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« What Are You Waiting For? | Main | Gifts, not Guilt »

January 10, 2007

Welcome to Gifted for Leadership!

by by Amy Simpson

Welcome to Gifted for Leadership! This blog is designed specifically for Christian women who are capable, called, and gifted leaders. Unfortunately, many Christian women in leadership feel alone in their calling. They need a place where they can converse about the issues they face, encourage one another, and challenge each other. They want something different from the women's ministry resources and events that discuss issues unique to women. They want tools that visit topics that are not unique to women, but that approach them from a woman's perspective.

That's why we're producing a free monthly e-mail newsletter (have you signed up?), this blog, and - coming soon - a collection of downloadable booklets. These tools will equip, encourage, challenge, and unite women who exercise leadership gifts in church and parachurch ministry, in business, and at home. They'll also build a community of women with leadership gifts who can challenge and support one another and grow together.

This site is a resource of Christianity Today International, produced in partnership with the editors of LEADERSHIP JOURNAL. I'm very excited to launch this blog and to tell you about our Gifted for Leadership philosophy:

We believe that people who have the spiritual gift of leadership are called to lead, not for their own benefit, but for the sake of nurturing the body of Christ. Women with leadership gifts, as with all gifts, are obligated to use those gifts in the ways and the places God has called them to. We are committed to speaking with these values:

Biblical truth - We always look at leadership issues through a biblical lens.
Reality - We are realistic about the issues, struggles, challenges, opportunities, and joys women leaders face.
Honesty - We are committed to addressing reality with honesty and without apology.
Redemption - We express ourselves without bitterness. When speaking from personal pain, we point to hope and healing - even if our healing process is incomplete. This is not a forum for mere arguments or expressions of personal anguish.
Love - We care about women in leadership and want to make personal connections with them.
Equipping - We help women get better, and more confident, in what they do.
Encouragement - We want women to feel good about the gifts God has given them, and we help them see how they can use those gifts. We love and root for the church and its people.
Challenge - We challenge women to use their leadership gifts, pursue spiritual growth, and think deeply.
Unity - We help women rise above the arguments and judgments about where they should lead. Instead, we agree that we are all obligated to use our gifts in the ways God has called us to do so.

If you're committed to these values, please join this conversation. Let's encourage each other to use the gifts God has given us.

Note about images: All non-biographical images that appear on GiftedForLeadership.comare used by permission of ClipArt.com and ? 2007 Jupiterimages Corporation, unless noted otherwise.

Comments

I have many female friends who struggle with where they fit in within the church, especially when they have a gift of leadership. I'm definitely passing this resource on to them immediately.

A broad, bold, and compassionate philosophy! I'll look forward to seeing how you develop it.

What a blessing! The ministry I lead helps indigenous Christian women who lead in the least-reached places of our troubled world: Arab, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian...women in ministry. I

also speak to Christian colleges and universities and often hear the lament that women with leadership skills are uncertain where and how they'll serve upon graduation. Thank you for this valueable resource. May it increase!

I am one of those women who do feel alone in their calling. Thank you for making a biblically based roundtable and support system for women who feel called to leadership roles.

I am interested in receiving the newsletter for women in leadership.

Writting this from SA and have learnt a lot through the ministry of Christianity Today.

Dear Amy,

Ed Gilbreath sent me your link -- looks like a great resource and I am enjoying the posts. I coordinate an infertility and adoption ministry at my church and am writing a book called "Adoption Support," which will help others launch similar church- and community-based ministries.

Thanks for this resource -- I'll alert my blog readers to its existence.

Anyone who wants to sign up for the newsletter: Enter your e-mail address in the "Subscribe to Our Free Newsletter" box at the top left corner of this page.

I'm so glad you've all found us, and I'm looking forward to some great conversations on this blog!

I know this will be a great ministry to all the leaders of the World... God bless... Love from Paris

I look foward to these newsletters. I've been in a position of leadership for a year now. I miss the openess I once shared with my christian friends. I'd like to learn the balance of leading yet also being honest about my struggles.

I've been sensing a need for the emergence of leadership development for women for unconventional reasons.

Women all over need hope and that hope often comes through direction from female leaders.

