Preaching to the Other Half of Your Congregation | Coffee with Mike feat. Amy-Jo Girardier
In this episode, Mike sits down with Amy-Jo Girardier to explore the art of ministering to the often-overlooked half of a congregation – women. From crafting relatable sermon illustrations to Taylor Swift, they delve into the influences shaping the lives of women today. Amy-Jo, with her extensive ministry experience to women and girls, she offers invaluable wisdom gleaned from nearly two decades in ministry at Brentwood Baptist Church. Drawing from her profound understanding of the female experience, she shares practical tips, best practices, and valuable resources to help ministers effectively connect with and serve the women in their congregations!
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Mike Glenn: Hi, my name is Mike Glenn and I am the president of the Engage Church Network, and we love working with pastors and churches in the middle Tennessee area. And this is our video blog, our video conversation called Coffee With Mike. Uh, kind of a catchy title there to get things rolling. We're glad you have joined us.
My guest today is one of my favorite people, uh, Amy Jo Girouardier. That's it. I have to- You did it ... work real hard on that last name. I know, it's been a long time. So you can marry a guy named Smith or-
Amy-Jo Girardier: I,
Mike Glenn: yeah ... something like that
Amy-Jo Girardier: I was looking, but Girouardier just has that flare, so
Mike Glenn: So took me about three years to learn how to spell it-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Me too
uh,
Mike Glenn: with that. Uh, uh, Amy Jo has been on, uh, the staff of Brentwood Baptist Church for 15 years.
Amy-Jo Girardier: 21. 21 years. You knew.
Mike Glenn: You were 12- Started when I was, yes ... when you started, yeah. When I was 12. And with that. So, uh, one of the great privileges I have had, has been watching, uh, AJ [00:01:00] grow in her ministry and in her, uh, grabbing hold of her gifts, being able to tell her, "Hey, you're good at this.
You need to step into this." She started here with middle school girls and served, uh, throughout our student ministry for a long time, and now is in the ministry of women- That's right ... with that. Yeah, that's right. So, um, and we're tellers because all the girls you had in middle school are now grown- Of course
and so you've gotta-
Amy-Jo Girardier: They just, they just follow.
Mike Glenn: They just-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Or I followed them.
Mike Glenn: You, you follow them right on up. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you may not know this, but, uh, AJ has been my teacher for a long time. And, uh, one of the things that she started holding me accountable for was ignoring half of my congregation. Now, uh, if you know anything about me, you know I love to preach.
You know, uh, I take my preaching very seriously. I work really hard on it. And so the way I really got to know her was she would show up by, in my office on Monday morning sipping a cup of coffee and go, "What were you thinking?" Uh, "Do [00:02:00] you know how half your congregation heard that?" Mm. And so what it means to, to understand that on any given Sunday half of your congregation are women.
Right. And, and think differently and are dealing with problems in different ways and that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. And so, uh, what are the kind of things, um, that a, a, a preacher needs to understand about what's happening? Uh, and let's just take it from the time the women walk in- Mm ... to the congre- uh, i- into the sanctuary.
They're coming in. Mm-hmm. They may or may not have put kids in, in Sunday school or preschool. Mm-hmm. They're coming in, and then the worship starts. Tell, tell me about that process.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Well, I mean, I, I know from me personally, a lot of times getting into the sanctuary, there's all sorts of things. Like, I'm, I'm not
I have to prepare my heart a little bit- Right ... differently because I'm thinking either I've just had a meltdown with or not ... Maybe I've [00:03:00] had a meltdown. Or maybe it's been my child who is having a meltdown, who's just screamed down the hallway, "I hate church," right? Mm-hmm. Right. And so you can't just- And
Mike Glenn: that doesn't help when you work in it.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Yeah,
Mike Glenn: that's right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: I'm like, "Who's this kid?" Yeah, yeah. You know? But you can't just turn that off. I, I can't- Mm-hmm ... just turn that off, and I think that women have so many different ... If you think of, like, a kitchen, they have so many different cabinets open at one time. Mm-hmm. And so it's really hard to focus in on one thing.
