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Women in the Mission of the Church
Outreach 2022 Resource of the Year (Theology and Biblical Studies)
2021 ASM (American Society of Missiology) Book of the Year Award
Women have been central to the work of Christian ministry from the time of Jesus to the twenty-first century. Yet the story of Christianity is too often told as a story of men. This accessibly written book tells the story of women throughout church history, demonstrating their integral participation in the church's mission. It highlights the legacies of a wide variety of women, showing how they have overcome obstacles to their ministries and have transformed cultural constraints to spread the gospel and build the church.
2021 ASM (American Society of Missiology) Book of the Year Award
Women have been central to the work of Christian ministry from the time of Jesus to the twenty-first century. Yet the story of Christianity is too often told as a story of men. This accessibly written book tells the story of women throughout church history, demonstrating their integral participation in the church's mission. It highlights the legacies of a wide variety of women, showing how they have overcome obstacles to their ministries and have transformed cultural constraints to spread the gospel and build the church.
256 pages, Paperback
Published April 20, 2021
16 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 25, 2021
Dzubinski and Stasson take the reader on an historical tour of how women have contributed to and shaped the mission of the Church. Starting with biblical women through to present day, they introduce the reader to the women who felt called to serve, faced obstacles, and persevered. They do not confine their exploration to Western women only. I found the stories of women in China, India, and Africa fascinating. Christian women of all ethnicities discern callings to serve Christ, and seek to obey, despite a lot of objections.
Dzubinski and Stasson point out a recurring pattern throughout history: women establish service ministries and succeed. As soon as the movement becomes institutionalized, men step in and remove the women from the leadership. The reason for limiting women has nothing at all to do with their ability. It becomes an issue of power.
Many of the stories of these women will be unknown to Christians. I think something should be done about this. As a seminarian, when I took Church History, it was depicted as only a man's history. That needs to be corrected.
Dzubinski and Stasson point out a recurring pattern throughout history: women establish service ministries and succeed. As soon as the movement becomes institutionalized, men step in and remove the women from the leadership. The reason for limiting women has nothing at all to do with their ability. It becomes an issue of power.
Many of the stories of these women will be unknown to Christians. I think something should be done about this. As a seminarian, when I took Church History, it was depicted as only a man's history. That needs to be corrected.
April 19, 2023
Quite a nice survey of the essential roles women have taken in the mission in the church from its earliest days to the present. It also is frank about obstacles that women have faced in their contributions to the church, often because men opposed their work.
We often have a way of telling the story of the church that focuses on the few powerful men who were movers and shakers. This book reveals how women have been movers and shakers in very real ways.
We often have a way of telling the story of the church that focuses on the few powerful men who were movers and shakers. This book reveals how women have been movers and shakers in very real ways.
January 15, 2023
This is a MUST read for anyone who wants to understand the history of the church. I’ve never felt so empowered by a history book and it reads like a narrative!
August 28, 2022
I read this book for my Global History of Christianity course under Dr. Susangeline Patrick at Nazarene Theological Seminary. Here is the book review I wrote for class:
Dzubinski and Stasson wrote this book as a chronological overview of the place women have held in the forward movement of the church over the past two millennia. With three major sections covering women’s leadership in the early church, late antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the post-Reformation period, they have attempted to illustrate how women have had a pivotal role in the life of the church throughout its history. They explicitly seek to disabuse readers of the notion that women’s involvement in church leadership began with the modern feminist movement of the twentieth century. While they do cover the whole of church history, they are clear that this book is not meant to be comprehensive, telling the stories of every significant woman to have lived; instead, they have pulled out a selection of some of the most important women from each period in order to write a fresh, but not false, narrative of women’s leadership. Dzubinski and Stasson are combatting a problem that has plagued women in the church in each new age, but particularly in the last two hundred years, the failure to pass on the stories of women leaders in the church to future generations.
In their telling of these stories, they give examples of how women have served and been honored by the church in every role available in the church to men—apart from the priesthood, as it developed after the first generation of Christians—and even show that women served in roles men could not, like the office of the Widows. Women in church history also came to pioneer roles that did not previously exist, like that of beguines in thirteenth-century Europe. Dzubinski and Stasson see great significance in the fact that women pushed forward in these various roles despite facing significant obstacles which were placed in their way by cultural assumptions and patriarchal attitudes, to the point where some women would turn the very limitations placed on their sex into arguments for their ministry.
This book was a fascinating read for me as so much of the content was new. I am no different than so many of my brothers and sisters in the church who have never, or sparingly, had these stories told to them. What impressed me most was the throughline of the women’s initiative to serve God in each generation despite again and again being misunderstood, contained, or colored over. I would be curious to hear more about the suggestion of the authors early in the book that women who hosted churches in their homes in the first century would have presided at the Eucharist (19). It seemed to be a very brief mention for such a potentially significant statement. I would also like to ask Dzubinski and Stasson what aspects or activities of the church in modern times would be lacking without the history of women’s leadership that precedes us.
