Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast

About Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast

Everyone has influence, which is the basis of leadership. BOW’s bi-weekly episodes are purposed to prepare and empower Christian women for leadership and life. They feature our ministry team and women guests who share from their professional ministry experience. Whatever your calling – influencing your neighbors, coworkers, family, friends, leading small groups – this podcast is for you.

Publisher

Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries

Category

education · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Jul 2019

Latest episode

20 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

210 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   20 Oct 2026

   Your Purpose in God’s Story

   Dr. Kelley Mathews Seana Scott What is your purpose in God's story? Seana Scott joins Dr. Kelley Mathews to discuss what it means to become "faith-full" not "fear-full" as you discern your purpose and follow Jesus right where you are. Seana spent years confused about what a woman's purpose really is. Don't miss this conversation if you are seeking to follow God! Recommended resources Seana's substack Well Soul Life The ONE Story Bible study. (This study is currently being revised to make it shorter and simpler. It should be complete by Nov. 1.If you are interested in a copy, contact us. As soon as it is available, we will email you to let you know.) This episode is available on video as well. Timestamps: 00:21 Introductions 02:18 What in your life story caused you to develop your ministry of a well-soul life? 04:31 What is the story of God, the meta-narrative? 08:17 Defining a woman's purpose 11:05 What does it mean to be God's image? 12:49 Theology of disability 15:25 Is God's purpose different for men and women? 19:31 Encouragement for women to move into her purpose 23:04 Resources 24:42 Final words TranscriptKelley >> Welcome to Beyond Ordinary Women's Ministry. I am Kelley Mathews, your host. And today I have with you a friend of mine, Seana Scott. Seana is—I’m going to go back to when we met several years back. But before I do that, let me give you her bio and why we have her with us today. Seana is an author, a speaker, and she is the founder of Well Soul Life, which is a ministry dedicated to journeying with others to know God's Word, to walk with God, to live with purpose. She is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary, and she writes for a lot of Christian publications. She has a devotional Bible study that is published or will be published in fall of 2026, depending on when you hear this podcast. And when she's not in her chair studying and writing, she is enjoying time with her kids and her husband, and we will give you all the information on how to connect with Seana in our show notes. So welcome Seana. Thanks for being here. Seana >> Thank you. I am so excited to be here. I have long appreciated the work that you ladies are doing. Kelley >> Well, you really fit well within this and the work you've been doing. When we met, which was 2018. Okay, so however many years ago that was we were at a writing festival and you were part of a class. I think I was probably auditing or I was just along for the ride because I had long graduated. Maybe I was the T.A. I don't remember exactly. But you were really getting going in your writing career, and we spent some time getting to know each other and working on one of your articles. And so that was just the beginning of a great friendship. And you have really continued strong in that ministry, and it's been fun to watch. So yeah. Yeah, yeah. So you have this overriding message of, well-soul life. So give us some background of what is your ministry, why that title and what are you doing? Seana >> Absolutely. So really, I think ministry comes from our story, right? The things God calls us to comes from the things he's brought us through. And in my story, if I had days to tell it, I would. But in my story, there's been different seasons where I struggled in my sense of wholeness because I really didn't have sound theology. I really didn't understand who God is. And no one ever taught me how to read the Word. So one of my passions is helping the Bible-curious to become Bible-confident. So that's the know God's Word part. And then walk with God. No one ever taught me spiritual practices, and the more I learned spiritual practices,

2. 

   6 Oct 2026

   Why Revisit Women in the Bible?