Right. And so as you walk into worship, you're carrying all of that with you. Mm-hmm. And so oftentimes I just have to breathe for a second, and I have to try to focus on shutting down my cabinet doors, you know?
Mike Glenn: Right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: And, uh, maybe that illustration is very specific to women becasue- Yeah ... I'm thinking of a kitchen.
But, um, yeah, I'm thinking about relationships. I'm thinking about, uh ... Usually I'm beating myself up really, and I think women tend to do that. Mm-hmm. You know, that they're thinking about the things they didn't do and kinda going through a checklist of, um, those, those [00:04:00] relationships. Mm-hmm. And, uh, maybe wounds.
It's a lot, you know? Yeah. So does that happen for men?
Mike Glenn: Yeah. I mean- But a different kind of thing ... in a different kind of way. They're different, different ways.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Yeah.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. So but, but, you know, and, and you've heard us start a worship service going, "We don't assume just 'cause you're here-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right ...
Mike Glenn: that you're here."
It takes
Amy-Jo Girardier: a minute to
Mike Glenn: get there. It takes a minute, so we wanna give you these few minutes before we start our worship-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah,
Mike Glenn: yeah ... uh, to deal with whatever you need to deal with, right? Yeah, yeah. Whatever notes you need to write. That would be so- And
Amy-Jo Girardier: then, um, yeah ... that is so helpful for me when we do that.
Right. Our prayer times- Mm-hmm ... have been really important to sit for a second and just, "Have I talked to Jesus this morning?" Right. "What does it look like?" So I think those are important moments for women in particular. So, um, yeah. What, um, other ... Is it just things you, you want me to talk about just things that they're walking through with their hearts and-
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Well, you know, excuse me, when, um, uh, when you and I first started having this conversation, it was, uh, it was things like- All of your [00:05:00] stories-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm ... have male heroes.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: Which is one I grew up with. It's what I read. Mm-hmm. Uh, I read a lot of history. I read a lot of biographies. I li- I read a lot of military history.
Mm. Uh, so m- my first question to you was, where do I even find these stories- Right. Right ... so I can tell a story of a woman being a hero that half my congregation would then identify with?
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Well, and, and so thinking through stereotypes- Right ... of course, you know, like when, when I was hearing sermons or, um, or any conversation in, in the church, if, if, uh, if it's always football, if that's the icebreaker- Right.
then I'm like, "Well, I'm out."
Mike Glenn: Yeah, pick your team. You know? Yeah. Pick your team. Right. And, and we'll go from there.
Amy-Jo Girardier: So I can joke around with it. Uh-huh. But, um, but I, yeah, I don't know. I don't connect with football. Um, so yeah, thinking through your icebreaker question or, or your, um, your entry question, uh, what does that look like?
How are you bringing in [00:06:00] everybody? Um, I had talked about, uh, like the s- you know, the stories in the Bible that actually contain women.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: How often do we get to hear the story of Ruth? I was so thankful.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: And several women were, when we went through the, the, um, the Book of Ruth- Right ... in a worship service.
But if I'm not mistaken, that was something that the Jewish community, they, they went through the Book of Ruth and Esther.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: They're associated with the feasts, right? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. So they were regularly- Yeah, annual feasts, right ... Jesus would've regularly been hearing about- Mm-hmm ... women in the Bu- Right
in, in the Torah- Mm-hmm ... um, or in the, um, Hebrew scriptures. And so do we do that, you know? Like, how often are stories told about women? And then when they are being told, um- Are they being told w- with a slant? Uh, for example, Bathsheba. Mm-hmm. Does she always hold the, um, or, or is she always being told with the lens of a, um, seducer, you know?
