A Biblical Case for Women Leading and Teaching in the Church
By Graham Joseph Hill
Foreword by Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Margaret Mowczko
Afterword by Lynn H. Cohick
Women have played significant roles in ministry and leadership throughout the history of the church and the pages of the Bible. Today, women make up more than half the church, and do much of the mission, ministry, and discipleship in the life of the church. But women have often been held back from ministry roles. Graham Joseph Hill outlines the biblical vision for women in ministry and leadership. He offers a biblical and passionate call for women to be released to teach, to lead, to preach, to serve, to pastor, and to minister in every area of the church. The Bible paints a radical vision of women, empowered and emboldened for full ministry participation in Christ’s church. The biblical vision for women and for their role as teachers, witnesses, disciplers, and leaders transforms not only personal lives, but also the church and the world. This book offers a biblical case for women teaching and leading in the church. Hill then explores practical ways that we can empower and release more female leaders in the church, and ways that we can amplify the voices and honor the gifts of women in the way Jesus intended. Together women and men can revitalize the church and renew the world.
Endorsements and Reviews
“I am grateful for friends like Graham Joseph Hill who fight for women’s rightful position in the church. His prophetic voice speaks with distinct truthful clarity about the role of women in the church. Holding up Half the Sky examines the historical context and cultural complexities of the early church and the Pauline writings, later advancing towards revealing poignant theological and biblical affirmations of the female presence and their promised roles in the church. Hill’s message will shape our understandings of the past and guide our actions in the future.”
—Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Associate Professor of Theology, Earlham School of Religion
“Graham Joseph Hill’s Holding Up Half the Sky is a brilliant and compelling summation of the case for women as equal partners with men in the church’s ministry. After reading it, it is hard to ignore how unbiblical it is to exclude women from participating in the full authority of the church’s offices. The book reads like an emancipation proclamation releasing all God’s people, not just men, into the ministry of God’s mission in the church.”
—David Fitch, Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology, Northern Seminary
Reverend Associate Professor Graham Joseph Hill served as Principal and Director of Research at Stirling Theological College (University of Divinity) until March 2022. He has planted and pastored churches, and been in theological education for twenty years. Graham is the author or editor of six books including Healing Our Broken Humanity, (IVP, 2018, with Grace Ji-Sun Kim), Salt, Light and a City (Cascade, 2017), and Sunburnt Country, Sweeping Pains (Wipf and Stock, 2022). He also directs The Global Church Project.
University of Divinity
School of Indigenous Studies
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