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What do complementarian Christians actually believe about women, preaching, leadership and marriage?
And is complementarianism really about restricting women—or is that a caricature of the position?
In this episode of our Women and the Church series, I’m joined by minister and Bible teacher Stephanie Judd to hear the biblical case for complementarianism.
Steph explains complementarianism as a conviction that men and women are equal image-bearers of God, while also recognising meaningful distinction between them. We talk about how that distinction plays out in marriage, ministry and church leadership—and importantly, how differently complementarian churches can apply the same underlying convictions.
Then we work through some of the major biblical texts behind the debate.
We look at Genesis 1–2 and the creation of male and female, what it means for woman to be created as a “helper”, 1 Corinthians 11 and women praying and prophesying, headship and submission in Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3, and the difficult words of 1 Timothy 2: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.”
Steph also explains why her complementarian convictions mean she does not preach the main Sunday sermon in her own church, while still teaching extensively, contributing to sermon preparation, exercising significant ministry leadership and speaking to mixed audiences outside the gathered local church.
We also address an important question: what happens when teachings about headship and submission are used to justify controlling or abusive behaviour?
As throughout this series, the aim isn't to tell you what conclusion you must reach. It's to hear the position from someone who genuinely holds it, understand the biblical reasoning behind it, and then return to Scripture and do the work yourself.
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What do egalitarian Christians actually believe about women in ministry and how do they get there from Scripture?
In this episode of our Women and the Church series, I’m joined by pastor and theologian Megan Powell du Toit to hear the biblical case for egalitarianism.
Megan defines egalitarianism simply: that God intends full equality between men and women across context and role. But importantly, she pushes back against one of the most common assumptions in this debate, that egalitarians arrive at that conclusion because they take Scripture less seriously.
We talk about how complementarians and egalitarians actually interpret the Bible, why Megan believes both camps often share far more hermeneutically than we realise, and then work our way through some of the major passages at the centre of this debate.
We look at Genesis 1–3, what it means for woman to be created as a “helper”, women praying and prophesying in 1 Corinthians 11, the command for women to remain silent in 1 Corinthians 14, “I do not permit a woman to teach” in 1 Timothy 2, submission and headship in Ephesians 5, Galatians 3:28, Pentecost, Romans 16 and the women we see throughout the biblical story.
We also talk about where egalitarians themselves disagree, the importance of humility when interpreting difficult passages, and the very real impact this conversation has on women trying to discern how God has gifted and called them to serve his church.
This episode isn’t asking you to simply accept Megan’s conclusion. As throughout this series, I want you to hear the position from someone who actually holds it, test it against Scripture and do the hard work yourself.
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What if the debate over women in the church is starting with the wrong questions?
For decades, the conversation has largely been framed around two positions: complementarianism and egalitarianism. Who has authority? Who can lead? Can women preach? Are men and women equal in role as well as value?
But what if Scripture gives us a bigger framework?
In the first interview of our Women and the Church series (and before we head into the views themselves), I’m joined by biblical scholar Michelle Lee-Barnewall, author of Neither Complementarian nor Egalitarian: A Kingdom Corrective to the Evangelical Gender Debate.
Michelle challenges us to step back from our usual categories of authority, leadership, equality and rights and consider some of the larger themes running through Scripture: kingdom, unity, love, sacrifice and reversal.
We unpack Ephesians 5 and what Paul means when he calls the husband the “head”, 1 Corinthians 12 and the body of Christ, why Jesus completely transforms our understanding of leadership, and what it means that “the last will be first”.
We also explore why the gender debate has become so polarised, how feminism and wider cultural movements have influenced the questions Christians ask, and whether our focus on winning the argument has caused us to forget that we are already one body in Christ.
This isn't an episode that gives you a simple list of what women can and cannot do.
Instead, Michelle asks us to consider whether there is a deeper biblical framework that should shape the entire conversation before we reach those conclusions.
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Women and the Church. Complementarian. Egalitarian. Feminism. Women preaching. Women in ministry.
Few conversations within the church seem to generate quite as much heat—and after 18 months preparing this series, I understand why.
Before we begin, I want to explain why I’ve made this series, what the process has challenged in me, and the posture I hope we can carry into the conversations ahead.
I’ve been challenged, confused and unsettled. I’ve realised some of the assumptions I’ve made about people on both sides simply aren’t true. I’ve met faithful, Bible-loving Christians who genuinely want to honour God and his Word—and yet arrive at different conclusions.
So what do we do with that?
In this introductory episode, we talk about echo chambers, complementarianism and egalitarianism, why disagreement has become so hostile, the importance of developing our own biblical convictions, and why Christian love must shape the way we speak about our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I’ll also take you through what’s coming in the Women and the Church series, including conversations on complementarianism, egalitarianism, feminism, biblical womanhood, majority-world perspectives and how our culture has shaped the way we approach Scripture.
You may leave this series holding exactly the same position you began with. You may change your mind. You may simply end up with more questions.
Either way, my hope is that we will step outside our echo chambers, test everything against Scripture, pursue truth with humility, and learn how to disagree without thinking less of one another.
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We live in a world obsessed with rest, and yet many of us have no idea how to actually rest. Or maybe we don't? Because busyness is also deemed a virtue in some ways? Anyway....
We take holidays, scroll social media and tell ourselves we will slow down once the work is finished. But even when our bodies stop, our minds and souls often remain restless.
Aimee Joseph, author of Made to Rest: True Peace in a World That Never Stops, joins me to explore the spiritual roots beneath our exhaustion. We discuss how our desire for control, pleasure and our own righteousness can leave us unable to rest, and why repentance is an unexpected but essential doorway to peace.
We also unpack what the Bible says about Sabbath, whether the command still applies to Christians, and how to practise it without falling into legalism. Aimee shares practical ways individuals and families can build rhythms of ceasing, resting, embracing and feasting—even when life is busy, and the perfect Sabbath is impossible.
Ultimately, rest is not found in a holiday, a productivity system or a self-care routine. True rest is found in the person and finished work of Jesus Christ.
Aimee Joseph on Instagram — @aimeejosephwrites
Get the book: 
https://koorong.com/products/made-to-rest-true-peace-in-a-world-that-never-stops-672391?srsltid=AfmBOoo681Xu0foQGwQm06ETml_t2_CZYtHgGwvPVDYzo43tSfhaqIdz
Also mentioned: Guy Prentiss Waters — The Sabbath as Rest and Hope for the People of God
Follow @hertheology on Instagram & YouTube. 
Head to hertheology.com to find out more.