UNCONVENTIONAL:
A practical guide to women’s ministry
in the local church
By Sharon Dickens
10Publishing. 224 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 914 966 750
Unconventional is a provocative title for this down-to-earth guide to women’s ministry in the local church.
Unlike other books that tackle this subject, Dickens does not seek to plumb the depths of theological reasoning or argue a case for complementarianism; she treats these as given. Instead, she describes the nitty-gritty of getting on with discipling and equipping women. She draws on her experience of working in a ‘poor and deprived area’ where she had the task of starting and developing a ministry for women in the local church.
This book is written in response to questions from church leaders wanting to do women’s ministry well, church members who feel ill-equipped, and the women ‘suffering in silence’, unable to share their burdens for fear of judgment. Whilst this is largely a testimonial of Dickens’ work, her clear theological framework, wealth of experience and honest acknowledgement of personal mistakes, make this a valuable read for anyone in church leadership or involved in women’s ministry.
In part one, Dickens begins by: identifying the design differences that necessitate a women’s ministry; the need to understand the context (past and present); beginning a ministry for women; establishing a team; and facing up to trouble and failure with open eyes. In part two, Dickens describes what evangelism, discipleship, accountability and equipping look like in practice. In part three, she tackles tricky questions e.g. ‘When men won’t step up’. Each section is Christ-centric and Biblical. The appendix of the book provides a useful resource, this being filled with questions, tables and toolkits that can be adapted and applied to one’s personal context.
Whilst there is much more that could be said, and this is only one model of ministry, this book resonated loudly with my personal experience of working with women in a context that is ‘hard-to-reach’. I happily recommend this.