Mm-hmm. Uh, or Eve. Right. Is [00:07:00] she always being preached, uh, like a lens of- Yeah,
Mike Glenn: everything in the world's her fault.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: But so those are ... When I'm hearing the stories of women in the Bible, I'm like, "Oh, good. They're being talked about." Mm-hmm. And then I'm like, "Oh, is that what you think about me?" Yeah.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: You know? Uh, women at the tomb. I'm so excited on Easter morning that we usually get to hear about the women at the tomb. Mm-hmm. Um, do we talk about them as gossipers? "Well, that's why God put, put them down there." "'Cause they're the ones that got to run with the story."
Mike Glenn: With the story. That's right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah.
And I'm like, "
Mike Glenn: Oh." Mm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. But, you know.
Mike Glenn: Well, see, two, two of my female heroes-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes ...
Mike Glenn: are Shiphrah and Puah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: The midwives-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes ...
Mike Glenn: who are celebrated in Jewish lore on par with Moses-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah ...
Mike Glenn: because they defied Pharaoh, but they didn't need a burning bush.
Amy-Jo Girardier: That's right.
Mike Glenn: That's right. They just, they just took Pharaoh on.
They just ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah.
Mike Glenn: Uh, and because of that, Moses was able to be born.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: And, and they have become pastoral models for me.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah.
Mike Glenn: And, uh-
Amy-Jo Girardier: I think I heard you preach about them. Yeah. You were the [00:08:00] first person I ever heard preach about them, and I love that.
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: So.
Mike Glenn: They created a safe place- Yeah ... for the dream to be born.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: And wouldn't let a pagan king define the future of God's people.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Yeah. I haven't heard a sermon about the women, um, who right as they're going into the Promised Land, um, they're the daughters of ... And I can't say the name. Like it's, it, it's a really hard name to say. But the father had passed away.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: And they go to Moses, and right outside of the tent, a meeting- Mm-hmm ... they take their argument to Yahweh-
Mike Glenn: Right ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: and say, "Do we get land?" Right. And the, you know, and, and essentially-
Mike Glenn: Are, were we part of the promise?
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Right.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: That's a powerful-
Mike Glenn: Oh, yeah ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: story. But anyway, yeah, those, those stories- Yeah
of, of in the Bible are huge. Um, I think also when we talk about women- Are we assigning different, um, jer- uh, stereotypes for them, gender stereotypes? Mm-hmm. Like all women cook, you know? Mm-hmm. Or all women like to [00:09:00] shop, or all women drive one way.
Mike Glenn: Well, you don't do that 'cause you are a- No ... tech nerd.
Amy-Jo Girardier: That's right.
I do curbside delivery. Yeah.
Mike Glenn: That's what I do. Yeah. So, so one of the funniest conversations I had with your husband-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah ...
Mike Glenn: was when he told me your love language was technology.
Amy-Jo Girardier: That's right. That's right. Every time I get a gift, it's like a robot or something. That's right. Yeah. Yes. Um, uh, actually, I bought, um, a...
I s- saved up money from, um, a g- a gift to get Suvie. It's a cooking robot. Yeah, right. Right? Yeah. So I'm like, "This is great. I can put it in-
Mike Glenn: Yeah ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: 24 hours and it'll be ready." So yeah, technology is my love language, not cooking. But, um, yeah, those gender stereotypes are... I think they're destructive.
Mike Glenn: Making assumptions.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes.
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah, yeah. Making assumptions.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. Now, one of, one of the conversations we had.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm-hmm.
Mike Glenn: And, uh, it always, uh, was painful-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm ...
Mike Glenn: when you would come in and you, you were doing it intentionally, and you would say, "Do you know how your [00:10:00] girls-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm ...
Mike Glenn: your girls-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm-hmm ...
Mike Glenn: a- and I have been here long enough that I have lots of adopted- Yes
daughters.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: And, and I love them dearly, and are you aware of how your girls heard what you said as far as body image-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right ...
Mike Glenn: and all of the issues? And some, and some of the stories we have about what young women are going through in our culture-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm-hmm ...
