Since 1988, CBE has worked with supporters and ministry partners from over 100 denominations and 65 countries to dismantle the patriarchy practiced and taught as biblical. CBE collaborates with pastors, churches, schools, chapters, and NGOs around the world to eliminate gender-based violence and human trafficking and improve girls’ access to education by raising the status of women.

The system of patriarchy (men holding authority and excluding women from it) has been entrenched in Christian theology through centuries of traditions and misguided teachings and practices. This has marginalized and excluded women’s God-given gifts and service—a practice that hurts everyone. Through misinterpreted/mistranslated Bible texts, girls and women are devalued, and women’s gifts and leadership are undermined, resulting in a limited talent pool and abuse.

CBE engages the original context and language of Scripture to show that the Bible teaches that women and men are equally created in God’s image for shared governance in all spheres. Properly interpreted, Scripture teaches the fundamental equality of women and men of all ethnic groups, all economic classes, and all age groups, based on the teachings of Scriptures such as Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Equipping Women and Men to Serve as Equals

CBE advances the gospel by equipping Christians to use their God-given talents in leadership and service regardless of gender, ethnicity, or class. CBE is the only nonprofit organization promoting women’s equality as a biblical ideal to Christians worldwide. Our work addresses theological and historical errors, and flawed translations of Scripture that devalue girls and women and limit their voice, agency, and God-given gifts that families, churches, and communities need to flourish.

CBE's Publications

CBE publishes an award-winning magazine and an academic journal with articles on issues related to a biblical view of women’s equality and mutuality in the home, church, and world.

Priscilla Papers is CBE's journal and provides interdisciplinary scholarship on topics related to a biblical view of women’s equality.

Mutuality magazine + blog offers inspiration, encouragement, and information on practical issues related to Scripture and the mutuality between women and men.

Along with four thousand online resources at cbeinternational.org, content for these publications is free. Print editions of Priscilla Papers and Mutuality are also available through a subscription.

“I have been a sponge, soaking in your articles and reading the many books I found on your website. I pray that God would use you to help me heal from the many years of feeling frustrated and abandoned by the church.” —CBE supporter

Gender-Accurate Bible Translation Project

For centuries, Christians have relied on flawed, sexist Bible translations that contribute to the devaluation of girls and women relative to boys and men. Thus, CBE launched a Bible translation initiative to examine and correct flawed translations of biblical passages that are most often used to demean and subjugate females to male authority and abuse. An expert team of women and men Bible scholars from diverse ethnic, racial, geographic, and denominational backgrounds are translating 500+ Bible verses (about 70 different passages) to provide exegetically-sound, gender-accurate, and accessible English translations from the original biblical texts. CBE’s translation team is working to identify where the wording of traditional English translations is inconsistent with the sense of the original language. CBE will publish the revised texts beside evidence for the revisions in a commentary that accompanies each revision.

For more information about this project, go to https://www.cbeinternational.org/primary_page/gender-accurate-bible-translation/

Scholarships for Women: Putting Women in Ministry Leadership

The Alvera Mickelsen Memorial Scholarship (AMMS) is made possible through the generosity of Alvera’s family and the CBE community. Given the challenges and inequities women face in the church and the Christian academia, the AMMS was created to help women answer the call to ministry by providing academic scholarships. The scholarship is designed to provide financial assistance to women who are pursuing a master’s degree in a ministry field related to preaching, communications, writing, youth ministry, pastoral work, or nonprofit work.

For more information about this project, go to https://www.cbeinternational.org/primary_page/seminary-scholarships-women/

CBE’s Global Work: East Africa Partnerships

CBE International acts where Christian faith, global humanitarian work, and women’s equality intersect. Women's equality is not attainable without addressing underlying cultural and faith-based beliefs that devalue and disempower women and girls, making them vulnerable to marginalization and abuse. CBE collaborates with ministry leaders and other change agents in sub-Saharan Africa to address an imbalance of resources and power between women and men, and girls and boys. By providing culturally appropriate biblical resources, CBE is instrumental in partnering for change globally.

For more information about this project, go to https://www.cbeinternational.org/primary_page/advancing-biblical-basis-womens-equality-sub-saharan-africa/

Radio Spots for Biblical Literacy

Due to the declining biblical literacy among Christians and the lack of awareness of women leaders in Scripture and mission, CBE created weekly radio spots on Christian radio (in English and Spanish) that highlight what women accomplished in Scripture and history. These spots demonstrate how women are created in God's image and gifted for service and leadership.

The response has been overwhelming. We would like to run similar radio spots in new cities. Using radio to highlight women in Scripture and mission gives CBE the opportunity to tell more people how women are an integral part of God's work in our world.

To hear these radio messages, go to https://www.cbeinternational.org/primary_page/women-in-scripture-and-mission/

eLearning Courses That Teach Biblical Equality

CBE is developing online courses with topics such as “Beyond Bias: Aligning toward God’s vision for women and men in Bible translation,” and “Women in pastoral ministry.” These courses can be completed as an individual or with a group. They serve as an introduction to crucial topics that empower biblical learning and engagement with CBE’s mission along with options that allow for deeper learning.

The first course, “Answers to Common Questions about Women and the Church,” is free. The content is rich and extremely valuable for educating and advocating that God created women and men as equal partners for the flourishing of families and communities. Content is aimed to open the eyes of those who have been misled and confused by misinterpreted Bible passages and ideas that devalue women.

To view CBE’s eLearning courses, go to https://www.cbeinternational.org/primary_page/available-courses/

CBE's Feature Film of Katharine Bushnell

As the largest portal of egalitarian resources, it is vital that we use all available resources to deliver the message of women's shared leadership in more relevant ways. In collaboration with award-winning film director, writer, and producer, Brandon Dickerson, CBE is creating a feature film on the life of an early evangelical medical missionary, Bible translator, and egalitarian activist—Dr. Katharine Bushnell. The film will tell Katharine’s story of how she risked her reputation and life going undercover inside Wisconsin's lumber camps to expose the government-sanctioned trafficking of girls and women.

You can change lives through these projects with your generous support of CBE.

Your investment in CBE’s ministry will change lives. Just as women and men are stronger when they lead together, your financial support will help CBE expand our resources and serve more people around the world. We will spread the transforming message that God also calls women to use their gifts for God’s glory and purposes.