No

Is this the one? http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Hendiatris

Just a minor point that occurs to me: Paul and his contemporaries from Jewish backgrounds would of course be likely still to refer to the feasts as calendar markers whether or not they were observing them in a religious sense or expecting others to do so, much as we use expressions like " see you in the New Year" , or "the Easter break" or even "Whit week". And don't get me started on school term dates which seem to rule many diaries long after any children remain...

Jesus seems not to have left any instructions for how his followers were to organise themselves formally in his absence ( apart from " do this in remembrance of me" and "love one another". ) But as an itinerant rabbi he upset the religious establishment of his day by associating with the less respectable members of society including prostitutes: he also shocked hs disciples by discussing theology with a Samaritan woman ( probably an outcast from her own society due to her unhappy marital history) . He counted two women, Mary and Martha, amongst his closest friends, and encouraged Mary to abandon the kitchen to sit at his feet - the place of an apprentice rabbi learning from a master. And he announced the news of his resurrection first to the women and told them to pass on the news to Peter and the others.

I realise my experience is unusual in CDn circles ( though there are major UK conferences at which women are welcome to lead workshops, ) but it is still perceived as male-dominated by friends from other churches and by wider UK society. A recent Sunday Times article struck a nerve:

"Female students were banned from speaking during a seminar run by an Isalmic society at a leading university. They were also forced to walk through a 'sisters only' entrance to attend the event... and were segregated from men by being seated at the back of the lecture theatre. Men were able to ask questions by raising their hands but female students had to write down their queries. One QM student, a devout Muslim.. said she found the experience degrading "

There have been howls of protest at recent guidance which seemed to support this kind of practice in UK universities. Against this background it is no wonder that the traditional CD practice is a stumbling block for many.
However, I do appreciate that many, men and women, are happy with the existing mish-mash of compromises, exceptions and peculiarities , among which I have heard of or encountered:
A meeting (bible class or business meeting) being formally "closed" in prayer to enable it to continue with a female input,
Sisters being allowed to read out the talk of a brother (maybe a husband who is incapacitated)
Sisters conversely encouraged to write an article which can be read out by a brother
Sisters giving thanks at the family dinner table until a son is baptised at which point they are no longer allowed to

Fortunately for my sanity I have not belonged to the more extreme traditional environments for the last 20+ years! but I am well aware that for those who are not used to it, even the sound of a female voice contributing a vital clarification to the announcements can be deeply disconcerting.

At ours we have a small informal bible class which men and women both take turns in leading - I have found this very useful in providing an incentive to look at a subject in more depth and share my findings. Sunday mornings we regularly have sisters reading, and more occasionally they have shared short thoughts/testimonies etc as part of the b of b service: although we do more often have the standard one-man exhortation  we are quite open to a range of other formats. And everyone is invited to add their contributions "from the floor" as part of the regular pastoral prayer section. 

Thanks!

In putting together a brief discussion paper on "courtesy - an under-rated virtue" I cam across the following comments on the word πραυτες which is translated "courtesy" in 1 Peter 3v16 in the NET Bible (but as "gentleness" / "meekness" or similar elsewhere). Would anyone with access to a modern lexicon be able to comment please?

Famed Scottish New Testament scholar of an era gone by, Professor William Barclay, once
said that this word translated as “meek” is perhaps the poorest example of translation work ever
shown in bringing a word or a passage from Greek into English. A Greek, Greek scholar, Spiros
Zodhiates, tries to enlighten us. He begins with Aristotle’s understanding of the word as used in
classical or high brow Greek. According to the brilliant Aristotle, prautes (πραυτες) meant:
...the middle standing between two extremes, getting angry without reason and not getting angry
at all. Therefore, prautes is getting angry at the right time, in the right measure, and for the
right reason. . . . [I]t is a condition of mind and heart that demonstrates gentleness, not in
weakness, but in power. It is a balance born in strength of character.

(source http://silversidechu...us_meekness.pdf)

The verse is just really a springboard for a wider discussion of "courtesy" (as in "politeness/ etiquette") in general, but I would be glad to have a picture of what Peter might have meant other than from Strongs!

Thanks