Mike Glenn: it's just heartbreaking.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: So how as a pastor- Mm-hmm
uh, a- and, and you know, mo- most pastors are good guys. Mm-hmm. They don't wanna do any- but, but we just stumble into it.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: And we create a wall- Mm-hmm ... that we don't even know we're doing.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: And I was so grateful for you telling me that- ... as brutal as you were. Uh, but, but, but help me understand or, or help whoe- uh, those who are listening- What our young girls are dealing with.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm-hmm. And
Mike Glenn: how I need to be mindful of my language.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah, those are great questions. Um, whenever ... Yeah, [00:11:00] when ... I ... Three areas that I think dealing with girls and, and I always think women are dealing with these too, but we talk about identity, significance, and purpose.
Mike Glenn: Right. Right?
Amy-Jo Girardier: So-
Mike Glenn: Which, which, which are gospel issues.
Right. Bedrock gospel
Amy-Jo Girardier: issues. Right. Right. But for a, for a girl, and also for a woman, um, but girls in particular, they wanna know ... So the, so the question that's associated with identity for them is, um, what does God say about me? They put in roles, and I don't know how men respond to this. Mm-hmm. But I know that we as, as girls and women do this.
In particular, they're saying, "What does God think about me as a daughter? What does the Bible say? What does God think about me as, um, a mom, as a wife, as a girlfriend?" You know? Like, they're trying to figure those things out. TikTok is saying a lot about those different things. Hmm. And if the church isn't saying it, then they're going and they're getting 24/7-
Mike Glenn: Right
Amy-Jo Girardier: sermons from Taylor Swift.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Um, they're listening to her [00:12:00] songs. I'm not saying that Taylor Swift is, you know-
Mike Glenn: Right ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: a horrible person. I think she's got great music, and I listen to her music, but those words are preaching a sermon to our girls. Right. Um, you know, if, if you listen and they listen over and over and over again, and then they come to church and they're not hearing the church say anything- Ah
it's really missing words for them.
Mike Glenn: Then we have defaulted. Yes. Yeah. We, they have defaulted to that message. Right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: So my identity, what it, what, those roles, what does God say about that? And then obviously we have to speak into, um, well, what is, what does your identity look like as, um, as Christ says? That your identity, your identity in Christ, obviously.
Mm-hmm. What does that look like for you as a, as a girl? Then significance. This one is huge. Mm-hmm. Because really the question is, if I wasn't here, would anybody miss me? Am I valuable? Mm-hmm. So when somebody from the platform says, "You belong here. You matter."
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: But then they never hear about themselves [00:13:00] in a sermon or anything.
Right. Mm-hmm. That s- that speaks more volume than oftentimes, um, hearing the words you belong- Mm-hmm ... you matter, right? Um, and then the last thing is purpose. Um, what's my purpose? And so girls are trying to figure that, women are trying to figure that out. What is my purpose? So they may- And, and
Mike Glenn: the worst thing is to say, "You can do anything you wanna do."
Amy-Jo Girardier: Until you age out of student ministry. Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. And now what are you supposed to do- Right. Yeah ... as a woman from the church? But yeah, you're right. You can do anything you want.
Mike Glenn: Yeah. So what does it mean? That's right. And we don't talk about gifts and-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes ...
Mike Glenn: and, you know.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes. One of the most powerful things for me, and I didn't realize it at the time, but this was a, a marker on, on my life, was when I was in sixth grade.
And so middle school girls are so important to me because I know how important that- Right ... that stage is. But, uh, Rick Hieronymus, we have weird names in Illinois, but Rick Hieronymus was his name, and we had started a church plant. And we were going through, um, the, um, purpose-driven church. It [00:14:00] was brand new at the time.
Uh-huh. So that's how old I am. But, um, anyway, we're walking through as a church, as a church, and Rick and the whole group, I'm sitting on the floor, super shy, and he says, he calls my name out and he goes, "Amjo, what do you think our church should do with this?" And I don't remember, I don't remember what I said.