   Dr. Sandra Glahn Sharifa Stevens It may seem redundant to revisit women in the Bible, but as new information has come to light, we now know that some of what we’ve heard (and perhaps even taught ourselves) isn’t accurate. Dr. Sandra Glahn of Dallas Seminary provides five reasons for us to do the work of once again studying the stories and references to these women. Don't miss this conversation hosted by BOW Ministry Team Member Sharifa Stevens. Let's revisit women in the Bible! Recommended resources A Woman’s Place is in the Story: Seeing Women in the Biblical Narrative Visual Museum of Women in Christianity The Early Church Office of Widow, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) article by Dr. Glahn Ordination Prayer of the Widows BOW's Church Issues This episode is available on video as well. Timestamps: 00:33 Introductions 01:33 Why relook at women of the Bible? 02:59 Reason 1: Because of the texts in the Scripture 08:27 Reason 2: Because of what we see historically 17:10 Reason 3: Because we can now access more with the internet 20:09 Reason 4: Because we know more about social history 26:17 Reason 5: Because of the ancient inscriptions 40:37 Other Resources TranscriptSharifa >> Hello everyone, and welcome to Beyond Ordinary Women. I am one of your hosts, Sharifa Stephens, and today I have the pleasure of speaking to Dr. Sandra Glahn. Doctor, and I love saying that. Dr. Glahn >> Because you know me long before I was doctor. Sharifa >> Yes, you did. Dr. Sandra Glahn is a journalist and also the author, coauthor or editor of more than 20 books, including the book A Woman's Place is in the Story: Seeing Women in the Biblical Narrative. Dr. Glahn is a seminary professor, and her most recent endeavor is the Visual Museum of Women in Christianity. Welcome, Dr. Glahn Dr. Glahn >> Thank you. Always great to see you. Sharifa >> Always great to see you as well. Today we're going to look at the always relevant topic of women in the Bible. We're going to be talking about reasons to take a fresh look at women in the Bible. And that's a hermeneutical question. It's a literary question. It's an opportunity to consider sources of interpretation. Right? Dr. Glahn >> Yeah. Sharifa >> So I mean, fire way. I would like to learn. Dr. Glahn >> Yeah. When we're talking women of the Bible, you know, specifically, this conversation isn't just the Abigails and the Eves, but it’s—what about those hard verses about head coverings and women's silence? And one of the things I've noticed as I talk on this subject, that even people that are really committed to women's flourishing in the church and they're using their gifts, sometimes they'll have doubts about why are we relooking at this? Are we changing history or are we pushing back, pushing back against 2000 years of tradition and history? And the answer to that is no. And how do we know that is no. And I got five reasons for us to reconsider. Sharifa >> Five? Dr. Glahn >> Five. You know, it's convenient that it works out that way, you know. But the first one is actual textual reasons. We have reasons to relook at the text, partly because think back with me of when women really started entering the academy in recent history. We've had women Bible translators for a really long time. But women's eyes on the texts are influencing translation in a good way. And I'll start maybe with a different kind of example on that is about ten years ago, some of my African scholar friends contributed to the African Study Bible. Well, why do we need that? Well, because if you've lived in some of those places,

3. 

   22 Sept 2026

   The Church and Dementia

   Ann McKinley Kelly Arabie Dementia is a difficult illness, and so we need to think about what the church and dementia looks like. Jesus called us to love the least of these, just as he did. Today millions of people with dementia need our love in tangible ways. Ann McKinley provides understanding, encouragement and practical ideas in this conversation with Kelly Arabie of Beyond Ordinary Women Ministries. If you missed it, our first conversation with Ann, "Learning about Dementia" is available on the BOW Podcast or on video. This episode is available on video as well. Recommended resources DFDallas.org DFAmerica.org Timestamps: 00:21 Introductions 01:01 What does it mean to be a dementia-friendly faith community? 02:58 How does dementia challenge our understanding of faith and personhood? 04:28 What are the growth edges for churches? 08:29 How can a church shift its mindset to shift out mindset about how God values people? 11:26 How can the church services and programs reach those with dementia? 14:46 What gives you hope for the future of dementia-friendly churches? 19:15 The promise that no one walks alone 21:19 Resources TranscriptKelly >> Welcome everyone to the Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast. My name is Kelly Arabie and today we are back with Ann McKinley talking about dementia and the church. If you missed our first podcast, it was such a great conversation on learning about dementia, and I encourage you to go find that on our website. But today we're specifically talking about dementia and faith communities. Ann McKinley works with Juliette Fowler Communities in East Dallas, leading their citywide initiative, Dementia Friendly Dallas, which is committed to empowering those affected by dementia. Ann, what does it mean to be a dementia friendly faith community? Ann >> Great question. Most people think about grants or worship services or programs or, you know, special signage and all those things are very important when we want to engage people in our churches who are living with dementia. And those things matter. But they're not the total picture. To me, a dementia friendly faith community is one where people living with dementia and of course, those that are caring for them, their care partners, they know that they are seen, they’re valued and they’re loved. A dementia-friendly faith community doesn't define a person by their diagnoses. They are still defined by who they are—and that is that their beloved child of God. That doesn't change. So when we are working to create a dementia-friendly faith community, we're trying to create a culture of belonging. It means that people don't have to wonder if they're going to be welcomed or accepted, or that when their loved one repeats a question or is disruptive during a service that their condition worsens, they know that they don't have to apologize or stay home. They're not going to worry about how other people might respond. Dementia-friendly faith communities also recognize that that person still has gifts to share and offer, and they will actually teach us more about our own faith and our own presence and our own love. So our goal is not to care for people with dementia. Our role is to be in community with them. Kelly >> Love that. I love that. So how does dementia challenge our understanding of faith and personhood? Ann >> One of our five key messages of dementia friend, is that a person is more than their dementia. And that's important for us to rethink our assumptions about people and our assumptions about what a person with dementia is, does, and what they're able to do. We often equate faith with what we know, what we remember.

Who has been a guest on Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Dr Joy Skarka
• Dr Kay Daigle
• Virginia Grounds
• Jodie Niznik
• Kelley Mathews

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

15 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Contact Beyond Ordinary Women Podcast

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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