She Needs

I remember as a young Christian on a ministry training course overhearing a conversation about the role of women in church. I thought to myself, “That’s not my problem.” I could not have been more wrong. By the grace of God, I was led to repentance. I have gone on to have the privilege of working alongside Nay and other women. They exceed me in character and contribution to God’s kingdom, without whom we’d all be impoverished. The triune God has made men and women to display together his beautiful goodness in his world. And it should matter to all of us how we interact and serve alongside one another. I’ve found Nay’s work in She Needs to be a helpful window into the painful experience of women of which I might otherwise have been ignorant. I lament my own failures and those that have been knowingly or unknowingly built into much of what we do. I’m challenged by the honest experience of women in the Church and inspired to do all I can to see, hear and honour women better.

I felt frustrated as the words fell out of my mouth for the umpteenth time, “We don’t invite women speakers because we don’t know many good female Bible handlers.” I wasn’t frustrated with the student who had asked the question, but with the culture of which I was a part and which I helped to perpetuate, which meant that gifted and godly women weren’t given the opportunity to develop or deploy their God-given abilities... Everyone who is called by God should be invested in to serve in the appropriate context for their calling. And so, the stories of women overlooked and under-trained need to be told. We must see and feel the struggle, so that those who are the gate keepers to opportunity might fling the gates open. I trust this book will do just that.