"We Follow Christ: Helping Women to Discern God's Call"

New Book Coming Sept 2025

We Follow Christ: Helping Women to Discern God's Call (Baylor University Press)

My friends Tara Beth Leach, Patricia Batten, and Matthew Kim are editors of an exciting new resource coming out Sept 16, 2025 (mark your calendars and pre-order!).

This innovative and well-planned volume brings together about 30 writers who want to help women discern their calling from God and empower them to embrace that calling. Most chapters offer stories from women who have had to wrestle, ponder, and discern through many ups and downs in their education and careers. What I appreciate about this book is that it is not just about pastoral ministry, but a variety of callings that include church vocations (Part 2), other kinds of ministries (e.g., writing, counseling, non-profit) (Part 3), and work in the academy (Part 4). Each story in this book is insightful and precious, but I was especially glad to see some of my friends contribute, like Kaitlyn Schiess, Jessica Hooten Wilson, Carmen Imes, and Jennifer Powell McNutt. And my wife Amy also wrote a chapter on her experiences in ministry and also as a marriage and family therapist.

I was honored to write an “Afterword” to the volume as a supporter of women in ministry and the academy.

Here is the Table of Contents

Foreword by Linda A. Livingstone
Acknowledgments
Introduction by Matthew D. Kim
Part 1 Finding Your Calling
1 Angie Ward
2 Hannah Brown
3 Mariah Humphries
4 Memory Jora
5 Shelby Livingstone
6 Melanie Pacheco
Part 2 Calling in Church Ministry
7 Campus Pastor by Jenni Wong Clayville
8 Care Pastor by Katy Reed Hodges
9 Church Curriculum Writing by Grace Sangalang Ng
10 College Pastor by Autumn Seacat
11 Co-senior Pastor by Jeanette Salguero
12 Senior Pastor by Mandy Smith
13 Women’s Ministry by Emily Kelly
14 Worship Ministry by Jessica Lackey
Part 3 Calling in Other Ministries
15 Authorship by Michelle Reyes
16 Counseling by Amy Gupta
17 Cultural Engagement by Katie Frugé
18 Homemaking by Sarah S. Kim
19 Human Trafficking Prevention by Bonnie Gatchell
20 Law and Nonprofit Ministry by Grateful Itiowe
21 Nonprofits by Ahmi Lee
22 Politics by Kaitlyn Schiess
23 Publishing by Bunmi Ishola
Part 4 Calling in Academic Ministry
24 Teaching Communication by Arianna Molloy
25 Teaching English/Literature by Jessica Hooten Wilson
26 Teaching Ethics by Devan Stahl
27 Teaching New Testament by Madison N. Pierce
28 Teaching Old Testament by Carmen Joy Imes
29 Teaching Preaching by Patricia M. Batten
30 Teaching Social Work by Stephanie Clintonia Boddie
31 Teaching Spiritual Formation and Administrative Leadership by Angela H. Reed
32 Teaching Theology by Jennifer Powell McNutt
33 Serving as University Chaplain by Mary S. Hulst
Conclusion by Patricia M. Batten
Afterword by Nijay K. Gupta
A Final Word by Tara Beth Leach