Preachers and Leaders

preachers-and-leaders-310-190Lionel Windsor, “Preachers and Leaders”, in Women, Sermons and the Bible: Essays Interacting with John Dickson’s Hearing Her Voice. Edited by Peter G. Bolt and Tony Payne. Sydney: Matthias Media, 2014.

I have written about the background and purpose of the book and summarised the contributions of the various authors here. However, the issues addressed in my own essay are broader than the particular debate about gender. My essay appears on this site with the kind permission of the publisher.

A history of the discussion

In the process of researching my essay and responding to reviews, I’ve collected links to various contributions. I’ve placed them here in rough chronological order for those who wish to follow the history of the discussion.

The first edition of Hearing Her Voice

Publication of the first edition

25 December 2012: Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons by John Dickson published by Zondervan international as an eBook.

The book was published in the series Fresh Perspectives on Women in Ministry, alongside two other books: Michael Bird, Bourgeois Babes, Bossy Wives, and Bobby Haircuts: A Case for Gender Equality in Ministry; and Kathy Keller, Jesus, Justice and Gender Roles: A Case for Gender Roles in Ministry.

The book Hearing Her Voice (in its original edition) has subsequently been withdrawn from the market and replaced with a revised edition.

Summary excerpts of the first edition are available here:

Anyone interested in reading more of the original edition could contact the publisher (Zondervan), the author (John Dickson), or any senior minister of an Anglican church in Sydney – these were the target audience of the book and all received a free copy.

Promotion of the first edition on social media

There are obviously too many instances to list as the first edition was extensively promoted on social media; here are a few examples:

Reviews of / responses to the first edition

The following reviews and responses to the first edition of Hearing Her Voice appeared soon after its publication and promotion on social media. The list is not exhaustive:

The revised edition of Hearing Her Voice

Publication of the print book (Dickson Publishing)

August, 2013: Hearing Her Voice: A Case for Women Giving Sermons released as a print book by Dickson Publishing Pty Ltd.

Some clarification is needed on the publication details of the print book, which subsequently became known as the “Revised Edition”. The print book does not indicate anywhere that it a revised edition; rather it states that it is the print version of the first edition, i.e. the earlier (2012) eBook. The front-matter states:

This print edition of the Zondervan eBook is produced by Dickson Publishing PTY LTD … eBook details: / ZONDERVAN / Hearing Her Voice / Copyright © 2012 by John Dickson. / This title is available as a Zondervan ebook …”

16 May 2014: After the publication of Women, Sermons and the Bible (see below), John Dickson clarified on social media that the print book was in fact a revised edition and expressed regret for the confusion he had caused by not stating this in the book itself:

Think of the eBook as the beta model and the printed one (which is the revised one, the second edition) as the main game. I regret causing that confusion.

Publication of the international and Kindle versions (Zondervan)

27 May, 2014: Hearing Her Voice, Revised Edition: A Case for Women Given Sermons by John Dickson published by Zondervan international as a print and eBook. NB The front cover image contains an alternative subtitle: A Biblical Invitation for Women to Preach.

This revised edition has replaced the first edition, which has been withdrawn from the market (see above).

Women, Sermons and the Bible

Publication of the book

5 May, 2014: Women, Sermons and the Bible: Essays Interacting with John Dickson’s Hearing Her Voice published by Matthias Media as an e-Book. Contributors included:

  • Peter Tong, “Doing theology in a digital culture”
  • Dani Treweek, “One woman’s voice: some personal reflections on the realities of complementarian ministry”
  • Claire Smith, “Unchanged ‘teaching’: The meaning of didaskō in 1 Timothy 2:12″
  • Claire Smith, “Can the Old Testament be ‘taught’?”
  • Claire Smith, “Is the modern sermon an ‘exhortation’?”
  • Peter Bolt, “Reading God’s history as our good news”
  • Tony Payne, “God’s word then and now”
  • Lionel Windsor, “Preachers and Leaders” – available to read in full on www.lionelwindsor.net
  • Mark Thompson, “The theological ground of evangelical complementarianism”
  • Claire Smith, “Observations from the second edition”

Discussion of the book

Further relevant discussions