A year ago I arrived at Princeton Seminary for The Art of Transitional Ministry training. I had no idea why I was there.
The Just Brave Enough team
I had graduated from Union Presbyterian Seminary a few months earlier and had yet to receive a Call. Truthfully, I hadn’t begun to look—I hadn’t even created my PIF. I did not feel called to congregational ministry. I was still working my healthcare job—I had been a lactation consultant in a pediatrics practice for more than 10 years—a job I loved and found meaningful and fulfilling. I had signed up for the training with a vague idea of finding a temporary or transitional position before going into the hospital for a chaplaincy residency. I was a fish out of water to be sure.
I was also thinking about an idea I had, one that grew out of a seminary class called Blood Like Water, taught by Rev. Dr. Carson Brisson. In the class we were to pair texts of terror with the weekly lectionary readings. The product each week was up to us—sermon, Sunday school lesson, poem, painting, song. That creativity spoke to me and I found the voices of the women in those texts. Jael, Lot’s wife, the Midwives. I was letting them speak. I felt like a midwife myself bringing forth new life.
I thought I would write a book of first person narratives, perhaps to be used as a Bible study resource. I’d use some holy imagination to let these named and unnamed women speak. I’d call it Just Brave Enough.
And then I walked into that training in Princeton. The class was filled with amazing, interesting people from backgrounds different from mine.
I quickly realized this project would be so much better with different voices. I’m a white cis/het woman from the East Coast. My life is enriched by friendships with women who identify differently than I—I knew this project would be similarly enriched by the depth of experience and beauty of different voices.
I told Yena about my dream of giving first-person narrative voices to these named and unnamed women. She was interested, so we said, “Let’s do this together!” We invited Becca and Lillian (also students attending the class) and Jessica (one of the instructors). A month after meeting, Just Brave Enough–a team of women being just brave enough together–was formed.
We started writing and dreaming and meeting over Zoom. We had a retreat at Yena’s in February and that’s when we realized we had something more than a book of essays.
Nine months later, our first set of narratives, “The Women who Saved Moses,” was birthed. This series highlights women who are often overlooked in the story of Exodus: the midwives Shiphrah & Puah, Pharaoh’s daughter, Miriam, and Zipporah. They all play an important part in saving Moses. If it were not for these women, Moses would not have survived infancy to eventually become the liberator of the Hebrew people. (Our second set, “In the Beginning,” will be ready for spring.)
As we worked together, we created worship companions, study guides, audio recordings of the narratives (by the authors), a graphics package, and a website. I had not dreamed of these possibilities—the dream grew as we worked together.
We all love Scripture. We love the stories of God’s people, especially the stories of women in the Bible who are lesser known but play a crucial role in God’s larger story. We feel passionate about sharing these stories to expand our understanding of how God works through all kinds of people. Our mission is to encourage people to engage the Scripture and experience the blessings that come when we are “just brave enough” to say “Yes!” to what God is calling us to do/be.
Laura Franks Benton earned her Masters of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary and is in her first Call as a solo pastor at Meadowlake Presbyterian Church in Huntersville, NC. She is Team Leader and Business Manager for Just Brave Enough. Learn more about their work and download a sample package at our website www.justbraveenough.com and email with questions at justbraveenough5@gmail.com.