20+ Free A/V Resources on Biblical Gender Equality

From the mailbox: “I’m leading a discussion for our small group at church about the difference between the egalitarian and complementarian views of women in church leadership and looking for a video to show…Any help you can give is much appreciated!”

After sending this reader some ideas we set out to find more options. Here are 20 free audio (A) and video (V) resources that present biblical gender equality (egalitarianism) in a clear, compelling way, have high production quality, and are available for free online.

BUT FIRST we give you this 47 seconds of inspiration from John Ortberg’s message on Esther at the Global Leadership Summit in 2007:

1.  Refuting Objections to the Church Ordaining Women (V)

In this Seven Minute Seminary video, “Should the Church Ordain Women?” Professor Ben Wayman responds to common objections that would limit ordination to men. He argues that this is a core issue for the church, and shouldn’t be relegated to “women’s issues.”

2. Empowering Women Leaders (V)

Tony Morgan|Empowering Women Leaders: An Interview with John Ortberg Addresses Ortberg’s personal journey to an egalitarian perspective, barriers for women in church leadership, the steps men need to take, and the status of women in the church today for mentoring and leadership development, how to develop a church culture that welcomes shared leadership, need for teaching from the pulpit (15 minute video).

3. General Overview (V)

Ben Witherington III| Women and Ministry from Scripture and History, Part 1 and Ben Witherington III| Women and Ministry from Scripture and History, Part 2  Part 1 is on women’s roles in the first century, how that changed once Jesus came along, and what this means for interpreting Scripture today. Part 2 addresses  “problem passages” and leadership in the church. Both are just 7 minutes each. Brilliant! Witherington is Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.

4. Inspirational Address (V)

Kate Wallace Nunneley| Why Talk about Faith, Gender, and Culture? This inspiring 24 minute student chapel message given by The Junia Project’s co-founder gets at the heart of why biblical gender equality is important for the future of the church. Also see Kate’s iTunes podcast from Greenville College Chapel Service, 2015-2016, #30.

5. Panel Discussion (V)

Ron Pierce, Joy Qualls, David Talley| Discussion on Diverse Theological Perspectives A 35 minute dialogue between two professors at BIOLA University/Talbot School of Theology with differing views. Excerpts could be used for discussion.

6. Sermon Outlining the Egalitarian Position (V)

Dave Ward| The Church, The Truth & Women in Ministry This engaging 52 minute sermon given at Central Wesleyan Church could be split into 2 parts for discussion. The first 30 minutes addresses Genesis 1-3 and the rest looks at New Testament passages. Ward is Associate Professor, Homiletics & Practical Theology and Dean of Theology & Interdisciplinary Studies at Indiana Wesleyan University.

7. Academic Lecture (V)

Ron Pierce|Introduction to the Contemporary Gender Debate This 50 minute classroom lecture explains the complementarian and egalitarian positions in detail. Dr. Pierce is one of the editors of Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy (a classic egalitarian text) and a faculty member at BIOLA/Talbot School of Theology. More lectures are available on YouTube (look for course BBST 450)

8. Home-Produced Series (V)

Haley Lee|Complementarianism & Egalitarianism  Lee gives a 5 minute overview of the positions, then expands on them in other segments: 1 Timothy 2:12: Can Women Teach?, 1 Timothy 2:15: Saved by Babies?, Can a Woman be a Deacon?, and Can a Woman be an Elder? (not yet published). Each segment is under 10 minutes.

9. Short Answers (V)

Bruxy Cavey|Why Was Eve More Easily Deceived? and Bruxy Cavey |Why do some churches not let women lead? The first clip (3:41 minutes) would be a good discussion starter for a study of Genesis or 1 Timothy. The second clip (1:40 minutes) is a reasoned response on how churches come to their differing positions on women in leadership. Cavey is Teaching Pastor of The Meeting House, a Brethren in Christ church in Canada. Cavey recently preached a 4-pt series “Being Male & Female”.

10. Workshop Presentation (A)

John Ortberg| Scripture, the Church, and Women Ortberg is a well-known author and the senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. This audio is from his 70 minute workshop at 2006 Willow Creek Summit. Ortberg also has a sermon series on the topic – $3.99 per mp3 available here.

11. Compelling Vision for Biblical Gender Equality (A)

Mary Kate Morse| Living Your Resurrectional Gender Identity  This 23 minute keynote address from the 2015 Missio Alliance conference presents a clear and compelling vision for equality as a condition of being “truly human”. Morse is an author, church consultant, and professor of leadership and spiritual formation at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. (This will cost you $0.99, but it’s well worth it!)

12. Sermon on 1 Timothy 2:12 (V)

Greg Boyd & Nikole Mitchell| Twisted Scripture 1 Timothy 2 This 48 minute sermon give at Woodlawn Hills Church in St. Paul, MN dives into 1 Timothy 2. A very clear teaching on a difficult passage.

13. On Women’s Equal Calling (V)

Shauna Niequist|What My Mother Taught Me In this 18 minute video Shauna shares her parents’ journey with gender and calling (Bill and Lynne Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church). Great for an egalitarian audience, mixed gender or women.

14. Good for Starting a Discussion on Difficult Topics (V)

Christena Cleveland|Achieving Unity A 3:10 minute clip from the Q Ideas conference that addresses the heart of disunity, how we can get along in our modern diverse world, and what it means to be people known by our love.

15. On Changing One’s Mind on Women in Church Leadership (V)

Mitch Little| We All Wear Crimson In this 8 minute excerpt from the morning service in which the leadership of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, TX announces they are removing all restrictions on women in leadership, elder Mitch Little shares how studying scripture and the moving of the Holy Spirit caused him to change his mind. Stop at 17 minutes.

16. Great Sermon on Egalitarian Biblical Interpretation (V)

Pete Briscoe| The Future of Leadership at Bent Tree This is a video of the weekend service in which the elders and lead pastor of Bent Tree Bible Fellowship in Carrollton, TX share their new commitment to shared leadership of men and women. Starting at 18:31 Briscoe gives an overview of egalitarian interpretation and beginning at 28:45 he unpacks six reasons women are free to lead at any level in the church. Difficult passages (1 Cor 14 and 1 Tim 2) are discussed at 1:00 on.

17. Short Take on Defining Christian Feminism (A)

Charlie and Ashley| What is Christian Feminism  In this 5:19 minute podcast two millennial Christians explain their perspective on what it means to claim the feminist label.

18. Short Take on Gender Inequality in the Church (V)

Rose Madrid-Swetman| Missing Half of What God Has to Say How gender inequality robs men and women of true personhood and misrepresents the image of God (4 minute video).

19. On Domestic Violence Prevention (V)

Nancy Murphy| Recycle Your Faith: Domestic Violence and the Church an 8:34 minute clip outlining an appropriate response to domestic abuse that includes a powerful testimony from a couple who received poor advice from a church. Great for churches.

20. Gender Reconciliation (V)

Brenda Salter McNeil| Reconciliation with Gender A 9:38 minute excerpt from a sermon at Quest church on the need to rethink narrow prescriptions for gender roles.

21. Great Encouragement to Women (V)

Rev. Kyndall Rothaus|Why Your Voice Matters in the Church Amazing sermon on the value of women (19 minutes – message starts at 1:30). “It is not wrong to stand up for your equality…You are created in the image of God just as much as any man.” Rothaus is the pastor of Lakeshore Baptist Church in Texas. Women, you don’t want to miss this one!

22. . John Ortberg|You Are Enough

A 45-minute sermon on women’s worth and equality.

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Video Credit: John Ortberg, Willow Creek Leadership Summit in 2007.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Updated 3/2019