Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 36:1 (Winter 2022)
Article: Book Review "Preacher Woman: A Critical Look at Sexism without Sexists" By Katie Lauve-Moon (Oxford University Press, 2021)
Author: Heather Matthews

Book Review
Preacher Woman: A Critical Look at Sexism without Sexists
By Katie Lauve-Moon (Oxford University Press, 2021)

Heather Matthews

Heather Matthews is the Doctor of Ministry Program Manager and Coordinator of Partnerships and Academic Advising at Wheaton College Graduate School’s School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership. She holds two MA degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a DMin from Fuller Theological Seminary. Heather has worked in ministry for twenty years as a pastor, church planter, and nonprofit leader in the United States and internationally.

Katie Lauve-Moon takes an in-depth look at congregations in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) as a case study highlighting the continued gender bias leading to underrepresentation of women in church leadership. Preacher Woman explores why congregations with inclusive theology and committed to gender equality continue to see poor outcomes for women in leadership. Many churches, including the CBF, are fully egalitarian yet only a small percentage of senior pastors are women (5 percent in CBF). Many assume that if a church holds egalitarian theology and hires women as pastors, issues of sexism and gender bias are no longer present in the organization. However, the data clearly shows that gender inequality continues to be a significant issue despite the good intentions of many churches.

While much research has gone into exploring and addressing the barriers that women encounter in the workplace, Lauve-Moon brings together this extensive research as a lens to analyze similar issues for women in pastoral leadership. Preacher Woman offers fresh insights for pastors and churches who desire to move in the direction of gender equality yet are not aware of the many underlying issues that keep women in the minority in church leadership. As a professor of social work and gender studies, Lauve-Moon brings a depth of knowledge and applies it to her research in the church. She highlights the persistence of gender inequality in church leadership and uncovers multiple layers of barriers that female pastors encounter. She uses Joan Acker’s framework for looking at how gender is embedded in five organizational processes: organizational logic and culture, symbols and images, division of labor, interactions, and construction of individual identities. Her analysis shows that women face not simply a “glass ceiling” but a labyrinth of sexist barriers. Lauve-Moon draws out the unconscious and unidentified gender bias that is salient throughout the life of a woman pastor, from childhood, to calling, to seminary, to hiring, to growth in leadership, and to the daily work and relationships in pastoral ministry. According to Lauve-Moon, many in the church are still blind to the conscious and unconscious barriers that female pastors encounter, ...