Dzubinski and Stasson wrote this book as a chronological overview of the place women have held in the forward movement of the church over the past two millennia. With three major sections covering women’s leadership in the early church, late antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the post-Reformation period, they have attempted to illustrate how women have had a pivotal role in the life of the church throughout its history. They explicitly seek to disabuse readers of the notion that women’s involvement in church leadership began with the modern feminist movement of the twentieth century. While they do cover the whole of church history, they are clear that this book is not meant to be comprehensive, telling the stories of every significant woman to have lived; instead, they have pulled out a selection of some of the most important women from each period in order to write a fresh, but not false, narrative of women’s leadership. Dzubinski and Stasson are combatting a problem that has plagued women in the church in each new age, but particularly in the last two hundred years, the failure to pass on the stories of women leaders in the church to future generations.
In their telling of these stories, they give examples of how women have served and been honored by the church in every role available in the church to men—apart from the priesthood, as it developed after the first generation of Christians—and even show that women served in roles men could not, like the office of the Widows. Women in church history also came to pioneer roles that did not previously exist, like that of beguines in thirteenth-century Europe. Dzubinski and Stasson see great significance in the fact that women pushed forward in these various roles despite facing significant obstacles which were placed in their way by cultural assumptions and patriarchal attitudes, to the point where some women would turn the very limitations placed on their sex into arguments for their ministry.
This book was a fascinating read for me as so much of the content was new. I am no different than so many of my brothers and sisters in the church who have never, or sparingly, had these stories told to them. What impressed me most was the throughline of the women’s initiative to serve God in each generation despite again and again being misunderstood, contained, or colored over. I would be curious to hear more about the suggestion of the authors early in the book that women who hosted churches in their homes in the first century would have presided at the Eucharist (19). It seemed to be a very brief mention for such a potentially significant statement. I would also like to ask Dzubinski and Stasson what aspects or activities of the church in modern times would be lacking without the history of women’s leadership that precedes us.
December 7, 2022
I’m convinced that learning and telling the stories of female leaders throughout Christian history will help to redeem dead ideas about gender roles in the church. There’s better books on the subject but this one is excellent as a survey of 2k years
December 6, 2021
For much of church history, the voices of women have been relatively silenced, stifled under cultural patriarchy that dismissed the importance of women in the church and a Christian humility by women who didn’t seek personal fame. Even in modern times, the silencing continues in certain denomination by certain interpretations of certain texts. Women in the Mission of the Church sets loose the silenced voices and shouts the long-ignored history of women in the church. From Scripture to the present day, Leanne Dzubinski and Anneke Stasson provide example after example of multiple women in multiple ages in multiple cultures serving in every position of leadership and service in the church. It’s a sweeping account that provides weighty evidence that, indeed, God has called women to participate in the mission of the church at every level.
Dzubinski and Stasson arrange the book chronologically. Part one deals with the time period of the early church. Part two covers late antiquity through the Middle Ages. Part three covers the Reformation to the present day. Because of its goal in balancing breadth and depth, Women in the Mission of the Church picks relevant examples from different contexts for each chapter. They could have focused on more individuals—because there are more to pick from—but would have sacrificed depth. They could have focused on fewer individuals to have more depth, but would have left themselves open to the charge that there were “only a few” women leaders in church history. In the balance, they are able to provide an onslaught of names, roles, and challenges faced—enough to overwhelmingly make their point—while still providing enough historical detail that their accounts truly come to life.
Although Women in the Mission of the Church comes from an academic press (Baker Academic) and is written by two PhD professors, the writing stays away from academic stiltedness and is very readable. Individual biographies tend toward 500-1000 words, as do most of the sections in the book. Dzubinski and Stasson make their point with conciseness and clarity, showing beyond a shadow of any reasonable doubt that, historically, women have both struggled to be accepted by the church and been called by God to lead the church and impact its mission.
I would invite you to learn form these stories. Pick and few and go more in-depth with your research and study. These are stories that deserve to be known, told, and serve as inspiration for women church leaders for the next two thousand years.
Dzubinski and Stasson arrange the book chronologically. Part one deals with the time period of the early church. Part two covers late antiquity through the Middle Ages. Part three covers the Reformation to the present day. Because of its goal in balancing breadth and depth, Women in the Mission of the Church picks relevant examples from different contexts for each chapter. They could have focused on more individuals—because there are more to pick from—but would have sacrificed depth. They could have focused on fewer individuals to have more depth, but would have left themselves open to the charge that there were “only a few” women leaders in church history. In the balance, they are able to provide an onslaught of names, roles, and challenges faced—enough to overwhelmingly make their point—while still providing enough historical detail that their accounts truly come to life.
Although Women in the Mission of the Church comes from an academic press (Baker Academic) and is written by two PhD professors, the writing stays away from academic stiltedness and is very readable. Individual biographies tend toward 500-1000 words, as do most of the sections in the book. Dzubinski and Stasson make their point with conciseness and clarity, showing beyond a shadow of any reasonable doubt that, historically, women have both struggled to be accepted by the church and been called by God to lead the church and impact its mission.
I would invite you to learn form these stories. Pick and few and go more in-depth with your research and study. These are stories that deserve to be known, told, and serve as inspiration for women church leaders for the next two thousand years.
