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Covering Testimony: Angela D.

Head Covering Testimonies

Name: Angela D. | Age: 19 | Location: Ontario, Canada | Starting Covering: April 2015


Covering Testimony: Angela Dekker

1) Introduce yourself to our readers.

Hello! I am a 2nd year University student. I have completed a year of Bible College and have gone on two missions trips. I have a great heart for serving believers and nonbelievers. It is my hope and dream to lift up and encourage believers within Canada and across borders to grow even deeper into our Saviour.

2) Where do you attend church? Tell us a little bit about it. Do others practice headcovering there?

I started attending an independent Church this last spring that is very much like the Brethren denomination. Almost every woman covers her head in church with a mantilla, scarf, hat, or head wrap style. It’s not mandatory for women to cover their head if they’re only casually attending. However, If you want to become a member head covering is one of their imperative beliefs. Read more

Dr. Leslie McFall (1944-2015): Good Order in the Church

Good Order in the Church
Dr. Leslie McFall

Dr. Leslie McFall [1944-2015] was a British scholar who was formerly a lecturer in Hebrew and the Old Testament before becoming a full time researcher. Much of his research was done at Tyndale House, Cambridge, where he had been a Research Fellow. He is best known for his works on chronology, in which he further refined the groundbreaking work of Edwin Thiele. His refinements to Thiele’s chronology are accepted as the most satisfactory explanation of the chronology of the Hebrew kingdom period in Jack Finegan’s influential Handbook of Biblical Chronology, by virtue of which it may be said that he is one of the most significant living authorities, if not the most significant, in the field of the Biblical chronology for the kingdom period. 1) Bio taken from Creation Wiki.

Earlier this month Dr. McFall went home to be with the Lord. As Tyndale House announced in their bulletin:

[Leslie McFall] died at home and had been carrying out research the day before. Leslie was a long-term member of the Fellowship and friend of the House. After the death of his wife Barbara in 1991 he devoted himself undistractedly to scholarship and his purpose, in his own words, was ‘to restore faith in the Word of God’…He will be remembered as a doughty defender of the faith, general handyman at Tyndale House, and good friend to many characterized by an admirable work ethic and personal frugality.

Dr. McFall was a believer in the symbol of headcovering and had been working on a book for over a decade in which he had included a defense of this practice. On Dr. McFall’s website he had posted the contents of this unfinished book “Good Order in the Church” which he invited everyone to browse freely. The first version of this book appeared on the web in 2002 and it appears on his website in its unfinished state. I corresponded with him by e-mail in November 2014 to encourage him to complete his book and to seek publishing for it. Two weeks later he e-mailed me back and said that he had finalized it. He sent me the complete e-book and gave me permission to link to it.

I’m not sure if anyone other than me has the finalized e-book in their hands. Since I possess it I want to ensure it’s not lost so that his research and teaching is not forgotten. I will include a link to the full version below. The most relevant section to the readers of this site will start at page 181 which is titled “Surely You Are Not Asking Women To Go Back To Covering Their Heads In Church, Are You?” Here is a snippet from that section:

Should women have their heads covered when they are “praying or prophesying”? The succinct answer is, Yes. At the theological level, the one thing that most evangelical scholars are agreed on is that according to the teaching of the New Testament, women in New Testament times had a covering on their heads when they prayed and prophesied. What has happened in the pew, however, is that women have gone with the prevailing fashion of the secular world and the covering slowly but surely slipped out of sight. Nothing was done about it at the leadership level (because the church lost its authoritative voice in the early part of the twentieth century, if not earlier) and this gave the practice the green light. Today it is a rare sight indeed to find a covered head in the mainline denominations, despite the knowledge at the scholarly level that the practice does not conform to the apostolic tradition that Paul handed on to all the churches he founded.

The rest of the book has many other relevant sections as well on Complementarianism and 1 Corinthians 11. Though I personally don’t agree with everything he says on the topic, we do end up at the same conclusion that the headcovering is a symbol for the church today. For that, I am grateful. Thank you to Dr. McFall for your faithful service to the church.

