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6x9 Paperback; 216 Pages;Â Foreword by Dr. Jeff MillerÂ
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PREORDER NOWA biblically grounded, pastorally aware case for recognizing and cultivating women’s leadership in the life of the church. Drawing on decades of ministry experience and careful engagement with contested texts, Dawn L. Gentry invites readers to move beyond slogans and certainty toward faithful discernment rooted in the Bible’s larger story.
Written for pastors, church leaders, and thoughtful readers navigating real congregational questions, this book does not flatten the debate—it exposes shallow assumptions and offers a constructive way forward shaped by service, gifting, and mission.
A Personal Message from DawnÂ
EndorsementsÂ
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.
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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.Â
What This Book Does
This book reframes the conversation about women in ministry by returning contested questions to the Bible’s larger redemptive story rather than isolating a handful of disputed texts.
It walks carefully through key passages—including 1Corinthians 14 and 1Timothy 2—attending to context, purpose, and pastoral intent rather than using them as theological gatekeepers.
It re-centers Christian leadership around servanthood, gifting, and the common good, challenging assumptions about authority that often mirror cultural power more than the way of Jesus.
It exposes how presuppositions—about gender, leadership, and biblical texts themselves—shape interpretation, and help readers identify where their own starting points influence their conclusions.
It offers pastors and church leaders a constructive path forward that is biblically serious, pastorally realistic, and mission-focused, without demanding uniformity or flattening disagreement.
Hermeneutical Clarity
How presuppositions shape interpretation and are openly identified.
Leadership Reimagined
How authority is reframed through service, humility, and shared responsibility.
Discernment in Practice
How biblical conviction becomes lived congregational decisions.