April 16, 2025
“Perhaps it is no wonder that women were the first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man— there never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged them, never flatter or coaxed or patronized; who never made jokes about them, never treated them as other”
September 18, 2022
I read this book to become part of a discussion group on Saturday mornings (on ZOOM) at Loma Linda University Church. If you have an interest in this group, message me here.
The book is written with an Evangelical Christian lens. References are made early on to "home-school moms" and the 'purity movement'. Although a huge amount of effort went into research and compiling stories and other details about prominent females in Mission in the Church through the ages, there is a glaring neglect of a couple of female Church founders of note: Mary Baker Eddy who started the Church of Christ, Scientist and Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Having spent time in both Catholic and Protestant Churches in my life, I was aware of quite a lot of the material covered in the book as regards the erasure and poor treatment of missionary women, etc.
I have been learning things I did not know about or fully understand via the discussions with esteemed women theologians and thinkers, so the reading of the book is not a waste of time by any means. I am also sure there are many women who would appreciate knowing the history of women preachers, nuns, evangelists, etc. covered in this book.
I hope that their next edition contains references to Ellen White and the many ways that she pioneered in Women's Mission in the Church, particularly during "The Great Awakening" and beyond in America.
The book is written with an Evangelical Christian lens. References are made early on to "home-school moms" and the 'purity movement'. Although a huge amount of effort went into research and compiling stories and other details about prominent females in Mission in the Church through the ages, there is a glaring neglect of a couple of female Church founders of note: Mary Baker Eddy who started the Church of Christ, Scientist and Ellen G. White, one of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Having spent time in both Catholic and Protestant Churches in my life, I was aware of quite a lot of the material covered in the book as regards the erasure and poor treatment of missionary women, etc.
I have been learning things I did not know about or fully understand via the discussions with esteemed women theologians and thinkers, so the reading of the book is not a waste of time by any means. I am also sure there are many women who would appreciate knowing the history of women preachers, nuns, evangelists, etc. covered in this book.
I hope that their next edition contains references to Ellen White and the many ways that she pioneered in Women's Mission in the Church, particularly during "The Great Awakening" and beyond in America.
July 1, 2021
This book is a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about the women who have helped shape, and then often found themselves marginalized or even erased from, the narrative of Christian history and the Church. It is written in an accessible, reference style that would make it perfect for use in a classroom, sermon resource, or for anyone wanting to learn more about the women who so often get intentionally left out.
December 12, 2024
A fascinating history of women throughout church history. The book explores both the successes and opportunities of women leading, innovating, and advancing the church as well as the many obstacles that women had to (and still often do) overcome.
Excellent as it is, the book oddly only gives one and half pages to the Reformation era.
Excellent as it is, the book oddly only gives one and half pages to the Reformation era.
August 1, 2022
I read about this book in one of my magazines, and thought I would like to buy it for a friend. Which means, of course, that I wanted to read it first. Now I'm thinking I may either hang on to it or give it to a different friend. There is so much in this book that I may want to refer to in the future, that it makes an excellent reference book. I really enjoyed learning about various women and movements throughout history - despite the challenges women have always been there, leading the church. Well done!
March 14, 2023
This was also for a mandatory theology class and was much better than the other book I had to read. Just a standard history book about various generally untold stories of women throughout Christian history. Nothing really to complain about.
October 17, 2023
Well-researched and rounded
Utilizing story to compellingly communicate many facts + facets of Kingdom work, this book is an excellent purview into the pivotal roles women have played in church history.
Utilizing story to compellingly communicate many facts + facets of Kingdom work, this book is an excellent purview into the pivotal roles women have played in church history.
July 12, 2021
Such an eye opening book. Women get written out of history far to often and it needs to stop. I'm so grateful for histories like this one.
October 27, 2021
History buff? In a position to teach or write on the history of mission and ministry? You’ll want this book in your library. It provides a wide-lens view on women in the history of the church, from the early orders of widows, virgins, and deacons to medieval monastic movements and modern missionaries.
With its emphasis on obstacles as well as opportunities and its exploration of the dynamics that have often erased women’s stories, this book is meant to provoke as well as inspire. It also includes lots of footnotes and a great bibliography so you can go deeper into what interests you.
To learn more about women in contemporary mission efforts rather than church ministry in general, try Women in God’s Mission: Accepting the Invitation to Serve and Lead, by Mary Lederleitner (IVP Books). See also Co-Workers and Co-Leaders: Women and Men Partnering for God’s Work, a new multi-author work from the World Evangelical Alliance, now available as a free downloadable PDF.
With its emphasis on obstacles as well as opportunities and its exploration of the dynamics that have often erased women’s stories, this book is meant to provoke as well as inspire. It also includes lots of footnotes and a great bibliography so you can go deeper into what interests you.
To learn more about women in contemporary mission efforts rather than church ministry in general, try Women in God’s Mission: Accepting the Invitation to Serve and Lead, by Mary Lederleitner (IVP Books). See also Co-Workers and Co-Leaders: Women and Men Partnering for God’s Work, a new multi-author work from the World Evangelical Alliance, now available as a free downloadable PDF.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews