She Needs

Author Nay Dawson
Publisher IVP £9.99
Format pbk
ISBN 9781789744521

What would it be like if all members of the body of Christ fully used their God-given gifts? The author has gathered the views of friends and companions in ministry as she wonders whether progress has been made in attitudes to women in the Church. She discovers bias still restricting opportunities and ministry pathways; she alerts us to women with gifts lacking confidence to put themselves forward.
There are interesting references to research

in a variety of settings: women will often speak much less in meetings, but getting a woman to speak first will have a positive impact on the statistics. Alongside the investigation is an excellent reflection on Jesus’s radical valuing of women. Examples include his commending Mary for learning, rather than serving with Martha. Overall, there is a plea to realise Paul’s declaration that in Christ ‘there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Indeed, surely the challenge of class bias needs to be confronted just as much as barriers of race and gender.

Reviewed by ROSIE MEDHURST

Biblical analysis