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I Am a Leader:

When Women Discover the Joy of Their Calling

Angie Ward

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Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: NavPress
Publish Date: March 3, 2020
Language: English
ISBN-10: 164158176X
ISBN-13: 978-1641581769

Dr. Angie Ward has written an incredibly thoughtful and practical book to help women understand the significance of calling. If the words leader and calling both exhilarate and paralyze you, Angie’s words, stories, and insights will give you the peace and confidence to embrace your calling and step into the leader you are.

— Jenni Catron
Founder of The 4Sight Group

You feel it, deep in your bones: God is inviting you to join Him, to participate in His redemptive work in the world. And yet, as a woman leader, you face so many potential obstacles. Lack of clarity over your unique calling. Competing time demands. Changing seasons of life. Challenges such as self-doubt, criticism, and spiritual dryness. With nearly 30 years of ministry experience, Angie Ward knows firsthand the unique challenges that women leaders face as they seek to pursue their calling.

In I Am a Leader, Angie explores the concept of “calling” as it applies specifically to women leaders―those women of influence both in Christian ministry and the broader world: What is calling? How do you discover it? And what does it look like to live out that calling practically amid a multitude of challenges?

Thoroughly researched, theologically and biblically integrated, and uniquely personal, I Am a Leader will resonate no matter where you are on the calling journey: whether you are wondering about your God-given purpose; sensing an inkling of an invitation to a particular ministry; or embarking on the path but encountering challenges.

Author

Angie Ward

Angie Ward is a leadership teacher and writer with over 30 years of ministry experience in church, parachurch, nonprofit, and educational contexts. She is an award-winning contributor to Christianity Today leadership publications and a highly regarded teacher and speaker. A sportswriter in a previous life, Angie and her husband live in Denver, where she serves as Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Denver Seminary.

Endorsements

Dr. Angie Ward has written an incredibly thoughtful and practical book to help women understand the significance of calling. If the words leader and calling both exhilarate and paralyze you, Angie’s words, stories, and insights will give you the peace and confidence to embrace your calling and step into the leader you are.

— Jenni Catron
Founder of The 4Sight Group

While reading I Am a Leader, I found myself wishing over and again that it had been written forty years ago, when I was starting my ministry journey. Angie addresses very practical, heartfelt issues of women in leadership. It is honest, balanced, and comprehensive in subject and will be a tremendous resource to any woman sensing God’s call to lead.

— Rev. Tammy Dunahoo
VP of US Operations and General Supervisor at
The Foursquare Church

A smart and well-written master class in understanding and discovering your God-given calling. Filled with biblical insight, real-life examples, and articulate explanations of the often-confusing tensions of calling, Angie Ward’s I Am a Leader is a must-read for every female leader longing to be all God is calling her to be!

— Kadi Cole
Author of Developing Female Leaders

This book is just what every woman in ministry struggling with calling and leadership needs. It is both biblical and balanced, powerful and practical, autobiographical and authentic, incisive and insightful, clear and creative, and humorous and helpful. Come to think of it, it’s just what every Christian man needs, as well, both for himself and for more insight into the women around him. Thanks, Angie, for this special gift to all of us.

— Craig L. Blomberg
Distinguished Professor of New Testament at
Denver Seminary

It shouldn’t be so, but it often is. Christian women struggle to figure out their calling to lead because of implicit and explicit biases to the contrary. Ward’s book is inspirational and practical, helping women understand the double meanings often layered on words like ministrycalling, and leadership. Using biblical examples, lots of women’s voices, conversational questions, and great content, Ward guides the reader through the discernment process for women helping women be the gifted leaders God has freed them to be.

— MaryKate Morse
Church Planter, Professor, and Writer

I am thankful for leaders like Angie Ward who demonstrate and teach what it means to be a woman who leads within a biblical framework. Rather than getting bogged down in leadership limits, I Am a Leader helps women discover their unique calling and develop their God-given leadership gifts within that calling.

— Geoff Surratt
Co-Founder of MinistryTogether

Angie Ward deftly navigates the minefield that women in leadership can sometimes face―touching on topics that most men never even have to consider. She answers questions such as: Is it even okay for me to be a leader? How do I know what my calling is, and can I even use that term? How does my calling impact my children and my marriage? And what about various seasons of life? For any woman who feels called to be a leader―in any sense of the term―Angie Ward invites you to walk into your God-given influence with dignity, authority, and grace for yourself and for every woman who will come after you.

— Aubrey Sampson,
Preacher and Author of The Louder Song

Women often feel both a strong call from God and a strong hesitation. I Am a Leader is a practical resource that helps them name and navigate the concerns and step forward with confidence into the call. It provides stories and quotes throughout from a diverse collection of women, providing friends for the journey.

— Mandy Smith
Pastor of University Christian Church

How qualified am I to speak about the calling of women into ministry? Well, technically, not very. But as a man who likes to think he’s been a very small voice in the cheering section for women in leadership roles, I am so grateful for this book! Angie encourages her readers to step into the mysterious, beautiful, and not-always-easy life of following God’s voice. But she never leaves you on the path alone and wondering. Like the greatest of coaches, Angie speaks with just the right mix of encouragement and nudging to keep things moving forward. Thoroughly biblical and utterly readable, this is a book I’ll give to my daughters. And to more than a few men I know.

— Greg Holder
Lead Pastor of The Crossing

As a young woman exploring a career in ministry, this is a must-read. Angie’s words remind me that my leadership gifts matter, while equipping me to negotiate the challenging aspects of exercising that calling at home and at work. Her holistic approach is full of grace and grit as she explores the why without ignoring the how. I know I will return to this book again and again. It is a blueprint for the balancing act of womanhood, work, and worship.

— Samantha Beach Kiley
Writer and Performer

Read I Am a Leader and share in the stories of women finding their sense of God’s call. Learn from the wisdom and depth of Angie Ward how to pray, discern, and see the signs of God moving in all seasons of your life. Turn these pages and experience “the nudge” of God’s calling.

— David Fitch,
B. R. Lindner Chair of Evangelical Theology at
Northern Seminary

Angie Ward’s book, I Am a Leader, is the last leadership book you need to buy―man or woman. Yes, this book is written specifically for women and is spot-on in addressing the critical issues women need to face when accepting and pursuing their call. But a lot of the principles and wisdom shared is valuable for men as well. The chapter on “Stages of a Woman’s Life” is masterful and really resonated with me as a developmental psychologist who counsels both women and men through the transitions in their lives. Ward doesn’t just show you the city on the hill as a woman leader―she gives directions. If you are a woman, this is a must-read for you to be unleashed as a leader. If you are a man, this book is a must-read to clear away the obstacles and champion the leader in the women the Lord has placed around you.
— Rodney L. Cooper
Professor of Discipleship and Leadership Development at
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary