Debbie Duncan - Gifted: Women in Leadership

GIFTED

Having worked in leadership roles in both commercial and church environments, and in both short- and longterm teams, this book has helped me to evaluate the ways in which I have functioned, and challenged me to harness new approaches and practices that would both improve my own performance and satisfaction and that of others who look to me for direction.

Joyce Gledhill, Operations Director and Elder at Gold Hill Baptist Church

GIFTED

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

Debbie Duncan

Text copyright 2019 Debbie Duncan

This edition copyright 2019 Lion Hudson IP Limited

The right of Debbie Duncan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by

Lion Hudson Limited

Wilkinson House
Jordan Hill Business Park
Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 8DR, England
www.lionhudson.com

ISBN 978 0 8572 1953 4

e-ISBN 978 0 8572 1949 7

First edition 2019

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, copyright 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. NIV is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crowns patentee, Cambridge University Press.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover image retrorocket / istockphoto.com

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

(1 Corinthians 15:58)

This book is dedicated to both men and women who are serving the Lord. You may not have an official title, but God has called you to do what you do. I want to remind you that he knows who you are.

It is also dedicated to the person who has believed in me the most you have supported and challenged me as you want me to be the very best version of myself.
Thank you, Malcolm.

I also want to dedicate it to the remarkable family we are a part of Matthew, Benjamin, Anna and Riodhna, Ellie and Jacob, may you reach further and higher than we have as you seek to serve God.

CONTENTS

The first time I was challenged about the role of women in leadership in the church was not long after I decided to become a Christian and follower of Jesus. I was in a gathering where a woman was talking to us about her service and ministry overseas. Her story was riveting. She told us of people who had come to faith through her preaching; of others who had been supported through hardship and heartbreak by her pastoral care, love, and support. She shared stories of men and women who had been strengthened in their relationship with God and with one another through her discipleship, Bible teaching, careful listening, godly advice and gentle but clear wisdom. She recounted stories of new ventures in faith and breaking new ground for the gospel of the Lord Jesus that involved planting churches, leading missions, praying for the sick, and bringing the reconciling presence of God to bear in difficult civil and political situations. As she brought us up to date on her ministry, she invited us to reflect on moments when God had used her to speak his mind and his perspective into difficult and divisive situations. It was amazing. As a young believer, she inspired me. Her passion and faithfulness to God were astounding.

I noticed, however, that she was telling us her story from the lower platform in the building where the meeting was taking place. That puzzled me because the room had a balcony too and it was full. She would have been seen more clearly by them if she had been positioned in the empty pulpit. As a new Christian I didnt understand the difference between the lower platform and the pulpit (I still do not), so I asked the person who was sitting beside me why this remarkable woman was standing where she was. She said, and I will never forget this, Women dont preach here, son, they share. And women dont teach, they give testimony. Our church believes that women should be kept out of the pulpit. That statement did not make sense to me then and it does not make sense to me now.

I came to understand that the position that church held was one of complementarianism explained later in this book in more detail where it was believed that women were equal to men but that there were certain roles and functions of governance, leadership and teaching in the church that God did not want them to occupy. I came to understand the concept and to appreciate the biblical defence of it as I grew in my own faith, but it puzzled me. What particularly troubled me on the night in question were the implications of all of this and the way it was being handled in that church. Was the higher pulpit really more holy and important than the lower platform? How could that be right? And what about the woman herself? In the weeks and months that followed, as I read the Bible, I began to see that the ministry God had entrusted to her covered many of the bases of those things that the church did not feel she should be doing. She was fulfilling the duties of an elder, a pastor, a preacher, a teacher, an evangelist, an apostle, a prophet, and a deacon. How could she be fulfilling these roles if God did not want her to and the church felt she was barred from? When I asked these questions, I was told that she was able to because she was a missionary. God was using her because no man was there to be used. I couldnt accept that. The implications were too profound. Was she second choice? Or were the people she was reaching less important than the people in my own country? None of it made sense.

And so, I embarked on a study of the Bible for myself. Not asking God to help me to justify the position of women in leadership but instead asking him to show me through the Bible what he wanted to say about leadership in his church and in society, what the traits of leadership were and what the roles of men and women were in this regard. It was my commitment to take Scripture as my plumb line and my desire to read it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that led me to the strong conviction that women and men could occupy any role in the churchs leadership, governance, teaching and ministry that God called them to. This is commonly called the egalitarian position and is also explained later in this book.