{"id":42473,"date":"2025-11-01T09:08:57","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T16:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=42473"},"modified":"2025-11-01T09:10:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T16:10:55","slug":"42473-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/42473-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Abundant Leadership: Lessons from Anna Morgan, Beth Moore, Rick Warren, and Russell Moore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>We may not all be called to lead in the same way or at the same level, but I believe many women are meant to have a greater voice and influence than they are presently given, especially in ministry.<\/p>\n

Author Anna Morgan is ordained through the Assemblies of God, a denomination that invites women to serve in leadership roles. As religious affiliation declines in the West, Morgan contends that offering women a fair chance in leadership positions can help fill some of the gap. In her book, Growing Women in Ministry, <\/em>one sentence frames the root of her thesis: \u201cFor women to gain power, men do not need to lose it.\u201d [1]<\/a> She goes on to express that leadership is not a limited commodity to be hoarded or defended. Instead, it is a shared calling for both men and women, and when the church finally embraces that as truth, it will become a place of dignity, mutual benefit, and flourishing.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Reading Morgan\u2019s words, I couldn\u2019t help but think of the women who have lived this tension firsthand, showing integrity in answering God\u2019s call, but found the doors of their denominational homes closed on them. Beth Moore is one of them. Moore, an author and podcaster, is highly respected for her work in women\u2019s ministry. She founded Living Proof Ministries through the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). This institution, which she believes saved her life, suddenly turned its back on her in 2021 after voicing remarks about Donald Trump. \u201cWake up, sleepers, to what women have dealt with all along in environments of gross entitlement and power,\u201d[3]<\/a> she said.<\/p>\n

Leadership Systems That Nurture or Neglect<\/strong><\/p>\n

Anna Morgan speaks about \u201cSystems that normalize affirmation,\u201d[4]<\/a> which are the informal and interpersonal dynamics that create lasting change. She raises a point that reminds me of another situation that happened around the same time that Beth Moore was ousted from the SBC. For over a year, the founding pastor of Saddleback Church, Rick Warren, had been discussing his forthcoming retirement. He and his team were diligent in finding the right successors, which ultimately led to the selection of Andy and Stacie Wood, a gifted couple who had co-pastored together for many years. Because Saddleback had affirmed women in ministry for over 40 years, this was not a surprise. Congregants received the news of the selection with excitement; however, the SBC responded by disfellowshipping Saddleback because they had given Stacie the title of \u201cteaching pastor.\u201d Warren appealed but was denied. The denomination, which was simultaneously under legal and reputational scrutiny for covering up years of sexual abuse by its leaders, seemed to be taking a hard line against women holding any form of leadership power. It brought to mind a phrase I have heard at different times in my life, \u201cBlame the women for the choices made by men.\u201d Morgan would call this a failure of imaginative leadership or the inability to envision a model of egalitarian ministry without a fear of losing authority. Stacie Woods being given the title of teaching pastor was not a threat to Biblical scripture; it was more likely a threat to the hierarchy of the SBC, which I believe is a more profound crisis.<\/p>\n

In our most recent reading, Losing Our Religion<\/em> by Russell Moore, author and editor of Christianity Today, reached a similar breaking point. He was raised in the Southern Baptist Convention and had worked his way up to leading the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. He was a leading voice pressuring the SBC to address the numerous reports of sexual abuse and racial injustice with integrity. But even he was dismissed, which seemed unfathomable at the time. Sadly, the cancel culture has now waned. People have chosen sides, and we are now in a culture of hatred and division. Moore shared in his book that \u201cThe fear of losing cultural power had eclipsed moral clarity.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Growing Women in Ministry<\/em> is an insightful book. It puts words to often-unseen norms that have perpetuated hierarchies of power in churches, societies, the business world, and our homes. It has also helped me recognize that women are not the exclusive target of those who wish to remain in control; men with integrity are also targeted. In fact, integrity with interdependence is how Morgan describes leadership: a willingness to tell the truth, even if it comes at a cost. \u00a0Of course, Jesus paid a very high price for speaking truth to power and warned his followers that they would face the same consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.\u201d Matthew 5:11-12[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Way Forward with Shared Stewardship<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I have spoken of unfortunate examples within the SBC, I recognize there are faithful and honest congregants who are actively living their lives within and outside of the church. Other denominations demonstrate their belief that empowering women does not diminish men, but rather it strengthens and multiplies the ministry as a whole \u2013 the whole body of Christ.<\/p>\n

Still, when I reflect on the relatively recent public journeys of Beth Moore, Rick Warren, and Russell Moore, there is a common theme. In each case, the person chose faithfulness and honesty over fear. They knew that Christ\u2019s calling could not be held captive by any denominational boundaries. Leadership within the church does not have to be a zero-sum game. Instead, it should be a shared stewardship of God\u2019s love and abundance.<\/p>\n

Sometimes I wonder how the church might function today if we measured leadership by faithfulness and humility rather than by gender, title, social class, or other means of hierarchy and power. What would the systems look like if, by design, they released power rather than hoarded it? I appreciate Morgan\u2019s thoughts on the need to redesign the structures that continue to silence women. Rather than having a scarcity mindset, those in current leadership positions within the church would celebrate that God\u2019s gifts can produce much fruit. When power is no longer guarded but instead given away, we can all grow together with richer, fuller lives of faith and hope.<\/p>\n

\n

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

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

[3]<\/a> Smietana, Bob. \u201cBible Teacher Beth Moore, Splitting with Lifeway, Says, \u2018I Am No Longer a Southern Baptist.\u2019\u201d RNS<\/em>, March 9, 2021. Accessed November 1, 2025. https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2021\/03\/09\/bible-teacher-beth-moore-ends-partnership-with-lifeway-i-am-no-longer-a-southern-baptist\/.<\/p>\n

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

[5]<\/a> Moore, Russell. Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America<\/em>. New York: Sentinel, 2023.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cBible Gateway Passage: Matthew 5:11-12 – New International Version.\u201d Bible Gateway<\/em>. Accessed November 1, 2025. https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew%205%3A11-12&version=NIV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We may not all be called to lead in the same way or at the same level, but I believe many women are meant to have a greater voice and influence than they are presently given, especially in ministry. Author Anna Morgan is ordained through the Assemblies of God, a denomination that invites women to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":193,"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":[3499],"class_list":["post-42473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03-morgan","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42473","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\/193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42473"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42478,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42473\/revisions\/42478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}