Encounters with Jesus in the gospel of John

I hope to design and write a course for women coming to faith in Jesus. Beginning at the beginning I hope to debunk the myths that modern women might have in coming to the Bible for the first time. I was very struck a few years ago by an acquaintance in the playground saying to me, on discovering what I was doing, "Oh but I have read the Bible, it portrays a patriarchal culture, I've read it through, I do not agree with it." The hugeness of her statement left me a little flabbergasted, on pausing to consider, the bell rang, children were hurried into classrooms, she was gone and on walking back to my car I was rehearsing all the possible responses I could have given. So perhaps this will be my answer...long overdue.

College gives us the opportunity to begin things that we can then develop in ministry. Who knows when this course might get used. I envisage it would be in a woman's study group. I wonder if it might follow on from or even come before the Mother's course which began in embryo last year. That can be found here.

Any recommendations for books, articles would be appreciated. I aim to think through three or four pericopes from John's gospel and exegete one with reflections/study questions for the purposes of the assignment that I will write to introduce the idea of the course. Thanks.