In reading about midlife crisis, something that happens during that time is once women have tapped into their nurturing feminine self during child bearing years, they reach a point where they are ready to tap into their masculine side which shows up in areas of returning to school, seeking meaningful work, and leadership type roles. (Men on the other hand by this stage want to tap into their feminine side - spending more time at home, being more caring, etc.)

As women are needing to move on it is valuable to help them tap into new areas of seeing themselves as leaders no matter what the setting. We often think there is no room for us, but there are a lot of nonbelievers we still need to reach and a lot of new ministries and businesses, beyond what we can fathom, to be launched. It is timely to bolster women into having confidence to lead and develop and be fully the woman God has called them to be.

What a wonderful endeavor...resources and support for women in leadership!
I teach teens in a Christian school and with my fellow teachers view the ministry and outreach to these students as a thread that is woven throughout every subject area we teach. My pastor refers to us as "Youth Pastors," a view I've never seen taken before regarding teachers.
Recognizing and empowering women in leadership...Amen!

Yes, I am interested in learning more on women's leadership.

Many times I feel very much alone within the Body of Christ. Although that should not be, it is a reality when standing against the tides of society that has crept into the church. I need the support and encouragement that I believe your ministry can bring my way and I will pass this on to other women.

I would love to join this conversation with Christian women. I belong to a Bible Baptist Church where for the first time in our election, elected officers are all women (President, Vice-P, Secretary, Treasurer and Auditor) Other ministries are tasked by men and women of the church. Is it possible for me to get some ideas online on what are the functions/responsibilites/etcc.. of each officers. We are still undergoing the process of redefining our vision, mission and as the VP of the church (formerly the secretary). I want to help and participate more in relation to the church i serve. Thank you very much. God bless you

Yes, I am interested in learning more on women's leadership.

Rosemarie:

Have you seen www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com? That site is another online resource from Christianity Today International. There you can find hundreds of downloadable packets that help with various aspects of church leadership, training, and administration. You might want to go there and search for the word "board." For example, you might find this download useful: Church Board Basic Training Kit.

Patty:

In the upper left corner of this site, you'll see a box called "Subscribe to Our Free Newsletter." If you enter your e-mail address there, you'll be on the list to receive our free monthly e-mail newsletter on women's leadership.

Thankfully I am part of a church that embraces women in ministry and in leadership. My husband and I are the assistant pastors at our church and the senior pastors are a husband and wife team. I pray that the entire body of Christ will soon embrace the women God has called!

What a marvelous addition to the useful tools from "Christianity Today." I am very involved in my church and am finishing my bachelors degree so I can go to seminary. Thankfully my denomination and church does support women in ministry, but I look forward to what you have to share.

Blessings!

Yeah! I have an MDiv and have a position in denominational leadership, and am excited about a resource like this. Great idea!

Hi, I am director of children's ministry here on Kauai. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways. I love to teach the children about Jesus and the bible. I also feel like the Lord is calling me to help the younger women and teach them the word of God. I don't think I need to call it a ministry because I doing it one on one already and edifying the church. I thank God for everything and I do it for Him and not a man otherwise you will burn out. Thank you Jesus

Thank you for this resource. It is so great to have this available from a source we trust, like Christianity Today.

Maybe today church women are to be reaching out more to the world that they live in, not just in their local church body. This isn't a new concept, of course, but if women have become disciples, and served w/in the church body to use their gifts there, what about our encouraging each other to look at the world where we are already placed and might have opportunities for influence and reaching out w/the love of Christ.

I am so pleased to have come across this website. I am a pastor in a denomination that supports women in ministry world wide. However tradition in my country (Australia) challenges the notion of women in leadership. I am the only female minister in my denomination in Queensland and, as such, am paving the way for many other women to come. Everything I do is scrutinised and people are watching to see if I succeed. By the grace of God, I do and I am. Consequently I am evidence that women are capable tools for the gospel as well and am breaking down the traditional barriers that currently exist. However it is a lonely place. I am looking forward to the encouragement I will receive from being a part of the community established by this blog.

i do love the fact that the aim of this forum is not just to express personal opinions, pains, disappointments e.tc but a place where everything points out to christ and his redemption work. all too often, as women, we do get lost in emotionalism and get out of focus, i guess due to our inherent nature. I am thriled to have come across this website, a forum that is different from other typical female gathering places. this place is geared towards leadership, equiping female christian leaders, christs' way.

