I want to also welcome people who are listening
online to this talk. You're very welcome. I hope
you've had a good session in your groups as well
online. And I want to begin by thinking about
Emily Scarrett. I don't know if any of you here
are into women's rugby. Any rugby fans here?
Yay, at the back there. Fantastic. Well, I was
listening to Emily Scarrett be interviewed. She
was the first England rugby player to play at
five World Cups, and she announced her retirement
just a couple of days after the women won the
World Cup in September. And she was interviewed
on the Today programme, sharing some of her story.
I searched high and low to try and get the recording
back, but it had gone off iPlayer. Anyway, she
was saying that for many years she felt like
she didn't fit in as a woman. She was playing
rugby mostly with guys until about the age of
14 when actually you have to move to playing
with women, of which there weren't many when
she started out in the early 2000s. But actually
discovering women's rugby for her felt a bit
like coming home. like she could be herself.
Because, you know, growing up felt a pressure
to look a certain way, to be a certain way, to
sound a certain way, and to feel like you don't
quite fit the mould. But to find women's rugby
was like coming home. There was no need to be
ashamed about who she was and who she'd been
made to be. There was a freedom to be herself.
And she got emotional about this on Radio 4 Today
programme. not a place where you normally expect
a lot of emotion. And in fact, it was by being
herself that she became the fantastic rugby player
that she was. Now, we are here as women to find
our own voice as speakers. And it sometimes can
feel like we need to fit a certain mold. Sometimes
we can easily, and I think women are particularly
susceptible to comparison. You know, it's hard
enough to get going as a woman speaker and then
you get going and then there's all the comparison.
Maybe I need to sound a certain way or include
a particular kind of content or speak with a
particular personality or style or be like X
or Y person over here. Well, you know, the people
that will hear you speak this Christmas time
and hopefully beyond, hopefully this is just
the beginning. They don't need a duplicate voice
of somebody else. They need your voice. They
need to hear your voice. Because as Oscar Wilde
put it, be yourself. Everyone else is already
taken. You know, I was told very early on as
I set out in speaking, spent a year at Wycliffe
Hall, I was told that the way that we will be
most effective in ministry is not by trying to
be like someone else, not by trying to be who
you feel you should be or who you'd quite like
to be, but actually the way you will be most
effective in ministry is by being yourself, by
being... The person that God has made you to
be, the person that God is continuing to shape
you to be. You have a particular voice shaped
by your particular background, your particular
story, your personality, the things you are passionate
about, your journey to faith in Jesus, your professional
training and skills. And the blend of all of
those things is utterly unique to you. And that
will form the voice that you have. And so the
question is, how do I find my own voice? Now,
I'm not as tech savvy as Christy, but I'm going
to have a go at a little bit of interaction here.
What are some of the barriers that we face to
finding our own voice? Now, I'm a little bit
more constrained in the options. But if you scan
that QR code, you will find some options on barriers
that we face in finding our own voice. Not enough
time to prepare. Lack of confidence. Am I good
enough? Am I qualified? Unqualified. Uncertainty.
Should I be doing this? Should I have been given
a voice? Not enough opportunities. Persevering
takes too much emotional energy or lack of role
models. Now, there will be other options, but
that perhaps gives us something to think about.
I'll just wait for a few minutes. Seeing the
predominant one being lack of confidence. Am
I good enough? Am I qualified? And not enough
opportunities. Emotional energy, it's a real
barrier, absolutely. Lack of time and uncertainty,
whether we should be doing this or lower down.
Lack of role models, lower, which is encouraging.
that there are growing numbers of role models.
And the more that this ministry develops, there'll
be more and more role models as well. Great.
Thank you so much for responding to that. There
are barriers that we face. And it was great to
hear Chrissie address many of those earlier in
terms of knowing whether or not our talk is good
enough. I want to begin by framing some of the
things I want to say in the words of Jesus. And
I was reminded of the way that he called the
first disciples from Matthew chapter 4, verses
18 to 20. As Jesus was walking beside the Sea
of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called
Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting
a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
Come, follow me. Jesus said, and I will send
you out to fish for people. At once they left
their nets and followed him. Here we have this
extraordinary scene where we're reminded that
the God who has come to save the whole human
race here is focused on two individuals, Simon
and Andrew. And I want to look at these words,
come follow me and I will send you out to fish
for people, in reverse. Firstly, I will send
you out. The way to be effective in the kingdom
of God is to be yourself. I will send you out
to fish for people, not someone else, not this
other person down the road, but you. I'm sending
you. And I'm sending you as you, not you, you
know, in some future form. But now I am sending
you. But of course, we know that we're all still
works in progress as well. And so the way to
increasingly become yourself, the way to increasingly
become you is to follow Jesus. Come follow me
and I will. So at the centre of finding our voice
is wholehearted devotion to Jesus. How do we
find our voice? By proximity. to the one who
made us, the one who has shaped us to be who
we are today, and the one who continues to shape
us and transform us as well. We find our voice
in close proximity to Jesus, in spending time
with him, in listening to his words. The more
we are changed, the more we are sanctified, the
more we become who we're meant to be. It is sin
that gets in the way of us being ourselves. And
the more we become ourselves, the more we find
our voice. So what does it mean for you today
to be reminded of the call of Jesus to come follow
me? What does that mean for you today? In what
ways do you delight to follow Jesus? In what
ways do you struggle? Which parts of life do
you gladly and freely? Give to the Lord. And
which parts do you hold on to? So an integral
part of finding our voice is in closeness to
Jesus and in openness to the transforming work
that he wants to do in our lives. But let's think
more practically now. Voice can mean different
things. It can mean different. And so I've been
thinking particularly, I don't know, next slide,
James, if you, thank you. Voice can mean what
we say, it can mean who we say it to, and it
can mean how we say it. Your voice is a blend
of the content and the audience and the style
in which you present. So firstly, what we speak
about. Let's think about that for a few minutes.
