I don’t expect you to know who is pictured in the photo above. Quite frankly, if you do, I’d be very surprised if you did; however, she is a huge inspiration to me.
Every year I attend a Christian event called the Passion Conference. I’ll save you the formal “what it is” and just cut to the chase. They have several worship leaders who always appear each year and have been apart of the Passion movement since its inception, all of whom are men. Now, I want to make it clear that I don’t think this is in any way intentional or making a statement whatsoever. I truly believe it’s just the way it happens to be by mere coincidence.
However, I did not notice that the only woman who ever graced the stage at these conferences was Beth Moore, a well-known female speaker in many Christian circles. The second time I attended the conference, a woman by the name of Christy Nockels came in as a guest singer in one of the worship sessions. It really excited me to know that a woman was breaking the mold of male worship leaders. Last year, she appeared even more on stage and has enhanced worship, for me at least, beyond belief.
I look up to her in so many ways because she has broken the mold that many people buy into that women cannot be leaders in worship. Even more than that, she has changed the way in which worship is led at these conferences. However, what I find most interesting is that had I not taken the effort to look up her name (which took a good bit of hunting online) I would have no idea who she is other than what I referred to her as before: that brunette lady with the gorgeous voice that sings in worship. Although she has permeated the once all-male worship team of the conference, she has yet to be recognized nearly as much as her male counterparts. Granted, they have much greater establishment in the Christian music industry – for lack of a better term - but even at the conference, rarely if ever is her name mentioned. Also, she always stands just behind whoever is leading that particular session; she never quite makes it in line with that person.
To me, this feels very similar to the change that occurred in the women’s revolution of the 1960s. In Media, Gender, and Identity, David Gauntlett discusses the transformation that has occurred in the mass media in relation to gender. On TV, in the movies, throughout magazines, and in advertising, women have not had nearly the same “air time” or been given the same roles as men. While the trend is changing and more and more women are being pictured less geared towards the stereotypical housewife role and more towards diversified members of society, the fact remains that this did not come easy. Even today there are still controversies and inequalities that arise, but we are definitely moving in a progressive direction.
There is one main event that instigated this serious change in the eyes of society: Cosmopolitan. This now popular and mainstream magazine began in 1964 with Helen Gurley Brown as editor (53). Gauntlett explains how this magazine moved on from the feministic tone of wanting equality and just began to show women as people who “get out there and enjoy [their] independence” (53). This trailblazing magazine changed the role of women in society forever.
As I attend the Passion events, I always will look up to Christy as a trailblazer in a similar way. The standard is for men to lead worship, not just at the conference, but in this nation and around the world. Intentional or not, it’s the way it generally appears. To see a woman leading and shaking up the stage inspires me, as I think it should inspire women in general, to start playing in the man’s world. While she may not get the same level recognition, she is making a difference. She is making huge strides because, for the first time that I know of, a woman is on the Passion Conference cd. Helen Gurley Brown started a magazine that changed the world, Christy sang a song that got all the way back to Eastern’s chapel last Wedensday, what else can one woman do?
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