I happened uppon your website while looking for leadership conferances in my area. (East Texas)
I lead the women's ministry at my church and would love to be able to find training for myself and the women who serve with me. Any suggestions? Thanks,Rhonda

Wonderful news, and you are right on the pulse of what God is revealing to the Church in this decade - that women need to be given 100% freedom to use their gifts and talents in the Church.

How exciting to see this resource and place of encouragement for women called to serve God using all HIS gifts on loan to us to serve HIS body. I have been in WM for over 20 years and have a few scars, but God has been so faithful and I know He will bless churches where women are freed up to use their gifts. I am now in Africa attempting to help women find their place in this puzzle. The mountains seem bigger than before, but God is bigger than I can imagine. Let's press on!

Hi! I'm excited about the prospects of this newsletter. I've been in leadership positions in my church for over 20 years. I'm currently a licensed pastor and director of a Bible Institute. I have found very few women in whom I can put my confidence as a sound leader, mentor or coach, and I'm in search of such women right now. Perhaps your newsletter can fill in the gaps until the right woman(women) come along. Thanks!

This is an incredible resource... and I look forward to sharing it with some of my friends as well, and especially my daughters. As my name suggests, I have felt alone on my journey, and am so thankful to have found such a great resource. What an encouragement!! : )

I am so grateful for this method of communicating with other women in leadership positions. My husband, Gene, is the president of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. As I have traveled the USA and the world, I have heard the "cry" of women as they struggle with "keeping their idenity" while supporting their husbands. I think that this is a topic that could be of encouragment as we continue to sort through this issue.

Thank you for the Gifted Leadership in relation to women. I am an ordained minister with some 30yrs ministerial experience and have long dreamed about helping other women in ministry.I was the 1st women ordained in my state by my demonination.I have face all the problems of a woman in ministry. If I can help you I will. I am an Australian. Very much engaged in church life.

As a university related person... I need to correct my spelling !!! In my former note I made a "typo". The word should be spelled "IDENTITY" !!! : )

Marylou:

As a professional editor, I understand your impulse! :)

Thank you for this! I believe God is leading us all to the same place. I can't wait to see what he has in store. This has been my gift for a long time and I am anxious to see how it fits into my church.

So many are agreeing that they feel alone in ministry...Yet as I look through posts, I notice very little interaction (do see some, but it is certainly limited). I suppose part of that is the nature of "Blogging."

But I wonder if this website could set up a message board format in which women could better interact with eachother and actually carry on cohesive conversations?

Perhaps that would fill a need that blogging a string of bios and soliloquies cannot?

Just a thought.

Amazing what an issue loneliness is for women in leadership and those who stand beside husbands in leadership. Would love to see an article with ideas to combat that.

I almost cried when I found this site.

The Lord has been telling me that He has given me leadership skills; currently I am working as an Office/HR/Payroll manager for a large construction company. Our owners are all Christians, and we believe that the construction work is secondary to our "real work" of evangelism.

I have been fighting this gift because of the upbringing I had. Basically, I was told that women should be the helpers/assistants and be subject to the men in their lives.

I would like to see articles on how to NOT "assume" the leadership role in the household. I have been married to a man for 21+ years who is NOT a leader. I desire so much for him to lead our family, but it seems that I have to prod or nag him to do it. That isn't a healthly relationship. Anybody else struggle with this?

I've been ministering to working women for five years. Your website will be posted on mine as a great resource for women who are struggling with leadership and their work!

We are all gifted to serve.

I am a single christian for 27 years now,mid 40's. I seem to be entering leadership primarily by default. All around me are younger christians or married with no time.I've fought this for a long time. While I lead in my job and have no trouble with that leading in ministry is not something I originally desired. I need help and direction.

I have written an article on "The Loneliness of Leadership". Interested, I could get it to you. It is also the last chapter in my husband's first book (out of print now). Leading with a Follower's Heart, by Eugene B. Habecker

I am so glad to have discovered this site and look forward to the blessings I am sure that it is going to meet in the lives of many ladies in Leadership.

Thank you so much for starting this.

Your site caught my spirit, howeverI need to know if you are multi-racial and ecumenical. I am African American.

