2017

Top 10 Articles of 2017

You don’t want to miss any of our most popular articles.
Top 10 Articles of 2017
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Each December, we love to take a look back at our most popular articles of the year. As usual, our readers enjoyed a wide variety of topics, never shying away from the tough subjects. From imposter syndrome to ministry mistakes to singleness—our top articles carry great wisdom for any woman in church leadership. Take a look—you don’t want to miss any of these. ...

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8 Ways You're Appreciated

We asked male leaders why they're thankful for you.
8 Ways You're Appreciated
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As a special gift to you this year, we asked male leaders why they’re thankful for women who lead in the church. We loved all the responses, but the following eight really caught our attention. We hope you spend a few minutes reading their responses and feel seen, appreciated, and impactful in what you do.

I am profoundly grateful for the women pastors and leaders at ...

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Comparison Is Stealing Your Joy

Five practical tips to fight back
Comparison Is Stealing Your Joy
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There are so many cautionary tales in the Bible about comparison—beginning with the very beginning. The serpent in the garden suggests to Eve that she compare herself to God. If only she will eat fruit from this one tree, it tells her, she could be like God in her knowledge of good and evil. The stories of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, Saul ...

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Bearing the Word

Preachers carry on a tradition Mary exemplified.
Bearing the Word
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I was tired—the kind of tired that only a six-month pregnant mama can be, with a 3-year-old at home and a church to shepherd through the season of Advent to boot. I was grateful, of course, for the baby I was carrying, for the promise of new life after a long difficult season in our family. But I was tired, worn out by the juggling act of the preacher-mama: studying, ...

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Lead Well Alongside Men

5 tips for co-laboring for the kingdom
Lead Well Alongside Men
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Gender plays a significant role when we talk about how women and men can lead well together in the church and workplace. As a lead pastor of a church and a program director at a seminary, I have come to see that it is both an opportunity as well as a challenge to co-labor with men in leadership. It doesn’t take long to realize that we will never be done learning to do ...

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Make Your Voice Heard at the Table

3 ways to help get your ideas across when you’re working with men
Make Your Voice Heard at the Table
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Admittedly, I am small in stature, have a high-pitched voice, and appear very feminine. As a result, I often go into meetings with men—especially powerful men—with a persistent fear that I will not be heard. Or, a fear that if I am heard, my ideas will be dismissed as unimportant—or even childish—because of my demeanor.

Early in life, I adopted the description ...

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Unresolved Relationship Issues

Recognizing, addressing, and helping others deal with transference.
Unresolved Relationship Issues
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We were in the second week of a five-month discipleship program when one of the participants casually said, “I can’t tell you how much you remind me of my mother.” I knew she was not giving me a compliment because moments before, she had shared in great detail how difficult her family of origin was.

As the group continued, it became clear Karen* still followed ...

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Poured Out for the Church

Releasing the desire to be right, even when you’ve been wronged
Poured Out for the Church
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It’s one of those days that becomes etched in your memory―completely against your will. Try as I might to focus on the chubby legs of my two-year-old toddler scurrying around my ankles as we navigated the petting zoo, my mind was racing. My breath felt short and my heart beat erratically.

I felt the need to scratch a nagging itch―an odd sensation―relentlessly screaming ...

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Mean Girls in the Church

How to become women who embolden rather than undermine
Mean Girls in the Church
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Several years ago I endeavored to write a Bible study on the Sermon on the Mount for several hundred women. The Bible study was a labor of love, passion, and joy. When the books arrived for us to distribute to our three hundred or so women, it felt like Christmas morning. Almost all of the women were just as excited as I was because many were on the editing and writing journey ...

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Take Delight in Your Passions

The story of Juana Ines de la Cruz reminds us that God instills passions within us that he can use for his glory.
Take Delight in Your Passions
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My Bible teachers never read us the tale of Juana Ines de la Cruz, the feisty Mexican girl with one sustaining passion: knowledge. At three, Juana persuaded her older sister to teach her to read and write. By six, Juana had heard that in Mexico City there was a college where they studied the sciences, prompting Juana to hatch a plan. “I began to slay my poor mother with ...

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