"Good Order in the Church" E-Book

 

References

1.
 Bio taken from Creation Wiki.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Angels and Head Covering

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981), minister of Westminster Chapel in London for 30 years, was one of the foremost preachers of his day. His many books have brought profound spiritual encouragement to millions around the world.

 Transcript: “In the first epistle to the Corinthians in the eleventh chapter and the 10th verse, Paul uses these words, “For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.” You will remember that he’s considering the question of women praying without their heads being covered. Apparently some of the women in the church of Corinth were taking part in prayer with their heads uncovered. And the Apostle tells them that that’s quite wrong. It’s not only wrong because a woman should have her head covered to show that she is under the authority of the man, but in addition to that he says to that she should be covered because of the presence of the angels. In other words, the Scripture teaches that when you and I are met as we are at this moment and when we’re met together in prayer that the angels of God are present and are looking upon us. And the woman is to be covered when she takes part in public prayer because of the presence of the angels. It’s a tremendous and a remarkable thing. Let us bear it in mind.”

Full Sermon: This clip is from his sermon “Good Angels” which can be downloaded here for free.

Why My Family Joined A Non-Head Covering Church

Why My Family Joined A Non-Head Covering Church

Our family moved cross-country to Edmonton, Alberta and thus were in need of finding a good local church in our new city. Being a part of a local church is assumed throughout the New Testament and many commands cannot be fulfilled1) Believers cannot be disciplined unless they are actually committed to a local body (Matt 18:17, 1 Cor 5:2). Likewise, believers cannot submit to the elders who would be giving an account to God for you (Heb 13:17). Here’s a short video by John Macarthur on the importance of a local church. unless believers are a part of one. Not being part of a local church is like being without a Bible–your growth will be severely stunted without it. So we visited a few churches but ultimately settled at Fellowship Baptist Church. The preaching and doctrine is solid, the fellowship amongst believers is great and there are many other positives as well. After a few months of attending we made the commitment to become a member of this congregation.

Fellowship Baptist isn’t a “head covering church”. That’s likely surprising to you since I founded the Head Covering Movement and have spent the last 6 years defending this practice. It’s obviously a very important topic to me. But the church’s view on this symbol was not even on our radar as far as issues to consider before joining. We assumed they weren’t practicing it before we ever stepped foot in the building (safe assumption today) and we were okay with that. There are too many issues that are far more important than head covering and those are the issues that we wanted to have unity on. What kind of issues am I talking about? Well this church preaches the gospel, clearly. They’re evangelistic. They love the Bible and know it well. The congregation loves one-another and is involved in each other’s lives. They will carry out church discipline if necessary. They’re complementarian in their view of gender and reformed in their soteriology2) Though not agreeing with everything listed, here is a brief description of reformed theology. For more depth you can watch this series by R.C. Sproul. (two important distinctives for us). So for us the positives significantly outweighed the negatives. We don’t need to be in a head covering church: we just need the freedom to act on our conviction to practice it. This church allows freedom of conscience on such issues which makes it a church where we can thrive spiritually. While it would be nice if they agreed with our understanding, that shouldn’t be a pre-requisite for joining. We should never expect perfect agreement, but rather, we should seek unity on the most important issues. If we appreciate freedom of conscience to practice covering (even though its not their belief), how could we then turn around and say you must believe as I do on the same issue or we’re leaving/not joining? Read more

References

1.
 Believers cannot be disciplined unless they are actually committed to a local body (Matt 18:17, 1 Cor 5:2). Likewise, believers cannot submit to the elders who would be giving an account to God for you (Heb 13:17). Here’s a short video by John Macarthur on the importance of a local church.
2.
 Though not agreeing with everything listed, here is a brief description of reformed theology. For more depth you can watch this series by R.C. Sproul.

Covering Testimony: Judith Batchelor

Head Covering Testimonies
Name: Judith BatchelorAge: 53Location: Ballarat, AustraliaStarted Covering: A little over a year ago.