Rev. Bolden-Rogers:

Thanks for asking. Gifted for Leadership is a ministry of Christianity Today International, a non-denominational organization that is international and multi-racial in its scope. Our staff represents various racial and denominational backgrounds, as does our panel of editorial advisers. To learn more about the people who are contributing to this resource, scan the profiles on this site. You can find them by clicking "Connections" at the top of this page or by clicking on the links under "Editorial Advisers" on the left side of the page. Welcome to Gifted for Leadership!

It's great there's a blog for women in leadership. I'm Asian servant-leader and am passionate to see women rise up in their giftings. Yes, I meet alot of women who think that they are not capable of leading because of their doctrinal upbringing or subservience status in their family or cultures. So, I'm with you if you're saying that women can lead and this is the perspective from biblical lens.

Am so happy to have discover this site.it has been wonderful and life transforming going through write-ups that are eye opening and develop one spiritually. u are doing a wonderful work, may God continue to lift you up.(AMEN).

A wonderful website for today's modern women!

Hi,
I've never done this before but am desperate for help! I am the (Unqualified) head of the Women's Ministry at the first English speaking protestant Church in PuDong, Shanghai, China. As we only have one church here we are attracting every English speaking nationality and denomination - which is good! However, we are also getting some VERY New Age people. In the B-study I teach (Beth Moore's Daniel) I have a Yoga Master and a lady who is deeply involved in Devra Surya Ma http://www.byregion.net/profiles/universalteachings.html
I have found many, many articles on why Yoga and Chritianity don't match - but I cannot seem to find anything on this other Universal Healing stuff. Does anyone have a site or a word for me? Advise on how to gently proceed with her?
Bless you all for your help!

Thank you so much for this resource. I have just started my new responsibility as a Country Director of an International Non Governmental organization in one of the poorest countries in the world. Furthermore, I work with a team of 11 men, and I am the only woman. I know this site will benefit me very much as we learn from one another. Thank you for making this a reality. God bless you.

Thank you for this great resource. I'd be interested in resources for messages specifically addressing women's issues as well as personal leadership development.

I was browsing and found you in Google. I have recently received my credentials. I am presently attending Southeastern University and working on a Church Leadership degree. I am excited about what the Lord is doing on behalf of women and look forward to working with broken women. Need encouragement and think this site is excellent.
Thank You

I glad to have found this website. I'm a leader of Sisters Ministry in my Church. I find this to be a very helpful website as I would like to know more about leadership.I'd also be interested in resources for messages addressing women's issues as well as personal leadership development.

Thanks for good post! Thats what i've been looking for.

I'm excited to have just discovered your community for women leaders. Releasing women into leadership is a growing passion in my ministry. I just completed my MM in leadership. The subject of my thesis is about women leaders in the Church. It looks like I have found the right place!

Judson Press has published a book that will be of great interest to women in ministry. It's titled: God in Her Midst: Preaching Healing to Wounded Women by Elaine M. Flake. To whom could I send a review copy? I'd love to have it shared on this site.

To those who are looking for additional resources, I would suggest 2 great online magazines, Inspired Women Magazine and Celebrate! Chicago Christian Woman Magazine. I am a regular contributor to both and know the editors to be committed to all women fulfilling what God has called them to. The topic of women in leadership is addressed in both.

Before my comments God Bless all you laboured for all this God mission . This nice when we look as a christian felloship. Specially for our women sisters. THough I am not women I feel the burden of women is tremendus . Hence, we have to support the by spritual development. Before this time I my self had a lot of problems in my life .

Thanks for this great site. I have felt God's presence just by reading the comments today.

I need some prayer,help, advice, guidance. The university where I teach is making huge changes, and my position will be eliminated. In short, I am job hunting. I have experience in several areas such as editing, writing, public speaking, teacing, etc.

In addition to a B.A. in speech communicaton and theater,I hold a Ph.D. in English/Philosphy & Religious Studies as well as a D. Min. with specialization in ethics and biblical studies.

I spent five years working as a director of religious education before returning to academia.

At this stage of my life, I am seeking and searching for God's will and guidance.
Do you, my sisters in Christ, have some advice, contacts, and insights? Thanks so much for reading my comments. May our Lord continue to smile upon you.

Kathleen

Wow! that's great. yes I wanna learn more from this site. I look forward that it would help me a lot to grow more in the ministry.

I recently was invited to a Tues. Bible study with other women. This is blessing indeed. I grew up with a foster mother who was physicall abusive to me and constantly verbally abusive,so it was difficult for me to accept leadership of any kind. Thank God He is now teaching me the value of friendship and prayer with others.

