Jen Wilkin, a female preacher at Matt Chandler’s church—a Southern Baptist church—who has also publicly described menstruation as a “parable of the cross” is now being presented as a preaching coach for pastors. Not for women’s Bible study leaders. Not for curriculum writers. For pastors. For men charged by God to stand before the church and preach Christ with authority.
That alone should stop people in their tracks.
But when someone starts importing bodily processes into the atonement—connections Scripture itself never makes—they’ve already shown a willingness to improvise theology. And improvisers are the last people who should be shaping how preaching is done.
And the issue isn’t just that Jen Wilkin is a woman. That alone is unbiblical. But the issue is also that her theological instincts lean symbolic, emotive, and experiential. Those instincts are exactly what faithful preaching must restrain, not cultivate. Preaching is not poetic self-expression. It’s not an exercise in resonance. It’s not “finding yourself in the text.” It is the public declaration of what God has actually said.
Join Us and Get These Perks:
✅ Access to Comments and Discussions
✅ Community Chats
✅ Full Article and Podcast Archive
✅ The Joy of Supporting Our Work 😉
And notice the framing. No one says she is training men to preach. That would sound wrong even to those sympathetic to the project. Instead, we’re given safer language—coaching, craft, communication, the whole church. Carefully chosen words that avoid the central question: by what authority?
Preaching is not a neutral skill that can be detached from office and authority. You cannot reduce it to technique without hollowing it out. Scripture does not prohibit women from knowing Scripture. It does prohibit them from exercising teaching authority over men—and preaching, by definition, is authoritative proclamation.
This is how boundaries erode. Through professionalization, credentialing, and soft language that makes category violations feel normal. The result is pastors being trained to prize tone over truth, empathy over exegesis, and relatability over repentance.
Make a 
