Here's what people are saying about the book:
I am so relieved to read your manuscript and how it is framed and the tone and the collection of male and female writers. I am so relieved The Black Swan Effect is lacking fluff!
GREAT TITLE btw...love it. Love it. Love it.
I am enjoying this read. Truly. I think this is a much needed book for this time and I am in total agreement that the Holy Spirit is on the move among women around the world. I don't think much on end -time stuff, but there is overwhelming movement in all spheres of society and culture around the world of women discovering their voice and ability to influence change. It is an unprecedented time to be a woman!
Pam Hogeweide
You and the contributors who have written chapters are handling a historically controversial subject with tact and grace. Women’s lack of equality in the Church is another branch of discrimination that has, like slavery, long disgraced the face of the planet with few souls having the guts to call it out and even fewer having the anointing to do so in a positive and edifying way. I appreciate that each chapter is 95% positive. Though you include examples of discrimination, the vast majority are stories of triumph in which women, despite the odds, did exploits for God and for humanity, how a church intentionally molded its bylaws to honor women in leadership, and revealing the correct interpretation of those passages of scripture that seem to limit women’s role in the church. Your introduction also invites men into the discussion, celebrates men who encourage women’s equality in the church and many chapters are written by men.
Leanna Cinquanta
Once again, Felicity has done the rest of us a great service. In The Black Swan Effect, she has assembled a group of men and women who write powerfully on this important subject - God doesn't place limits on women. Questions about troubling biblical texts are clearly addressed. Stories of remarkable women (the "black swans") throughout history and today help us visualize what can be in the future. I'll be recommending this book to all of our house church leaders.
John White
If "Black Swan" logic makes what you don't know sometimes even more relevant than what you do know, then this book could equally have been entitled "The Church's Black Death," so tragic have been the consequences from the muted voices and squashed visions of women in the history of the church. Here is a clarion call for a New Reformation encompassing the whole body of Christ.
Leonard Sweet
This was a great read! As a leader who has been historically a complementarian, the past few years have been a wrestling match for me. While I knew logically egalitarianism was right, I continued to struggled inter-personally to make the full leap (and sometimes that may still be true, because it has been my default) and found myself "faking it, till I could make." Your book has helped me make the final leap I believe. For me, it was probably the article/part by Dave Ferguson. Most of my formative ministry experience comes out of the Independent Christian Church movement and to see others starting to take this leap & think this way, is very helpful.
Justin Meier
I've certainly enjoyed the book and it has generated great conversation. We were discussing some of the issues over dinner last night. On Wednesday five of us met over lunch to discuss Kingdom issues. (Yes, it is glaringly obvious to me that that group didn't have any women in it). The role of women came up among us. While there were slight variations on the reasons we gave for women's full participation in ministry, the general theme was longing for their full God-given participation. As we discussed the 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 and 1 Timothy 2:11-15 passages, I suggested that The Black Swan Effect might be helpful to them to more deeply understand the biblical and hermeneutical issues surrounding our understanding of these passages.
Ross Rohde
Felicity has done an incredible job of tackling the very thorny issue of women leadership in the church. The Biblical material, the insights and experience of multiple contributors, and the testimonies of female leaders make this book one of the best I have read on this issue. I pray this book will unfetter the hearts and minds of leaders everywhere so that the full potential of Kingdom leadership, both male and female, will be reached.
David Watson
(David is the Vice President for Global Disciple-Making, Cityteam Ministries. He has been involved in catalyzing more than 60 Church Planting Movements, globally, and has a deep appreciation for the role of women in reaching the nations of the world. Almost half of all the leaders in Watson’s ministry are women.)