“Rise in Strength” recently held its global consultation in Amsterdam.

This network of Christian women in top leadership positions was born from a dialogue between several women who wanted to share with the church, and society at large, the situation and challenges facing women and girls.

This year 72 women attended the event. Rise consultations bring together a relatively small number of women and there are no keynote speakers. The idea is to acknowledge all voices from the church, NGOs, business and academia.

The theme verse for Rise 24 was Psalm 68:11: “The Lord announces the word and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng”.

Women leaders

Among those present were women leaders from five continents, experts in theology, sociology, psychology, advocacy, preaching, hermeneutics, etc.

Participants included directors of the Women's Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) from several regions such as Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, as well as national leaders such as the secretary of the Bangladesh Evangelical Alliance, Martha Das.

Other attendees were Peirong Lin (Germany/Singapore), WEA Deputy General Secretary, and leaders in the Lausanne Movement, such as Tanya van Horne (USA), Global Director of Thematic Networks, as well as women leaders of global and national missions and NGOs from Australia, Paraguay, Norway and Ivory Coast.

Women roles

There were biblical presentations; papers on gender-based violence; groundbreaking global research on women's roles and contribution to the Church; results of global studies on the role of women in Christian NGOs; insights on the way we are taught about the Bible and women; and practical steps to change the way Christian organisations view leadership.

There was also plenty of time for round table conversations and panel discussions, and time for questions.

Equality

For the Spaniard Asun Quintana, “being together with 72 women from all over the world with the same vision of the equality of men and women from a biblical perspective, a Christian feminism that calls us to be both collaborators in the Kingdom, as God designed it from the beginning, has been an impacting experience”.

The coordinator of the Working Group on Women and Society of the Spanish Evangelical Alliance pointed out that “Rise 24 highlighted the biblical evidence of the equality of men and women for the mission, but also the strategy of seeking men who believe in that equality and support it by intentionally and proactively opening doors for women to develop their ministries alongside men, always with an emphasis on co-leadership”.

“Undoubtedly, the church will never be the church that God wants without the work of women alongside men. But we also denounce the machismo that has yet to be eliminated from the churches and any sign of violence against women”, concluded Quintana.

Amanda Jackson, director of the WEA Women’s Commission and co-founder of “Rise in Strength network, described the spirit of the conference: “Right now we need to see the world through God's eyes, not through fear. At Rise 2024, we ask 'How can we be catalysts for change without despairing about all the things we cannot do?’”.

The ‘Call to all Christians’

By bringing together Christian female leaders from all cultures and nations, Rise in Strength” has a global vision, which aims to “celebrate the gifting, vital contribution, and leadership of Christian women around the world”, as well as the challenges they face as women.

“Rise in Strength” calls on churches to endorse and encourage women and girls to rise up in strength so that the church itself is built up and blessed.

In addition to Rise 24, they have held two other global consultations: the first in June 2019 in Amsterdam and the second online in November 2021.

In 2019, 65 women leaders collaborated to produce the 'Call to all Christians' document, based on the Cape Town Commitment of 2010:

“We, as women leaders from across the globe, call on men and women of the Church to act so that women, men, girls and boys can all embrace their spiritual giftings to strengthen the work and witness of the Church, to the glory of God”.

The document has been translated into 17 languages, including Bengali, Burmese, Chinese, Hindi, Russian and Spanish.

Rise is supported by the Lausanne Movement and the World Evangelical Alliance. It does not have an office and is not an organisation. They reach out to women through personal contact, the web, their Facebook page and webinars.