In the Meanwhile: July '26
A few things caught in the margins this month.
While I try to post on here as regularly as I can, the reality is that I’m an “As-the-Mood-Strikes” kind of writer, rather than an “I-Have-A-Set-Writing-Timetable-That-I-WILL-Stick-to” one.
And that mood, well, it is usually prompted by something I’ve read or listened to which has excited me, challenged me, frustrated me or otherwise got me thinking.
And, of course, there are a lot of times when the mood does its very best to strike me, but my ridiculously packed schedule and overwhelmed brain combine to shut that down quick-smart (normally while also suggesting that very moment would instead be the perfect time to press play on the next mind-numbing reality TV episode I have queued up).
This means (at least) three things:
There are a lot of unfinished posts sitting in my draft folder right now.
You (and I!) never know when my next post might actually be coming.
My posts tend to run long because I really do use them to think out loud. At length.
And so, as my Substack subscriber list continues to grow (thank you! It never ceases to amaze me that any of you are interested in what I write!!) I thought I might try something new…
“In the Meanwhile”
Each month I’m going to—*ahem* I’m planning to—publish a post in which I share a handful of shorter, less polished reflections about things I’ve been reading, engaging with, listening to, thinking about and so on. Oh, and I’ll also throw in some news if I have anything worth sharing.
Think of it as the stuff that's been sitting in the margins. The stuff that is bubbling away in the back of my mind. The stuff that hasn’t quite made it to the “think properly out loud” stage yet. Or ever.
So without further ado, welcome to the first-ever issue of ‘In the Meanwhile’!
Drafted into the Church’s Gender War
From Holy Post Media and Kaitlyn Schiess
This thought-provoking article left me feeling somewhat conflicted.
I resonated with her frustration that women in ministry (on all sides of the egalitarian/complementarian divided) are expected to “keep up the fight: while many of our male colleagues settle their exegetical and theological views in their formative years and then seem to just…. move on.
At the same time, my created embodied nature as a woman matters enormously, and I don't want my ongoing faithful reflection about what that means and how I live that out as a disciple of Christ to be considered a burden, or to be seen — by me or anyone else — as a distraction from "real" ministry. To my mind, this article leaned a little too heavily in that direction. So yeah, I felt conflicted.
However, for all my ambivalence about the article, as I read various male commentators’ engagement with it, one thing did strike me very clearly. Namely, how easy it is for our well-intentioned brothers to get up in arms about how we women are “conscripted” to the front-lines on this issue all while they are not particularly interested or willing to enlist themselves in the same “battle”.
Uncommon Ground with David Bennett and Matthew Vines
Available on Spotify, Youtube, and your favourite podcast player
I found this interesting (and very long) discussion between Side A (i.e., gay affirming) theologian Matthew Vines and Side B (i.e., gay celibate) theologian David Bennett. a fascinatingly disorienting listen.
Notwithstanding the fact that I fundamentally disagree with the theological cornerstone of Vines’ position (he holds that marriage—and therefore sex— between two members of the same sex is not a rejection of God’s purposes and design so long as that relationship embodies self-giving, other-person-centered love), ironically I found his argument to be far more internally theologically coherent than David’s.
That does not mean that Vines persuaded me of his position. Not even close. (As a sidenote, I repeatedly found myself thinking that both he and Bennett would be well served—though I suspect also greatly challenged—by allowing the sociological and theological history of marriage, love and sex to be brought to bear on their own thinking.)
But to my mind Vines did quite expertly evidence the theological incoherence of much of David’s particular argument: namely, that God delights in uniquely and particularly glorifying himself through the reality of same-sex attracted Christians’ same-sex attraction itself. This argument revolves around the moral exceptionality of what the world might term “queerness”, or what some Side B adherents consider equivalent to the “weak things of the world”. This is an argument that I’ve been concerned about for some time and so I appreciated (in a disorienting way!) hearing Vines address it so perceptively.
I also think we need to keep interrogating the assertion (as made by Bennett in this podcast and others elsewhere) that singleness, especially for same-sex attracted disciples, is a life of unique sacrifice or even martyrdom as compared to our married brothers and sisters (and even opposite-sex attracted singles).
