"Women could, however, be accepted among the perfecti; it is widely
 speculated that this was the main appeal of Catharism for women.
The  perfecti were the ministers of the Cathar faith, wandering in pairs
through the countryside to be with the credentes.
Women and men  worked together to gain converts to the faith and maintaining devotion.
To be a perfecta gave a woman a higher status than she could ever attain in the Catholic church."
                  - "Searching For A Cathar Feminism, 1100-1300"

CONVICTION, NOT CONVENIENCE

Good Christians have always provided the strongest form of spiritual opposition to the Roman Catholic and other Constantinian churches and this is proof positive that when we take a principled position, we stick to it - end of story.

ALWAYS A HUNTED MINORITY

Good Christians questioned many beliefs that segments of the early, Rome-dominated church felt were required to ensure a strong, male-dominated and centralized leadership. In so doing, they posed a serious threat to the state supported church hierarchy.

For this reason, good Christians were considered expendable and were excluded from participation in the full life of the "official" church. They were denied positions of trust in the local church and forced, under penalty of death or long imprisonment, from conducting the faith of Apostolic Christianity openly.

ALL HUMANS CREATED EQUAL

The good Christian believes in the full equality of men and women in creation and in redemption and that this is clearly supported by the New Testament (1 Corinthians 11:11, 12; Galatians 3:13, 28, 5:1).

The good Christian believes that that GOD has revealed Himself in the totality of the New Testament, the authoritative Word of GOD (Matthew 5:18; John 10:35; 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20, 21). We believe that the New Testament is to be interpreted wholistically and thematically. We also recognize the necessity of making a distinction between inspiration and interpretation: Inspiration relates to the divine impulse and control whereby the whole canonical New Testament is the Word of GOD; interpretation relates to the human activity whereby we seek to apprehend authentic revealed truth in harmony with the totality of all Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To be truly biblical, good Christians must continually examine their faith and practice under the searchlight of the New Testament and the Sayings and Teachings of Jesus Christ as authoritatively recorded in authentic Scripture.

CREATION

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that both man and women were created in GOD's image, had a direct relationship with GOD, and shared jointly the responsibilities of bearing and raising children. The same holds for same-gender couples.

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that women and men, when they joined together as couples, were to do so in a full and equal partnership. There is no implication whatsoever of female subordination or inferiority.

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that the forming of women from man demonstrates the fundamental unity and equality of human beings.

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that both man and woman are equally responsible for the existence of sinful ignorance in the world.

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that the claim made of Adam's rulership over Eve was not a part of the original created order.

REDEMPTION

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ came to redeem all humanity: women and men alike. Through faith in Christ we all become children of GOD, one in Christ, and heirs to the blessings of salvation without reference to racial, social, gender, or orientation distinctives (John 1:12,13; Romans 8:14-17; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 3:26-28).

COMMUNITY

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that at Pentecost the Holy Spirit came on men and women alike. Without distinction, the Holy Spirit indwells women and men, and sovereignly distributes gifts without preference to gender (Acts 2:1-21; 1 Corinthians 12:7, 11, 14:31).

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that both women and men are called to develop their spiritual gifts and to use them as custodians of the grace of GOD (1 Peter 4:10, 11). Both men and women are divinely gifted and empowered to minister to the whole Body of Christ, under His authority (Acts 1:14, 18:6, 21:9; Romans 16:1-7, 12, 13, 15; Philippians 4:2, 3; Colossians 4:15).

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that, in the New Testament economy, women as well as men exercise the prophetic, priestly and royal functions (Acts 2:17, 18, 21:9; 2 Corinthians 11:5; 1 Peter 2:9, 10; Revelation 1:6, 5:10). Therefore, the few isolated texts that appear to restrict the full redemptive freedom of women must not be interpreted simplistically and in contradiction to the rest of the New Testament, but their interpretation must take into account their relation to the broader Sayings and Teachings of Jesus Christ in Scripture and their total context (1 Corinthians 11:2-16, 14:33-36; 1 Timothy 2:9-15).

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that the definition of the function of leadership as the empowerment of others for service rather than as the exercise of power over them (Matthew 20:25-28, 23:8; Mark 10:42-45; John 13:13-17; Galatians 5:13; 1 Peter 5:2,3).

FAMILY

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that spouses are heirs together of the grace of life and that they are bound together in a relationship of mutual equality, submission and responsibility ( 1 Corinthians 7:3-5; Ephesians 5:21-33; Colossians 3:19; 1 Peter 3:7).

The good Christian believes Scripture teaches that both parents are to exercise leadership in the nurture, training, discipline and teaching of their children (Ephesians 6:1-4; Colossians 3:30; 2 Timothy 1:5; see also Luke 2:51).

THE CHURCH AND WOMEN

In the church, spiritual gifts of women and men are to be recognized, developed and used in serving and teaching ministries at all levels of involvement, including pastoral care, teaching, preaching, and worship.

In so doing, the church will honour GOD as the source of spiritual gifts. The church will also fulfill GOD's mandate of guardianship without the appalling loss to GOD's Kingdom that results when half of the church's members are excluded from positions of responsibility.

In the Church of GOD, public recognition is given to both women and men who exercise ministries of service and leadership. In so doing, good Christians will model the unity and harmony that should characterize the community of believers. In a world fractured by discrimination and segregation, good Christians disassociate themselves from worldly or pagan devices designed to make women feel inferior for being female. These notions are contrary to the Sayings and Teachings of Jesus Christ.

OUR HISTORY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

Some people would say: "If you were a big church like the others, you'd sing a different tune." The fact is, over 900 years ago, we were a big church. Here is what historian Zoé Oldenbourg writes about the good Christians during the Middle Ages:

"The Catharist Faith, by denying the 'reality' of the sexes - as it denied the 'reality' of all life in the flesh - was at least implying an equality between men and women. It is true that (Roman) Catholicism did not openly deny this equality; but it remained in practice at least a staunchly anti-feminist creed. Catharism favoured women a great deal more: those who had received the Holy Spirit possessed, just as men did, the power to transmit it by the laying on of hands - though as a rule they only did so in cases of emergency, and far less frequently than men. We do not find any women among the Cathar bishops (elders) or deacons; this active branch of the apostolate was reserved for men, since they were better fitted to endure the danger and fatigue of a wandering, vagabond existence." (Zoé Oldenbourg, Massacre at Montségur, A History of the Albigensian Crusade, 1961 page 61. )

Good Christians have been consistent in their convictions, believing that they are given by GOD taught by Jesus Christ and evidenced by the New Testament.