Hello, I’m Cynthia Hester, the wife of one husband, mother of two sons, and C.C. to four adorable grandkids. Here is a bit of my faith story.
As a nine-year-old girl, I declared my faith in Christ and was baptized. Growing up, the pastors and ministry leaders in my church were all men.
During my thirties, I felt God’s call to minister to young girls. Soon, I began teaching 5-6th grade girls for a multi-state ministry for moms and daughters. Over time, ministering to women has been a priority. It has taken various forms: a spiritual formation leader, teaching internationally in Ajijic, Mexico, Miragoane, Haiti, and in Ukraine at Kyiv Theological Seminary, mentoring, a parachurch leader, and serving as a minister to women in a Bible church.
While raising our sons, my husband Lindsey and I believed he should make the final family decisions. After our sons were in college, I accepted the position as the minister to women at my church. In time, I decided to enroll in a seminary to deepen my knowledge of the Bible.
Questions about women and leadership started percolating. I began to wonder what the Bible says regarding women, like me, with teaching and leadership gifts. Could I teach a mixed-sex Bible study? Why are men called pastors, yet the women doing the same work are called coordinators or directors? Is a husband his wife’s leader or a partner in mutuality?
These questions prompted me to take a seminary course titled “Foundations of Women in Ministry Leadership.” I learned it’s a complex topic and that well-respected scholars and theologians disagree on whether or not to limit women in the church. During one class, a guest speaker and esteemed professor confessed that he had earned two theology degrees but never studied what the Bible says about women and the church until he participated in a study with his church leadership. Can you imagine how many other church leaders have never studied this topic?!
As I revisited the Scriptures, I realized that I’d internalized that God loved me less because I’m a female. But, God truly loves his daughters just as much as his sons. And, my heart broke for my sisters in Christ who are women of color and have experienced marginalization in the church. I also became convinced that it’s past time to highlight the faith-filled stories of women’s public ministry in church history.
After completing my master’s degree, I felt a divine prompting to teach about the theology of women. Following a wise professor’s advice, I enrolled in Koine Greek and a doctoral program. Four years later, I created and launched an online course called Theology of Women Academy,®.
Today, I advocate for women’s flourishing in the church and the home. I love helping my sisters and brothers in Christ revisit the stories of women in the Bible and church history, and to think deeply about how to employ women’s gifts and embody true complementarity in the church. My favorite teaching tool is Theology of Women Academy, in which I guide female and male believers into understanding the spectrum of views about women. Seeing the Lord’s fruit from this ministry endeavor has been a joy.
What you believe about women matters!