The singleness of all unmarried and no-longer married Christians is not a sacrifice. It is the faithful stewarding of our selves and our bodies in the situation which God has assigned us for the good he intends for us and his glorification. I’ve written about that in the past here and here.
Insight with Karl Faase: Dani Treweek - Rethinking Singleness & What the Church Gets Wrong
Available on Spotify, Youtube, and your favourite podcast player
So this is a little bit cheeky because even though I did in fact listen to this podcast episode, it is also actually a podcast episode featuring me. The reason I’m sharing it is not because I think you all need my duclet Australian accent in your lives but because upon listening to it I realised:
It was actually one of the most enjoyable podcast interviews I can remember doing. I had a really great time chatting with Karl and found myself regularly smiling throughout the listen-back.
Because Karl is such a great interviewer, this episode is a helpful little introduction to me and my ministry more broadly. If you are new around here (or even if you are not!) and are wondering “Who is this Dani person?!” you might like to check it out.
Karl asks some great questions about singleness and cross-shaped relationships in the church and I think we had a really great discussion about those things.
All of which is to say, you might enjoy giving it a listen!
I use the title ‘What I’m Reading Right Now’ rather loosely. The truth is that I’m so busy at the moment that not a lot of reading is getting done. My pile of ‘To be read’ titles is growing precariously tall.
Nevertheless, here are just two of the the books I’m (slowly) making my way through at the moment.
Transfiguring Headship: A Figural Theology of Gender by Lyndon Jost
I’ve been so intrigued by the opening chapters of this one that I’ve actually stopped reading it for the moment, until I have time to sit down and immerse myself in it for more than small moments of time..
…this study traces, historically and sociologically, the genealogy of “headship” and its waning acceptance as a compelling theological and civil category. What we will find is that, scripturally speaking, the “head” is to be understood not as the “ruler” over the body (as is commonly supposed and argued for) but rather as the representative member of the body, and the body as the glory of the head.
God’s Yes to Women edited by Anna Boxwell, Amy J. Erickson and Laura Rademaker
This is a new Australian egalitarian-authored collected volume. I’m finding it both a familar read (in terms of the egalitarian arguments it advances) but also a very frustrating read (because of its caricatured representation of my own denominational context when it comes to gender complementarity and distinction). I’ll be writing a review of it (for external publication) in coming weeks.
Single Christians and IVF
IVF is fast becoming one of the most pressing questions facing single Christians today.
If that strikes you as an unexpected statement then that is because singles (and especially single women) in your church haven’t had the courage or confidence to raise it with you, or likely anybody else. Just because you don’t know they are wrestling with it doesn’t mean they aren’t. They are. Trust me.
On Saturday 8 August I’ll be running a seminar in Melbourne (10am–12pm AEST) on the topic. We’ll consider why not every path to parenthood is one that Christians are free to pursue, how faithful discipleship may sometimes call us to embrace both the possibilities and limits of life in a fallen world, and how God may meet our desires to nurture, care for, and invest in the next generation in ways that are unexpected and deeply life-giving.
If you're in Melbourne, come along in person. If you're not — and I know plenty of you reading this are scattered well beyond Australia — there's a livestream, and a recording for afterwards, so distance needn't hold you back. (We’ve also got a repeat coming up in Sydney in October).
Single Ever After is a Finalist!
This week it was announced that my book, Single Ever After has been shortlisted as one of ten finalists in the 2026 Australian Christian Book of the Year Award. What an honour! And quite an unexpected one at that since my academic book The Meaning of Singleness won the same award just two years ago!
When the news came through it really hit me that we are indeed in a brave (and wonderful!) new era—one when Christians are finally seeing the importance, value and significance of thinking seriously about the Bible’s teaching about singleness. It’s a privilege to be “riding that wave”. But it would never have happened without the faithful and costly ministry of so many (mainly single) Christian men and women across the last decade or so. I’m so grateful to them for their service of us all.
That’s all for this meanwhile!
