{"id":42456,"date":"2025-10-30T18:33:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T01:33:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=42456"},"modified":"2025-10-30T20:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T03:45:12","slug":"ding-dong-dinners-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/ding-dong-dinners-ready\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDing Dong\u2013Dinners Ready!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

When Ted Lasso walks into a London football club as an American football coach, the room goes silent. He doesn\u2019t speak the language of their game, doesn\u2019t know the rules, and certainly doesn\u2019t fit the mold. Yet what disarms everyone isn\u2019t his expertise, it\u2019s his curiosity. \u201cBe curious, not judgmental,\u201d he says, quoting Walt Whitman, turning skepticism into a chance for mutual discovery. While reading Anna R. Morgan\u2019s Growing Women in Ministry<\/em>,[1]<\/sup><\/a> I felt a bit like this.<\/p>\n

One could also imagine it like walking into someone else\u2019s home and hearing, \u201cDing dong \u2014 dinner\u2019s ready.\u201d You didn\u2019t cook it, you\u2019re not sure you\u2019ll like it, but you take a seat to see what\u2019s been served. Curiosity, not judgment, is what allows you to taste carefully, discern what\u2019s nourishing, and leave what isn\u2019t. Morgan writes from an egalitarian perspective that differs from my own convictions. Still, I opened her book not to engage in debate, but rather to discern what truths and insights might emerge from a conversation across theological lines.\u00a0 In this article, I will clarify my approach to Morgan\u2019s work, briefly explore her contributions, lingering questions, and considerations for my own research.<\/p>\n

My Approach<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I approached Morgan\u2019s book fully aware that her theology of women in leadership diverges from my understanding of Scripture. Her egalitarian assumptions are evident early on, particularly in her brief mention of Galatians 3:28 as the foundation for gender parity in ministry. From a complementarian perspective, this verse concerns equality in salvation, not the erasure of God-ordained distinctions in role or function. Yet rather than reading her work as a challenge to defend, I approached it as an opportunity to learn.<\/p>\n

Wisdom, after all, often requires us to listen across differences, test everything, hold fast to what is good, and let Scripture remain the measure of truth. While Morgan\u2019s theological foundation lacks the depth of biblical hermeneutics I would hope to see in a work on ministry leadership from someone aiming to raise up biblically grounded leaders[2]<\/sup><\/a>, her observations about how women grow deserve careful reflection.<\/p>\n

What Morgan Contributes: Seven Aspects of Leadership Formation<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Morgan identifies seven interrelated processes that shape the development of women in ministry: spiritual calling, giftedness, emotional intelligence, home life, ministry context, relationships, and communication.[3]<\/a> Together they form a holistic picture of leadership as something grown rather than granted, an organic process involving the whole person and the surrounding environment.<\/p>\n

Several of these aspects resonate deeply within a complementarian framework. Her emphasis on spiritual calling and giftedness reminds church leaders to help women discern where their gifts can flourish under biblical authority.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Morgan\u2019s framing of calling\u2014particularly as something one feels[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u2014raises important concerns. The language of \u201cfeeling called\u201d can be both muddy and misleading in ministry. To say \u201cI feel called\u201d often implies a sense of personal qualification for eldership or an expectation that a church will one day affirm and compensate such ministry. Scripture, however, presents calling and qualification not as private intuition but as a discerned reality within the community of faith. Paul\u2019s words in 1 Timothy 3:1 (\u201cIf anyone aspires to the office of overseer\u2026\u201d) provide a more grounded framework. Aspiration may begin in the heart, but recognition and appointment rest with God and the local church. In that light, calling should be spoken of less as a feeling to validate oneself and more as a desire tested by character, gifting, and community affirmation.<\/p>\n

Her attention to emotional intelligence[5]<\/sup><\/a> and relational networks[6]<\/sup><\/a> underscores the importance of character, empathy, and discipleship\u2014all essential qualities of godly leadership regardless of gender. Likewise, her focus on home life and ministry context acknowledges that leadership formation doesn\u2019t happen in a vacuum; it\u2019s shaped by family, community, and congregational culture.[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

In that sense, Morgan\u2019s framework challenges churches to examine whether the environments we create truly cultivate the gifts God has entrusted to all His people. Is our leadership development primarily programmatic, or is it relational and formational? Are women encouraged toward theological depth, spiritual maturity, and meaningful ministry partnership? These are the kinds of questions her work invites, questions worth asking even when we land in different places theologically.<\/p>\n

Lingering Questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Engaging Morgan\u2019s work through a biblical lens raises essential questions for complementarian leaders committed to both truth and flourishing.<\/p>\n