Seminary Revives the Art of Homemaking

The war on femininity takes the form of encouraging women, starting as little girls, to act as unchaste as possible.  That’s supposed liberation.  And, as we Christians know, it is a lie. Still, it is radical feminist philosophies that saturate Women’s studies and Gender and Sexuality programs on college campuses. Meanwhile, home economics disciplines have been phased out of existence at the university level.

The apparent lack of these character-based programs geared at women is not just a public school problem. Equally, home economics courses are largely absent from high-profile conservative Christian university course catalogs. Thankfully, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) and faculty are brazenly challenging the stigma surrounding the accreditation of homemakers.

Dr. Pat Ennis is the Distinguished Professor of Homemaking at SWBTS and author of The Christian Homemaker’s Handbook. When asked by an IRD staff member why universities no longer champion homemaking as a necessary training program, Dr. Ennis answered:

There have been a number of issues that have impacted the home economics profession, and of course, part of it is the feminist movement that has so infiltrated all of our thinking that unless woman can put their personal identity tied to a paycheck, they really do not feel like they are being fulfilled.

The majorities of Dr. Ennis’ SWBTS students are pastors’ wives or young women who were raised in evangelical churches. Yet, Dr. Ennis noted that her, students all too eagerly, sympathize with radical feminist ideology —a worldview utterly incompatible with God’s Word. “Our evangelical community has been like the proverbial frog putting it in a bucket of water and allowing it to heat up very slowly.” She continued, “We don’t even realize in the evangelical community now that we have been cooked and the feminist movement has moved in.”

Dr. Ennis also expressed her concern for a lack of foundational Biblical principles among young female evangelicals explaining, “My research indicates that the disconnect has come in a variety of areas. The first is poor role modeling from the women in our churches.” She continued, “We are beginning to deal with both issues with a cafeteria approach to God’s word. Maybe we can take a little bit of this and a little bit of that and put together our agenda rather than taking a look at God’s word and recognize that we either accept all of it or accept none of it.”

For these reasons, it is important to SWBTS and Dr. Ennis to “actually train women to go in and not only know the content area well, but at the same time teach those women to go out and launch those programs at other colleges and seminaries.”

Already, SWBTS has seen an outgrowth from its successful homemaking program. The first-ever The Art of Homemaking Conference: Making Your House a Home transpired on October 25-26 to discussed God’s plan for the homemaker, the impact of feminism on the home, and the spiritual formation through family worship.

During a plenary session Dr. Dorothy Patterson, SWBTS professor and wife of SWBTS President Paige Patterson, acknowledged:

 This Generation needs mothers with a magnificent obsession in the sense of complete dedication to their task of nurturing the next generation, rearing them up unto the Lord. Who are not only family-oriented, but also family-obsessed.

“I am without apology, family-obsessed,” Dr. Patterson continued, “I love Southwestern seminary. I love being able to do all the things that I’m gifted to do in some measure.” However, nothing outside of our home is more important than the family, which is why women can be unashamed and unapologetically “home-centered,” according to Dr. Patterson.

“I just want you to know that you are doing the most important thing on God’s earth in molding the next generation,” said Dr. Patterson, “Now go home and keep on keeping on.”

Everyone can agree that staying home to rear children is not easy. So instead of belittling or ignoring women who choose homemaking as a career path, it is time society recognize their need for support and training. It is time public universities and Christian colleges everywhere take note of the important art of homemaking.