Women of the Book

“There are no women in my church who really know how to study the Bible and can teach others how to do it,” said the woman sitting across from me. “Can you teach me?”  

This woman—a lay leader in a local church in the EFCA Midwest District—and I were meeting to discuss discipleship among the women at her church. She wanted to know how to start a basic Bible study to help women in her church grow in spiritual maturity, but she didn’t know where to turn. “No one who knew?” I cried all the way home that day. 

Maybe it was an overstatement on her part, but that woman’s statement begged the question: who would step up to teach these things? All at once, I felt spoiled, humbled, sheltered and blessed.  

A decade earlier, when my pastors saw me studying the Bible during my front desk shifts at our church, they offered to help teach me sound hermeneutics (faithful interpretation of the Scriptures), alongside other women. Week after week, I sat under the guidance of our women’s director as she exegeted the Word at our women’s Bible study. 

A few years later, as I contemplated seminary, my pastor exhorted me to steward the gifts I’d been given, told me to weigh the costs and then encouraged me forward. When I was ready to graduate from TEDS, my district superintendent enthusiastically championed my studies and work, and in January 2023, I started my role as director for women’s leadership and discipleship for the Midwest District. 

Given my own journey, how could I say no to this woman asking for some simple tools to help her faithfully interpret the Bible? How could I turn down an opportunity to help her increasingly understand the depth and breadth of God's love for her, through His words? 

Although many women in my circles have found wonderful resources to help them grow in biblical knowledge, I sense few of them have real-life relationships with other women who can teach, mentor and counsel them in this area. I hear “famous” names echoed often—good, solid, theologically sound names—but seeing women in their own local congregations practice faithful hermeneutics is vital for them as they navigate everyday life and ministry. 

Local women teaching local women 

To start, the Bible conveys the importance of women learning from other women (see Titus 2:3-5). God created men and women to be co-laborers, partners together in the gospel (Gen 1-2; Phil 1:5). He also graciously gives us the gift of women ministering to women—and men to other men—to the ones who are “like us.” The ones who recognize and understand our unique life experiences and can minister to us within that context. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be the first in line to advocate for partnering with my brothers in Christ and avoiding “silo” mentalities. But in the context of our world today, I sometimes sense women almost feel embarrassed to teach other women. Historically—and stereotypically—women’s church events have a reputation for being “fluffy,” often lacking theological substance. There can also be pressure inside and outside the church for women to “live up” to the same ministry callings as their brothers.¹ May we not neglect this gift women have been given, learning from and partnering with other women. 

It’s also important for these women to be in the local church. When Paul admonishes followers of Jesus to “teach” and guard sound doctrine throughout Scripture, it’s typically within the context of the local church. His epistles are written to local congregations (e.g., Ephesus, Corinth, Rome) and local church pastors (like Timothy, Titus) who need encouragement to continue training and discipling God’s people to live out his commands. Although there’s value in podcasts and books from “famous” biblical authors, disciples are made in relationship, in the context of the local church. 

Although women benefit strongly from learning from other women, what can be neglected is what women are learning. Sometimes, Titus 2 is used to justify a too-narrow scope of what women should teach one another. In context, Paul is addressing false doctrine and advocating for gospel fidelity. He encourages Titus to teach his church sound doctrine (Titus 2:1), allowing it to overflow into the different groups in his church.  

The older women are to teach and model what is applicable to the younger women, in accordance with sound doctrine. In other words, they are to teach women the gospel, and any doctrine that flows out of that gospel. They are to demonstrate and explain how the doctrines of grace, justification, sanctification, etc., are relevant for their daily lives as mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, neighbors and friends. They are to faithfully steward God’s gospel before others, as taught by Titus, as they participate in the church.   

We certainly see areas in the Bible where women serve and teach in a variety of contexts (Acts 18:24-46, 21:9). However, Titus shows us there is something uniquely beautiful when women steward God’s Word faithfully before their sisters. Yes, there are wonderful female authors from whom we can (and should) learn, but there’s nothing like seeing a woman you know teach the Word of God with intelligence, excellence and unction.² 

Hermeneutical conversion and sanctification 

In October 2023, (now-Acting EFCA President) Carlton Harris spoke at our district’s annual conference. Walking us through Nehemiah, Carlton mentioned one key ingredient for revival among God’s people was understanding the Word.³ In Nehemiah 8, people’s ears were attentive and ready to hear from God’s Law, but they needed help understanding it (Nehemiah 8:3,7). Therefore, it was made clear to them through faithful interpretation (Nehemiah 8:8). In response, they wept and rejoiced, all because “they had understood the words that were declared to them” (Nehemiah 8:9,12, ESV). 

I love the way scholar Graeme Goldsworthy describes the transformation Christians experience as they engage the Word of God: 

 “The Bible will never be the same again to us because we, as believers, have made a quantum shift from unbelief and rejection to God’s word to faith and trust in that word, a submission to it.”⁴ 

He describes this shift as “hermeneutical conversion.” As unbelievers, we understood the Bible through the lens of our secular worldview. But as believers, our eyes are opened to the good news of the gospel, giving us a new lens with which to interpret the Bible. Afterwards, Goldsworthy says, there is an ongoing process of “hermeneutical sanctification” that happens as part of “renewing one’s mind.” Our interpretive lens begins to be transformed, “sanctified,” as we increasingly grow in our ability to see life through God’s gospel. 

When I heard Carlton speak that day, I knew there were “pockets” of this kind of movement beginning in our district—rumblings of women throughout Kansas and Nebraska who wanted to understand and interpret the Word—so they too might weep over it, obey it and rejoice over it. 

As women encounter the eternality of Scripture, I’ve witnessed an eagerness grow in their minds to mine the depths of God’s Word for themselves. They long to have their interpretive lens sanctified by the gospel and to steward God's Word well.  

Taking action, looking forward 

These pockets of activity prompted action in our district to help teach women solid exegetical skills. At our district conference, we provided breakout sessions on this topic. I’ve facilitated mini workshops on hermeneutics at different churches throughout our district. We also just hosted a districtwide women’s workshop on learning the process of exegesis and how it relates to ministry.  

Several women ministry leaders in our district have also gone through Prepared, the EFCA’s two-year equipping program for women in ministry leadership. For others who are more focused on personal Bible study, we are working on a monthly class where district women can meet virtually for specific training.   

After teaching the Bible to a group of women for the first time at her church, one leader sent me a photo of her ministry event. What an exciting email to receive! It is beyond encouraging to see God using women in our district to deepen the discipleship among the women of their local churches by stewarding the eternal Word of God. 

All of this is very exciting to watch as God moves among these sisters in Christ. I wish everyone could witness and feel their excitement as the truths of God’s Word illuminate their minds and stir their hearts. It is a wonderful and important privilege to seek God’s Word in these intentional ways. Whether they realize it or not, these women's ability to understand, interpret and explain the Bible will be essential as unbelieving peers increasingly challenge their biblical worldview.

I’m praying God’s Word spreads far and wide and deep among the women of our district, the EFCA and beyond. I pray that with increasing measure, women would center their ministries around His Word, that Scripture would undergird discipleship among women, and that the gospel would be proclaimed by women across our movement. I’m praying that these wonderful, godly women of the EFCA might lean into this “hermeneutical sanctification,” and that all these things might be accomplished for God’s glory, by the power of His Spirit. 

May we, women—and all people—of the EFCA, be of strong minds and tender hearts, eager to learn His Word and ready to submit to it. May we be people who faithfully learn, admonish, proclaim and live out God’s glorious gospel.