Firstly, know what you want to say. In order
to find your voice, know your thoughts. Know
what is it that you want to say, what is it that
God has put on your heart to say. And for some
people, actually, they have a life message. Like
God's put something on their heart and that's
going to consume their whole life. That is the
message. That's what God's given you to say.
And you will say it in so many different contexts
of so many different kinds of people. And then
there's what God's given you for each individual
talk. You know, you're all feeling relieved to
have practiced your talks. And every talk is
a kind of, what is it that I want to say? What
is it that God wants me to say? And it's really
important to know what you want to say. And,
you know, one of the points I'll make later on
is that we learn far more from our mistakes than
from our successes. And one of the really formative
times for me was actually I learned to preach
at Wycliffe Hall in 2004. I gave my first talk
to people who weren't Christians. like Easter
of 2005. And the first talk went really well.
It was in the sort of preparation for going out
on this mission week that Michael Green was leading.
The first talk went really well and I was all
kind of buoyed up and happy and great. The second
talk that I gave a few months later was like
the worst talk that I've ever given in my life.
And I basically lost track. I lost my way during
this talk. And it was a fantastic talk. It was
one of those where I just wanted to crawl under
a rock and quietly die. Or the ground swallow
me up. Just forget about this even trying to
talk to people business. What I had to do was
go now and sleep on the floor of an undergrad
student in their student house so that we could
have lovely conversations about Jesus for the
next half a week. But actually that forced me
back out. Perhaps I would have retreated and
never returned if I hadn't had to do that. But
I needed to be clearer on what I wanted to say.
so that I didn't lose my way. So what is it that
you want to say? Secondly, try different things.
Know that there are different tools at your disposal.
We find our voice knowing that we've got different
tools that we can deploy and engage and become
really skilled at doing that. You know, there
are lots of different angles on the Christmas
story. The Christmas story could be told through
the lens of journey and migration about the God
who has left his home for our sake. It's a story
of relationality about God who called. comes
alongside us and calls us into relationship.
It could be done through the lens of surprises.
There's a lot of surprises in the Christmas story.
Or it could be through a scientific lens, you
know, the extreme unlikelihood of all the miracles.
There's no one way to tell the Christmas story.
It's beautiful and multifaceted. And so finding
our voice is knowing that we have a range of
tools in your toolkit. And discerning the right
ones to use on each occasion. Try different things.
There may even be a particular angle in the Christmas
story that you don't hear mentioned very much,
but that really resonate with you. And actually
maybe growing and developing these will be part
of you finding your voice. You know, people are
not telling it from this angle. Let me do that.
And I can't remember the theologian that said
this, but there are so many different ways to
share the gospel. The gospel is like a diamond
and you can shine light on it on so many different
ways. You know, the gospel is about justice.
The gospel is about victory over evil. It's about
love. It's about sacrifice instead of selfish
gain. It's about the defeat of curse and the
release of blessing. And finding our voice is
knowing the range of different ways we can shine
light on the gospel. And that gives us freedom
to think creatively and try different things.
So try different things. And then thirdly, God
may give you a, some of you, a particular voice
into a particular field. So your voice might
actually be very specific and very focused. It
might be related to your profession, your professional
training, your particular skills and background
that qualify you in a way that other people aren't
qualified actually. People here for whom, you
know, there are people you can reach that others
can't. And so we need your voice into that very
particular field. And it will also perhaps be
related to your story, your faith journey. You
know, whether you became a Christian as a child
or as an adult. or well into your professional
life, and also your life experiences, the things
that have happened to you both before becoming
a Christian and since. These all influence the
kind of voice that we might have. So, for example,
for me, some key things that have influenced
the kind of voice that I... have had is that,
well, I became a Christian as an adult, as a
student at university. And so I can remember
what it was like to not believe in God. And so
that has really formed and forged the kind of
voice that I have. I always speak, apart from
when I'm speaking to a room of Christian women,
always speak and write to unbelievers, write
as if there are people in the room who do not
know what they believe, because I can remember
what it was like to not believe. Also, I've had
a background in science and brain imaging, so
I speak quite a lot about mind and brain, sometimes
get wheeled out for the God and science talk
in university missions. Also, my husband has
had health struggles, which is partly what led
me to write my first book on suffering that came
out of a place of suffering and trying to make
sense of it. And so our life experiences, our
faith journey, our profession might influence
the particular voice that God is giving us. Secondly,
who we speak to. Who are the people that you
can most connect with? Some people. We'll have
a voice like that of the Apostle Paul, I've become
all things to all people so that by all possible
means I might save some. Some people have a wide
voice, a voice to a wide range of people. Other
people's voice might be to a very specific audience,
I guess connected to the particular skills and
life experiences that we talked about in the
last section. Your voice might be related to
the particular profession or life stage or journey
or something that you're passionate about. What
are you passionate about? Are there causes, are
there charities that you are passionate about?
