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EPISODE: Becky Burroughs – Leading with Consistency, Courage, and Calling
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
What does it really feel like to be a woman serving in ministry today? In this conversation, Becky Burroughs—minister, coach, mentor, and longtime leader—opens up about the challenges, hopes, and realities women face in church leadership. Drawing from decades of experience and countless coaching conversations, Becky names the themes she hears again and again: the longing for community, the struggle for respect, the tension between giftedness and policy, and the deep desire to serve faithfully in environments that don’t always know how to support them. With honesty, humor, and wisdom, Becky invites listeners to consider what healthy leadership looks like—for women, for men, and for the church as a whole.
GUEST BIO
Becky Burroughs spent most of her life setting high expectations, driving herself into the ground, denying her feelings, and hiding her fears. It took a series of traumatic events, and a full-blown identity crisis, for her to discover her true identity and to love herself as God loves her, unconditionally.
Becky has served in a variety of leadership positions for 40+ years, as a small business owner, a leader in the nonprofit world, and for the past 18 years, a full-time minister at the Highland Oaks Church of Christ in Dallas, where she has held a variety of positions: Administration Minister, Children’s Minister, Executive Minister, and now, Outreach Minister. Always a champion for others, Becky is now a certified Life/Leadership Coach for Christian women, a speaker, and author, encouraging and empowering women to find their true identity, know their worth, and use their voice.
When she is not with her 20 grandchildren, she can be found jumping out of perfectly good planes or traveling the world.
You can connect with Becky via her coaching websites Becky Burroughs Coaching and Leadership Bootcamp for Women in Ministry. She also hosts the podcast Leadership Becomes Her.
Heart of the Conversation
At its core, this episode explores the lived experience of women in ministry—especially within Churches of Christ—where leadership structures are still predominantly male. Becky shares the repeated themes she hears from women across the country: feeling unheard, lacking mentors, navigating unclear expectations, and wrestling with the tension between God’s calling and institutional limitations. She also names what healthy leadership requires: curiosity, consistency, credibility, and a commitment to developing others. Ultimately, the conversation is about creating church cultures where women can thrive, contribute, and lead from their God-given giftedness.
Key ideas discussed include
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Shared experiences among women in ministry: Becky notes that women across different churches express the same struggles—“I don’t feel like I have a voice,” “I don’t have a place at the table,” “Nobody pours into me.”
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The steep learning curve for women entering ministry from other disciplines.
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The lack of coaching, mentoring, and leadership development offered to female ministers compared to male ministers.
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The two biggest challenges women report:
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A deep need for community with other women in ministry.
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Learning how to communicate with male leaders in ways that build understanding.
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The tension between calling and policy: Women often feel God calling them to roles their churches do not permit.
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Leadership credibility: Consistency, values, truth-tellers, and resisting people-pleasing.
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Respect as a foundation for healthy leadership—regardless of gender.
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Hope for Churches of Christ: Openness to new ways of thinking and a desire to help the movement grow.
Resources
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Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change by Todd Bolsinger