A father suddenly catches a glimpse of his daughter’s ministry gifts, gifts he was told women didn’t have. A mother, in tears, describes her vision of a different future for her daughters, one without restrictions and roles. And a parent grieves over the way young women are treated as less valuable, intelligent or competent than young men.
If the stories we hear at CBE are any indication, daughters are rarely far from discussions on biblical equality. Their presence as gifted children of God has opened minds, challenged beliefs and changed behaviors. They also offer hope and endurance to parents such as Ruth Haley Barton, author of “Becoming a Woman of Strength.” She dedicated the book to her daughters: “three of the biggest reasons I cannot stop yearning, praying and working for a world in which the strength of women can fully emerge.”
These stories intrigued us to get to know some of these daughters. We wanted to find out if parents in an equal partnership are succeeding in raising strong and capable daughters. What specific struggles do these daughters face in a world that doesn’t always see them as equal to sons? And what do they know to be true about themselves?
On page 6, meet Christy Fleming, Joanna Balda and Sarah McMinn, three women who have been raised by parents committed to biblical equality. They each offer insight into how their upbringing affected their views of themselves and their futures, and what unique challenges they faced along the way. J. Lee Grady, author of “10 Lies the Church Tells Women” and editor of Charisma magazine, offers a parent’s perspective on page 11.
In this issue the CBE staff is also excited to share news about what has been happening in the ministry. From our presence at conferences such as ETS (page 18) to the contributions made by volunteers (page 19) to a matching funds drive that quadrupled (page 30), the end of the year brought exciting developments that none of us could ever have expected. God certainly meets CBE’s every need!
