Growing Women Leaders

Rosie Ward

Reviewed by The Sign - June 2009

Despite a title and a cover that suggest women leaders are some sort of crop, this is a wise and brave book. Wise in its approach to scriptural and traditional reasons why women's leadership has been discouraged; brave in its willingness to talk about the differences between men and women when they are placed in positions of authority.

The book is written from an Evangelical background, but opposition to women has come from across the board. The author tackles the verses over which some Christians still stumble, in particular 1 Timothy 2 11-15. What many don't realise is that this passage is very difficult to translate with confidence, and for 'I do not permit a women to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent' (NIV) Rosie Ward suggests 'I am not saying that a women should teach in a domineering manner, but she should have a quiet demeanour.'

The book recounts the stories of biblical women and Christian saints, become tackling the question of whether women should lead differently. The women she spoke to thought that gender differences could be put down to personality; at the same time, they suggested that women were less charismatic and lacked confidence, that they were more democratic, less motivated by power and status, better at multi-tasking, more collaborative, better at reading people, more concerned about pastoral issue, and quick to draw alongside people.

Ward gives the impression that she concurs. She is particularly concerned about the lack of self-confidence among women in positions of leadership, believing it to be debilitating and undermining. The trouble is that its roots can lie in childhood, and this is one omission of the book: Ward concentrates on the position of women in the Church, and could have paid more attention to the social, cultural, and political forces in society at large to which the Church is prey.

This is a rich work, none the less, and Ward argues her basic premise well, that: 'men and women are equally saved, equally Spirit-filled, and equally sent, and women should not have to lie according to rules made up by men, nor should they abdicate their responsibility for recognising and stating their own needs.

Reviewed by The Church Times - March 2009

Ward's book on how the Churches inhibit women's leadership should be warmly welcomed. Distilled in eight chapters are the fruits of wide experiences and reflection. With a keen attention to hermeneutical principles and contemporary scholarship, she asks how New Testament and historical examples of female leadership might inform the debate today.

Notably, Ward challenges hierarchical interpretations of the Trinity which keep women subordinate. She celebrates pioneering women leaders such as Pandita Ramabai and Mary Harris, searching for characteristically female leadership approaches. Finally she illustrates and challenges 'the stained-glass ceiling' in the Church for women now, urging a mutual female and male approach to their resolution.

Ward's proposals include: that men and women both should repent of the sin of keeping women in submission; and that women should combine spiritual growth with assertively expecting to be given greater responsibility. Although Ward's chief focus is on the individual leader, without a stated understanding of the Church as a whole, she does ask how to be in charge within reciprocal community, and she lifts the lid on wider issues about servant leadership.

Reviewed by Robin Greenwood

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