{"id":42422,"date":"2025-10-29T04:54:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=42422"},"modified":"2025-10-29T04:54:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T11:54:31","slug":"women-in-ministry-leadership-integrity-and-the-billy-graham-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/women-in-ministry-leadership-integrity-and-the-billy-graham-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Women in Ministry, Leadership Integrity, and the Billy Graham Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I opened Dr Anna Morgan\u2019s \u201cGrowing Women in Ministry: Seven Aspects of Leadership Development,\u201d[1]<\/a> it was more than just another book on leadership for me. I know the church context from which she writes. While I have never met Anna, her husband and I have been friends for many years, we share the same denominational journey (I, too, have an Egalitarian Theological Perspective), and many of the names she references are not distant scholars or abstract leaders but familiar colleagues in the global movement I serve. That alone makes the book feel personal, a conversation happening within the family table of ministry.<\/p>\n

Morgan\u2019s credentials are good. She pastors alongside her husband, John, teaches leadership at Fuller Seminary, and serves as Vice President of Academics at Ascent College. Her doctoral work zeroed in on the development of women in ministry leadership within egalitarian church settings, producing research that now undergirds this book. This isn\u2019t anecdotal musing; it is evidence-based, the product of research combined with pastoral practice. Her voice deserves careful hearing, not just because she is a practitioner, but because she is a scholar who has listened, analysed, and distilled the lived experience of women leaders in ministry into a practical and theological framework.<\/p>\n

Morgan outlines seven aspects of leadership development for women, three internal (spiritual formation, cognition, and emotional intelligence) and four external (home life, ministry environment, leadership relationships, and communication development). These represent dynamics that either empower or hinder women in ministry.<\/p>\n

Now that I have established that I am mostly on the same page with her in her writing, I recognise that the next part of the book is a tangent from its main tenure, but I was interested when the author engaged the so-called \u201cBilly Graham Rule,\u201d[2]<\/a> which she mentions by name 9 times. This is where her reflection intersects with my own long-standing practice of ministry ethics and boundaries.<\/p>\n

The Billy Graham Rule, in simple terms, is the practice of a male leader avoiding being alone with a woman who is not his wife (or daughter). Billy Graham himself adopted it to ensure his ministry would be above suspicion, particularly in an age when evangelists were sometimes accused of impropriety. While culture has shifted dramatically since the mid-20th century, the principle has endured because it speaks not only to morality but also to integrity and accountability. In Morgan\u2019s discussion, she is candid about how such boundaries can be perceived as limiting or even exclusionary for women in leadership if practised legalistically. But she also recognises the reality that leaders operate in a world of power dynamics, perception, and, especially in a #MeToo era, the need to remain above reproach.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

I admit to practising this rule myself, but not in a militant way. Our offices all have doors with windows. If I meet with a woman, the window is open to the world. I am never the last person in the building with a woman who is not my wife or daughter. I do not travel alone with a woman. These practices are not motivated by distrust, neither of myself nor of the other person, but by a biblical conviction: \u201cNow the overseer is to be above reproach\u201d (1 Timothy 3:2, NIV). The principle is not suspicion, but protection, of reputation, of integrity, of witness. In the cultural climate we now inhabit, perception is often as powerful as reality. An accusation, even if unfounded, can do untold damage to a leader, a family, or a congregation. By adopting transparent boundaries, we communicate that ministry is not just about what we do in private but how it is perceived publicly. Earlier this year I was interviewed by Britain\u2019s leading Christian magazine,[4]<\/a> where I was asked why I follow the Billy Graham rule.<\/p>\n

Critics argue that the Billy Graham Rule unfairly restricts women\u2019s access to mentoring and opportunity.[5]<\/a> There is validity in that concern. If male leaders use the rule as an excuse to exclude women from spaces of influence, then it becomes less about integrity and more about power preservation. That is not how I interpret or apply it. personally, the Billy Graham Rule functions as a guardrail, not a wall. It does not exclude women from leadership pathways. I meet with female leaders, coach them, invite them to the table, and ensure they are fully part of decision-making. The difference is that I build the meetings with transparency and accountability: doors open, windows visible, meetings in team settings, and travel arrangements made to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.<\/p>\n

I think of Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder\u2019s work in RARE Leadership, where they insist that emotionally mature leaders cultivate trust and joy.[6]<\/a> Trust is not only about what is true but also about what is seen to be true. Emotional maturity embraces boundaries not as a fear response but as a proactive way of sustaining credibility. Equally, Jordan Peterson has written at length about the fragility of reputation and the way a single accusation, true or false, can dismantle years of credibility.[7]<\/a> Leaders live in the reality that character is both an internal virtue and an external perception. To ignore that reality is na\u00efve; to navigate it with integrity is wisdom<\/p>\n

The danger with the Billy Graham Rule is legalism. If it becomes a militant law, it diminishes relationships and reduces women to risks rather than co-labourers. That was never Billy\u2019s intent. His intent was to model a life beyond reproach, one that would never hinder the message of the gospel.\u00a0 Personally, the practice is not about fear but about freedom, the freedom to minister without distraction, without rumour, and without unnecessary suspicion. It allows me to fully engage in ministry with women in my church, not by excluding them but by including them in ways that are transparent and safe.<\/p>\n

As I reflect on Morgan\u2019s work, I am grateful. Her book is not only about the empowerment of women in ministry, which I wholeheartedly endorse, but also about the evident complexities in doing so. Thank you Anna.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Anna R. Morgan, Growing Women in Ministry: Seven Aspects of Leadership Development (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2024).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid, 126, 127, 138, 139, 140, 144 and 145.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Sam Hailes, \u201cGlyn Barrett: The !Audacious Church Leader Causing Traffic Jams in Manchester,\u201d Premier Christianity<\/em>, January 29, 2025.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Katelyn Beaty, A Woman\u2019s Place: A Christian Vision for Your Calling in the Office, the Home, and the World (New York: Howard Books, 2016), 153\u201354<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, RARE Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016), Ch7.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Jordan B. Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2018), 63\u201364<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I opened Dr Anna Morgan\u2019s \u201cGrowing Women in Ministry: Seven Aspects of Leadership Development,\u201d[1] it was more than just another book on leadership for me. I know the church context from which she writes. While I have never met Anna, her husband and I have been friends for many years, we share the same […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2967,284],"class_list":["post-42422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-morgan","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42422"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42423,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42422\/revisions\/42423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}