Yeah.
Mike Glenn: Other than being recognized.
Amy-Jo Girardier: I do remember that he listened, and he essentially was saying, I have a voice- Yeah ... in the church. And so, um, Gen Z and Gen Alpha are, girls in particular, are looking for, do I have a voice in the church? Mm-hmm. Do I have a purpose in the church? Mm-hmm. Or are they gonna wait to hear me until I'm such and such, you know, old?
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: So, um, yeah. Those are key things for sure.
Mike Glenn: Okay. So I'm a, I'm a, I'm new pastor-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah ...
Mike Glenn: starting my church and, and, and, and I, and I wanna, I wanna preach well. What are the kind of things I can do- To, to make sure that I'm intentional about bringing in that other half of the congregation.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Okay. Well, the [00:15:00] very first thing, and I share this and I give you credit, but you taught me this actually, and you probably don't even know it.
Um, I've been talking about you and never told you this, but I heard you say that you were trying to figure out, I may say this wrong, but you were trying to ... This is how I've been telling it, so if I say it wrong-
Mike Glenn: Yeah, yeah. But- It happened that way or should have.
Amy-Jo Girardier: That's right. That's right. Uh, but you were trying to figure out how to pray for Jeannie.
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: And you asked God to help- Right ... you know because you said, "God created Jeannie."
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm. "
Amy-Jo Girardier: And He knows her better than- Than anybody. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so I would say that to the same, to pastors. God made the people in your church.
Mike Glenn: Right.
Amy-Jo Girardier: God loves people, right?
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: God made men. God made women. Mm. It says it in Genesis, and He loves them.
And so- And
Mike Glenn: there's something unique about that, the, the, the feminine character-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah ...
Mike Glenn: that expresses the love of God-
Amy-Jo Girardier: That's right ...
Mike Glenn: in a way that just the masculine cannot.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. [00:16:00] That's
Mike Glenn: right. It is, it is the totality of that experience.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah.
Mike Glenn: Uh.
Amy-Jo Girardier: So how, I mean- Yeah ... so you taught me that. I've, I wrote down, "Pray for women before you preach to women."
Mike Glenn: Ooh.
Amy-Jo Girardier: You know? And then pray-
Mike Glenn: I need that on a slogan. Yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Pray for, pray for people before you preach for people. Mm-hmm. I, I know that you've modeled that. And so, um, you know, it would be arrogant for me to go in front of a, a, a group of men to talk with them-
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: and try to assume that I know, but God knows.
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm.
Amy-Jo Girardier: God knows women and knows their hearts, and He's gonna guide you through the passages, right? Right. To know how to talk with them. Mm-hmm. So that's the first thing. Um, the other thing is what you've done as well, you've modeled bringing women alongside to- Mm-hmm. I always felt like I had a place at the table to be able to say, um
You would, you would ... You know, I didn't approach that, maybe I did sometimes. Maybe I was a little bit mouthy earlier on, but- But you were so kind to be able to say, "What do you think about that?" Yeah. Doing the same thing Deuteronomy did,
Mike Glenn: right? Yeah. Well, what you have, you have such a ca- [00:17:00] uh, insight-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Mm ...
Mike Glenn: uh, and awareness that it would be foolish of me-
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right
Mike Glenn: not, not, not, not to take advantage of that.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. But Carli and Worley- Yeah ... you know, you brought people in to, um, uh, humbly look at. Yeah. Okay, what-
Mike Glenn: You know, Carli came in- This is what happened ... and was, uh, uh, worked with me in research for a long time.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Right.
Mike Glenn: And, uh, and the first thing she did was subscribe to O Magazine.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah.
Mike Glenn: And I was telling her, "I can't." I'm not gonna be subscribing- What? We're not doing this. Yeah ... her words was, "This is the high priestess of your women."
Amy-Jo Girardier: That's right.
