Blame and Behavior, Praise and Pain:  The Consequences and Costs of Being Jephthah's Daughter

In the biblical record in Hebrews 11, Jephthah is listed in what is known as "The Roll Call of the Faithful," those who have demonstrated exemplary faith in God.  He is recorded as being a hero.  However, would his daughter call him a hero?  Would her girlfriends call him one?  Whose hero is he?  What exactly is a hero?  Like beauty, heroism is in the eye of the beholder.

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In this segment, women will discuss blame, shame, compensatory behaviors (sometimes known as "coping mechanisms"), and what it means to live in the tension of the private father they know and the public figure others see.  Discussion will be generated around the expectations of the daughter in various types of scenarios.  Women will reflect on the competing (and sometimes conflicting!) messages and expectations placed on them to keep the "secrets" of the private father they know from the public view.  They will begin to evaluate those tensions and expectations in terms of the consequences and effects these things have had on their lives and what it has cost them.