Covering Testimony: Judith Batchelor

1) Introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi everyone my name is Judith. My husband Mark and I own a catering business and we have three children, two step children, and six grandchildren–hoping for more. I enjoy craft, mostly spinning, crochet, knitting, etc. I also have a desire to live a simple life and provide a good healthy lifestyle for myself and my family. My biggest desire is to glorify God through all of the above.

For the first eight years of my life I was a MK (Missionary Kid) along with my four siblings and then a PK (Preachers Kid) for the rest. I had good grounding in doctrine and became a Christian in my teenage years.

2) Where do you attend church? Tell us a little bit about it. Do others practice headcovering there?

I go to Heritage Baptist Church which is an independent Baptist Church. Our church does not practice head covering so up to a couple of months ago I was the only one who wore a head covering. A new family arrived who believed in head covering so I’m not alone anymore.

Read more

Covering the Web: Nov 10/15

Covering The Web

Shining a spotlight on the head covering discussion happening worldwide.

    • Is Headcovering Divisive? (Truth at Home)
      “Headcovering, though it can be divisive, doesn’t have to be. Among mature Christians, it can be a wonderful, beautiful opportunity to encourage each other in our walk with God. Those who have already started to cover, or who have been covering now for awhile, can testify to the fact that headcovering has so many benefits in the Christian woman’s life! In that case, how can we not want to tell other ladies about it!”
    • The church in the funeral home – and veiled women (Kathryn Judson)
      “Following is an excerpt from Decidedly Not Official pulled out specifically for my friends in the head covering resurgence. It’s very much a side issue as far as the book’s main story is concerned, but it was fun to weave it into the tale. (And, yes, for what it’s worth, I wear a head covering.)”
    • Are Head Coverings Really for Today? (Evangelical Focus)
      “It is hard to imagine but since the 1960s the Church almost entirely practiced [head covering]. The influence of secular reasoning, feminism and liberal theology have led to the questioning and, ultimately, the casting aside of this practice in the Church at large in the evangelical world.”
    • People’s Reactions to my Christian Head Covering (And Why God’s Opinion Matters More) (YouTube)
      “I know very well from experience that taking the plunge into Christian head covering can be daunting. There is a great deal of fear surrounding the head covering, because we are worried about people’s reactions and the treatment we will receive. However, we have to remember who it is that we are serving.”
    • Why Do You Wear A Headcovering? (Radical Femininty)
      “For many years I wore the headcovering because my mother did, the ladies in our fellowship did, and the ladies in the community (ex-Amish/Mennonite) did. Positive peer pressure! But as I grew older, it was time to make a personal decision and answer the question for myself …”
Found an interesting link about head covering or biblical manhood/womanhood? Tell us about it here.

J’ai prié et je n’ai pas reçu la conviction (de mettre le voile)

I Prayed About it (And I Don't Feel Convicted to Cover)

Il y a quelques années, j’ai lu une lettre d’un adolescent chrétien qui révélait avoir été physiquement trop proche de sa petite amie. Il disait qu’il avait sincèrement lutté pour savoir si oui ou non cela était permis, et il avait finalement décidé de prier à ce propos. Comme Gédéon, il avait demandé à Dieu un signe clair, “Seigneur, si elle vient ce soir, je saurais que tu es d’accord que nous ayons des rapports sexuels. Si elle ne vient pas, je saurais que tu es contre.” Plus tard dans la soirée il reçu un appel de sa petite amie qui demandait à passer le voir, le jeune adolescent finit par passer la nuit avec elle, en croyant qu’il en avait reçu la permission suite à sa prière. C’est un exemple extrème (mais réel) de ce que beaucoup d’entre nous utilisent comme méthode pour déterminer la volonté de Dieu sur telle ou telle question. Dans cet article j’aimerais montrer pourquoi il faut éviter de fonder nos décisions uniquement sur la prière, si l’Écriture nous donne déjà une direction claire et des instructions précises.
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