Mike Glenn: Because at that time she- At that time ... everybody, uh, every female in America was paying attention to her.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Yeah, and we were talking about, um, who that would be now.
Right. And right now it's Taylor Swift, you know? Wow, yeah. Her music is, is shaping a generation of women. I did just hear this, um, report in American Bible Society, and this has a point ty- tying it back to Taylor, um, that 63% of Americans [00:18:00] say that their faith was shaped by their moms when they- Right ... when they were 10.
Mike Glenn: Well, mine was.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Mine, too. So for good or bad, right? Yeah. Our- ours was shaped in a positive influence, but think about that. It's so important to know who are shaping the women who are gonna be- Right ... shaping the, the generations to come. Mm-hmm. So if this generation right now is being shaped by Taylor Swift, how is that gonna impact?
Yeah. Right? So how do we make sure that we are, um, helping to, to understand what they're hearing culturally and making sure that we're helping to shape their faith from the pulpit, too, right?
Mike Glenn: Yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: So, um, I don't... Yeah. I think that's really important to, um, look at people like Oprah or Taylor
Mike Glenn: Swift. Yeah. As, uh, yeah.
And, and not, not that you have to believe everything. Got to. Right, right. But you do have to understand what's in the conversation.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yeah. Listen to a Taylor Swift song- Mm-hmm ... if you haven't, and then, um- But do
Mike Glenn: I have to?
Amy-Jo Girardier: I know, right? Maybe you can do the
Mike Glenn: three skirts. I grew up on Southern rock, you know? [00:19:00] I just, I
Amy-Jo Girardier: kind of have a disagreement.
You can- I know. Well, I can't, I can't do- I've listened to your songs. I've listened to your songs, where, like, how long... There was, like, an intro. Through, through, through Atlanta. Through
Mike Glenn: Atlanta, yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: It was so long. Yeah, yeah, it was. Right? Daryl and I were like, "Oh, my goodness." So yeah. Yeah. You gotta listen to some Taylor Swift.
Not to enjoy it, just to hear
Mike Glenn: it. Just to do, just to understand the conversation.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Exactly.
Mike Glenn: That's going on out there.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Exactly. Yeah. So culturally listen, bring people to the table, pray for women. Um, what else do I have? Uh, yeah. Oh, this was, uh, this may sound silly, but I was thinking remember that the same
Like, if they are Christ followers-
Mike Glenn: Mm-hmm ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: sometimes it's intimidating, but remember that the same spirit or the same Christ that's at work within you is at work within them.
Mike Glenn: Is
Amy-Jo Girardier: at work within them. And I think that's important to remember that it's not men and women, but like- It's
Mike Glenn: Christ
Amy-Jo Girardier: followers ... it's Christ followers.
Mike Glenn: In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female. Yes. Yeah.
Amy-Jo Girardier: And so what, what would that do if we're- Mm ... [00:20:00] looking at our congregations that way? I think that's unifying and important. So yeah.
Mike Glenn: Okay.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Um, yeah. Well,
Mike Glenn: you've given me a ton to think about. I did. I hope we have given you a lot to think about as well.
Now, now let's, let's celebrate you a little bit. Oh. Your new book.
Amy-Jo Girardier: Yes. So I have a, I have a new book that came out in January for teen girls.
Mike Glenn: Uh-huh.
Amy-Jo Girardier: And then I have a new book today that's, um ... I, a bunch of authors together put together a resource called Alive. Alive. That is a, um, guide to help women grow in their relationship with the Lord, and it's a five-week Bible study.
I'm real excited about it- Okay ... 'cause it kinda helps women answer the question of what's next- There we
Mike Glenn: go ...
Amy-Jo Girardier: after they become Christians. So yeah.
Mike Glenn: This is Amy Jo Brautigam. She's one of my heroes and one of my favorite people. I'm glad you got to join us. I'm Mike Glenn. This is Coffee With Mike from the Engage Church Network, and we'll see you next time.