Hi Amy - great read! God has certainly gifted you. Been way too long... love to find out about your journey. Shoot me a note when you have the chance. Thanks for all you do in the Cause of Christ! L

I am looking for a skit that relates to
Pass the Legacy -the Christian lady in ministry. Do you have any thoughts on the subject I available

Thanks
Elaine

Amy, I'm the tech admin for Christians for Biblical Equality's blog, The Scroll. Sorry, I couldn't find a direct contact page. Would Gifted For Leadership be interested in blogrolling our blog, and vice versa?

Could you please email me if you get a chance. Thanks!

Hi,
In First Peter chapter 3:1 said " Wives, in the same ways be submissive to your husband..." What is that means? In which aspects do we have to be submissive? Do we have to be submissive to our husbands in every area of our lives? What about when ones have a non-christian husband who does not want any participation or commitment in the christian live: ministry, church participation, tithes, etc..?

Hi! I am a beginning speaker and I am wondering if anyone has any advice on getting started. I feel God's calling & he has provided some opportunities but I want to make it more "official" & don't know where to begin to get invitations.
Thank you!
Diane

Greetings, and thank you for filling this very important need!

I just discovered your site two weeks ago and am so excited about what you're doing. I love your definition of women leaders as it's evident that you recognize more leaders than just those behind the pulpit. Already I have, without reservation, forwarded the link to those who are in ministry, traditional or not. They'll be wonderfully blessed!

Second, as I read the "Welcome to..." and the comments that followed I noticed one from Xiomara, posted on 04/04/08. Does your corporate policy allow for the connecting individuals? Not only would I love to answer her questions about submission, I believe she’s a friend I haven’t seen for some 10 years whose contact information I misplaced.

If there are no objections, some information will prove useful. If this is the friend I lost track of, she will recognize the name of someone we both knew: Dawn Kingsley-Dillard. We all used to live in the Bay Area (San Jose, CA), and Xiomara and I met at Dawn's apartment at a family party. (Now Dawn and her family live in San Diego, and my husband and I live in Elk Grove, CA, in the Sacramento valley). Xiomara will also recognize me because we discussed my writing ministry.

Whether or not you're able to assist me, please believe that Gifted for Leadership will fill a wonderful need and you will be mightily blessed for answering that call.

all of Heaven's best to you and yours,
Margret Boyd
aslansfire@surewest.net

What a blessing it was to find this site. I have been praying that God would help me in my calling as a woman of leadership.

What a blessing to find this site- many years ago, I wrote for a copy of the writer's guidelines for TCW, to do an article on marriage/family, but suddenly found myself divorced and single! Can anyone help with advice on how to get started writing? I would like to use what I've learned, about myself, and God, to help others. I need a mentor, or someone who can guide me in starting a woman's ministry for those who need emotional healing. I would like to begin by writing for now, but don't know where to start. any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank You, Lord...should have known you'd lead me to a place of renewal.

Hello, Friends...It's nice to know I'm not alone on this journey. Having had a very talented husband for 51 years, I've always had the question in my mind, "I wonder what talent God has given me." The answer has been here all the time; so at the risk of repeating myself, Thank You, Lord, for leading me.

GatorGranny

People listen very carefully to GOD's words. GOD has given us reponsiblity to care for this planet Earth and life on it .Women are included. He/she who like himself and who like his mother and who ask for GOD's b;essings must love his/her sister by heart not by words only. Express your spritual love in words and in action. Stay Blessed as `you love your sister women. Prey for all humans to truely love each other, unite then GOD has commanded the true eternal life and blessings in it.
Debela Hunde Feyssa( Assistant Professor of Biodiversity/Ethnobotany) and Born Again in Christ

I've had an aversion to 'women-only' and 'men-only' ministries for quite some time, and as things progress in the earth, that aversion is getting greater.
why is there a separate ministry for women? Are we not called to the same spiritual strenghtening, spiritual warfare and spiritual growth that males are? Somewhere there is a disconnect in ministry that continues to nurture the weaknesses and 'emotional dependence' that we experience. And that causes many to be ineffectual. The Body of CHRIST seems to be too divided, and this is one of the main places of division. Just my take on things, would appreciate some answers from others.

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