There might be those that actually have a particular
voice to children or young people or mums at
the school gate. There might be those of you
that have a particular voice to PhD students
or teachers or people in research. There might
be those of you that have a particular voice
to people struggling and journeying with neurodiversity
because of the influence that's had on you. There
are any number of examples that we can give,
but who is it that we can most connect with?
Are there people that we are actually uniquely
honed? to connect with. That will influence the
kind of voice that we have. God may give us a
voice for certain audiences. And you know, one
of the reasons why it's really important that
ministries like this exist is because often women
are best placed to communicate and connect with
other women. You know, we know the struggles,
the challenges, the joys, the shared experiences
of being a woman in this world. And so we need
women to connect with women. I'm really fascinated
and I haven't looked into it. I don't know. I've
seen you hint about this on social media, but
in the Quiet Revival data, there's a lot of talk
about Gen Z men, especially being drawn to church.
But what about Gen Z women? Why are they not
as drawn to church as Gen Z men? And that's worth
looking into. And probably for sure we need more
Gen Z women speakers to reach Gen Z women. Let's
not feel the need to wait until we're older or
more mature. Wisdom actually is a part of the
kingdom of God and that transcends age. Don't
let anyone look down on you because you're young.
We need your voice. And thirdly, sorry, I should
have put this one up earlier. How we speak, our
communication style, and this differs between
people. Some people are natural storytellers.
Other people love argument and reason and evidence.
Some use a lot of humor. Thinking about someone
like J. John at the moment, you know, really
effective communication. And there are different
styles. Some people speak very quickly. Some
people speak more deliberately. Some people move
around and are very animated. Others may stay
still. Some like detailed notes. Others have
a framework and they have bullet points and they
let the precise words flow in the moment. My
personal recommendation would be to use slightly
more words earlier on. Yeah, sorry, that's this
slide. Slightly more notes earlier on and then
have a, you know, you can always shorten and
loosen them later on. But we're all different,
you know, there's no one way, there's no one
style. I thought it might be helpful to show
you even a slide of what I'm saying to you right
now and what I've got in front of me as I speak
to you. So I've got enough notes so that if my
menopausal mind goes blank, I still know what
to say, roughly, but not so much that I have
to read it out from the page to you. And I find
that to be helpful to me. You will need to find
what works for you. I have my PowerPoints highlighted
at the side so I know when to change it. So that's
what works for me. And you'll get a sense of
this is how long it takes me to speak through
one side of A4 as well. So style. What is your
style? What is your communication style? Don't
feel embarrassed about the style that you have,
even if it's different from other people. We
need that style because there's all kinds of
people out there in the world. And we need all
kinds of people to reach a varied world. But
as I close, things that are common to us all,
that we communicate our style ought to be with
gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience,
but also of courage and confidence and boldness
and actually self -belief, not an arrogance of,
you know, I've got it all sorted and it's all
in my own strength. I don't mean that by self
-belief. I actually mean... God has opened a
door for me here and he's given me something
to say. And I'm going to say it and I'm going
to say it with confidence, knowing that God has
opened the door and he has given me a voice.
For the spirit God gave us doesn't make us timid,
but gives us power, love and self -discipline.
Some questions to ponder then as we think about
the kind of voice God might be giving us. What
are the key aspects of your journey to faith?
What life experiences have you had that others
may connect with? What are you passionate about,
interested in? Who are the people you can most
connect with? Who are the communicators that
inspire you? And finally, pray lots, persevere.
As I said earlier, sadly, and it's so painful,
we learn far more from our mistakes than our
successes. Try different things. Ask for feedback.
Take as many opportunities as you can and keep
going because finding your voice is a process
and it takes time. As I close, why don't I pray?
Lord Jesus, I thank you for each woman here and
I thank you, Lord, that you have given them a
voice and I pray that you would... enable them
to continue to discern and to know the voice
you've given them and to speak that voice, speak
through the kind of voice that you are giving.
Thank you, Lord, that you love us, that you are
faithful, that you are with us. And please help
us. Please continue to change us more and more
into the likeness of Jesus Christ. And please
use us according to your will. In Jesus' name.
Amen.