in the evangelical circles — although in our denomination women in leadership are accepted into pastoral roles), but also in Roman Catholic and Orthodox circles this is true.

I wanted whatever I created my blog to be to become a space where I can share my thoughts on a woman’s place at the table, in scripture, and whatever other bite-sized theology pieces I’m interested in writing about. This lead me to think about my time in Israel and I landed on a memory from my time in Magdala.

Magdala was an ancient city on the Sea of Galilee. This is where Mary Magdalene is believed to have been from. Archeological excavations of Magdala lead to the discovery of the oldest synagogue found in the Galilee area and the discovery of the Magdala Stone. On the top of the Magdala Stone there is a rosette that has become a symbol for the area. This is where the symbol for my page comes from. You’ll see the top of the stone in the photo below:

(Photo: Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority.)

‘The First’ comes from the Bible, the descriptors used when discussing Mary Magdalene during the resurrection of Jesus. The scripture reads as follows in John 20:

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 

It is specified in Mark 16:9 that Jesus appeared to Mary first. So on the first day of the week, Mary was the first to see Jesus after he rose again. It sparked this thought in me that if God does not want to use women in leadership roles or in his ministries, why would he allow them to play as these major characters in scripture? All through the Bible we can see the strong female characters who time and again serve God with their whole hearts. This isn't to take away how God utilizes men either, but a point that he makes room for everyone at the table. (See: Gal. 3:28) 

Mary, a woman, was The First to see Jesus and run and share the good news of the resurrection with the others. So that's where my name comes from. The First. It embodies the idea that God did not leave women out of his narrative and that we have a right to be called to leadership just like men do. My goal for this blog is to make space for the way that God has used women as strong proponents for his ministry and share my theological musings as a student. I hope that something I've written will challenge or bless you in some way. 

Where is God making space for you to share with others in your present circumstances? 

New content every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.