The Centre for Lifelong Learning is curating this list of resources, many created by Carey people. They are intended to address questions some churches are asking about women in ministry, mission and leadership roles. This topic is of particular interest to New Zealand Baptist churches after the 1976 affirmation of both men and women in ministry, mission and leadership. This list will grow as resources are gathered.
Equality in leadership in Baptist churches (1-page PDF 31kB)
In November 2017 this document was distributed among New Zealand Baptist churches and presented at the annual Hui (Assembly). It outlines the New Zealand Baptist understanding and affirmation of gender equality in leadership.
Women as leaders
A woman’s path into ministry: how to support and develop women leaders (research paper) (27-page PDF 284kB)
Janet Woodlock (Church of Christ, Australia)
For women socialised in patriarchal church cultures, discernment of a ministry call may be misheard, disregarded, or delayed. This paper recommends specific interventions by church judicatories aiming to increase the participation of women in church ministry, particularly in judicatory systems overseeing independent churches.
Videos/Podcasts/Blogs
Rethinking Authority: From Control to Community with Dr Christa McKirland (Dean of Faculty and Lecturer, Carey Baptist College, 2026)
Is the way we view church leadership actually doing more harm than good? In this episode of Thinking Christian, Dr. James Spencer sits down with Dr. Christa L. McKirland—Dean of Faculty at Carey Baptist College and author of A Theology of Authority—to dismantle the “CEO model” of ministry and rediscover a biblical, communal framework for the Body of Christ.
Relational pastoring: Odele Habets on ministry, joy, and community (link to A Beautiful Work podcast, 2025)
Odele Habets, Pastor at Albany Baptist in Auckland, discusses her journey into ministry, her emphasis on relational pastoring, and the joys and challenges of serving her community. Odele shares personal stories—from hosting church members in her home to baptising a frail elderly man—highlighting how deep connections and vulnerability shape her approach to leadership and mission.
Marg has a theology degree (BTh) from the Australian College of Ministries (ACOM) and a master’s degree (MA) with a specialisation in early Christian and Jewish studies from Macquarie University. She is also interested and involved in discussions about women in ministry.
Articles
A Century of Vision: Why Leadership Training Still Matters by Dr Jonny Weir, 2026
Jonny Weir, Director of Ministry Training, Carey Baptist College, 2026 Baptist Magazine article. In October 1924, at what was then called Assembly, representatives from 60 churches—serving 8,621 Baptists—gathered with a shared conviction: we need our own training college. In the century since, the Baptist movement has grown by around 300%, a remarkable testament to the long-term impact of that bold step of faith.
Difficult Passages in the New Testament and How to Understand Them by Cynthia Long Westfall, 2023
Cynthia Long Westfall, PhD, is assistant professor of New Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario. She is the author of Discourse Analysis of the Letter to the Hebrews: The Relationship Between Form and Meaning (T. & T. Clark, 2006), and Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ (Baker Academic, 2016) and has been part of an urban mission to the inner city in Denver for more than twenty years
Pondering: Why few women are senior pastors in Baptist churches | Baptist New Zealand, September 2023
This pondering below comes from Julie Osborn, sole pastor at Connect Baptist Church in Manukau, graduate of our Pastoral Leadership training at Carey Baptist College.
Books
They Carved a Wider Place for Women: 36 New Zealand Baptist women leaders, Beulah Wood, Castle Publishing Ltd, 2026
This book tells 36 stories, plus the story of the Baptist Women’s Missionary Union. Filling a gap in Baptist history, and the history of New Zealand Christianity in general, They Carved a Wider Place for Women shows how God may offer unexpected opportunities to serve and inspires us to pursue our own unique calling.
Discovering Biblical Equality – Biblical, Theological, Cultural, and Practical Perspectives Ronald Pierce (editor), Cynthia Long Westfall (editor), Christa L McKirland (co-editor), 2021
“There is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
The conversation about the relationship between women and men and their roles in the Christian life and the church has evolved, but the topic continues to inspire debate and disagreement.
Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ, Cynthia Westfall, 2016
Respected New Testament scholar Cynthia Long Westfall offers a coherent Pauline theology of gender, which includes fresh perspectives on the most controverted texts. Westfall interprets passages on women and men together and places those passages in the context of the Pauline corpus as a whole. She offers viable alternatives for some notorious interpretive problems in certain Pauline passages, reframing gender issues in a way that stimulates thinking, promotes discussion, and moves the conversation forward. As Westfall explores the significance of Paul’s teaching on both genders, she seeks to support and equip males and females to serve in their area of gifting.
Additional Resources
God made me lime green – What does the Bible tell us about the women who worked with Paul?
Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey), 2017 Baptist Magazine article.
In this article, Sarah Harris considers how the apostle Paul viewed women.
Gifted and called – What does the Bible tell us about the women who walked with Jesus?
Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey), 2016 Baptist Magazine article.
The Bible tells us about women who were disciples, leaders, teachers, prophets, and preachers. What can we learn from them? In this article, Sarah Harris considers some of the women who walked with Jesus.
Women in 1 Timothy 2:9-14 – A comparison of Complementarian and Egalitarian views through Evangelical and Missional Hermeneutics (9-page PDF 120kB)
Christine Taylor-Agnew (Elder, Eastgate Christian Centre, Auckland) 2016.
This essay for the course MB734: Letters to Timothy and Titus (Carey, 2016), has been recommended by lecturer George Wieland. It is an exploration of the biblical text and how to interpret it in a current NZ context.
Exegesis: Women and Ministry in the Church (42-page PDF 455kB)
Dr Csilla Saysell (Lecturer in Old Testament, Carey), Dr Sarah Harris (Lecturer in New Testament, Carey), and Elliot Rice (Co Pastor, Papanui Baptist Church, Christchurch).
This document looks at: Genesis 1-3, Jesus and women, toward an understanding: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16, 1 Corinthians 14:33b-36, We acknowledge Paul’s female co-workers: Romans 16:1-5, 6, 7.
Male Leaders on Developing Women Leaders in the Baptist Churches of New Zealand (link to YouTube video)
Five senior leaders in the Baptist movement of New Zealand share why they are egalitarian and how they have developed women leaders in their own contexts. The challenge is for the local churches to do the same.
Co-workers, co-parents, co-leaders (booklet)
Dr Beulah Wood (Theologian, teacher, writer, recent overseas missionary), 2014, Baptist Women’s Union of the South West Pacific.
This booklet is a brief summary of the biblical arguments for women and men to be co-workers in churches, co-parents in families, and co-leaders in all of church and family. Copies available for purchase from Beulah Wood.
Man and Woman, one in Christ: an exegetical and theological study of Paul’s letters
Philip B. Payne (Lecturer in New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary, 2009).
Does Paul teach a hierarchy of authority of man over woman, or does he teach the full equality of man and woman in the church and home? In this book Payne answers this question, and concludes that Paul’s theology, instruction, and practice consistently affirm the equal standing of men and women, with profound implications for the church today.