Scot McKnight
Author of The Blue Parakeet:
Rethinking How You Read the Bible
Visiting Professor in New Testament
Houston Theological Seminary

Dawn Gentry's Called to Serve, Gifted to Lead is three books in one: first, it is the story of God's calling and gifting a woman's heart, mind, and body to teach the Bible; second, it is a guidebook to the major topics to be analyzed in all discussions about the implementation of gifted women in the church; and it is hands-on to-do book that invites all readers to sort out the texts and issues for themselves. This book will be a blessing to churches because it will bless women to exercise the gifts they have been given by God.

Ken Cukrowski
Thomas H. Olbricht Distinguished
Professor of Scripture
Graduate School of Theology
Abilene Christian University

I love that Gentry’s book Called to Serve, Gifted to Lead draws from the depth of her experiences in three key areas. First, since Dawn has more than 20 years of ministry experience, she knows both the joys and challenges of women in ministry firsthand. She has also devoted her graduate and doctoral study to understanding the biblical texts on this topic, so that her conclusions are founded on a rigorous study of what Scripture says about this topic. And finally, her book reflects actual conversations in congregations that are navigating this question. You will be blessed by her book!

Mark Ashton
Lead Minister
Christ Community Church
Omaha, NE

Dawn Gentry is a first-class Bible student with deep insights into the partnership of women and men in ministry.  After decades of experience combined with her scholarship, she brings powerful insights into the discussion of serving by gifts, not by gender.

This guide is a fantastic step into understanding the broader arc of scripture, God's heart for ministry, and the roles men and women play in his redemptive plan. If you are passionately Biblical and want to accomplish God's plans for reaching the world, this is an outstanding interpretive framework for putting all of God's people—both women and men—into play. 

Dr. Teresa D. Roberts
Professor of Ministry and Christian Formation
Ozark Christian College
Joplin, MO

If you are following the conversation about women in church leadership, I want to recommend a book that will genuinely help you think through it: Called to Serve, Gifted to Lead by Dawn Gentry. She walks readers through the key biblical texts, the principles of interpretation, and the way translation choices shape how we understand Scripture. As a former children's minister and college professor, she is able to unpack the arguments in a way every reader can understand.

And whether you're a man or a woman, whether you're certain where you stand or still wrestling — this book has something for you. Gentry challenges us to move beyond the assumptions and structures we've inherited and ask what church and her leaders are truly called to be.

This isn't just a book about women in ministry. It's a book about how to read the Bible more faithfully and lead the church more intentionally — and that's something every Christian can benefit from.

Jason Duncan
Lead Pastor
GCF Vineyard Church
Wilmore, KY

If I had known prior to my recent series on gender, that my colleague and fellow D.Min. student Dawn Gentry had written a book on women in ministry, I would have recommended it.

Dawn Gentry offers the church a genuine gift in Called to Serve, Gifted to Lead. With academic precision, but without academic pretention, she makes a clear and accessible case for the inclusion of women in every level of church leadership. Dawn situates her case for women in ministry within the larger narrative of Scripture and then examines various passages within the larger narrative framework. She rightfully concludes that the larger narrative forces us to question the traditional interpretations of several smaller portions of Scripture pertaining to the role of women in the church.

 Dawn's case is also as compelling as it is clear. She writes as one for whom these matters are intensely personal, having meted out her call to pastoral ministry within evangelical traditions that have questioned the legitimacy of that call. As a pastor who serves in a small community with one of the nation's largest evangelical seminaries, I occasionally encounter female seminarians and lay leaders within our congregation who continue to wrestle with their calls to ministry, despite being part of egalitarian Christian traditions. I will keep a few copies of Dawn's book to give to those folks. And I won't hesitate to give copies to anyone from a complementarian background who wants exposure to a clear, accessible and compelling case of the opposite viewpoint.