The database
Welcome to the Project 3:28 Database, a growing resource for Christian women speakers.
If you’re a conference or event organiser, producer or work in media, by searching a name, subject, or key word you can discover women speakers with specialisms in Christianity, including the Bible, missions, church planting, and apologetics, and an extensive range of wider topics including politics, society, culture, the arts, media, business, ethics, and much more and then contact them directly. The database is growing, so please do check back regularly and please get in touch with us with any suggestions or feedback. Please read how to get the best out of the database here before you look around, and then click to start your search here.
If you’re a woman with an interest in speaking, we’re delighted you’re here! Whether you have years of experience or this is your first step towards putting yourself forward, head to the ‘Create a profile‘ page and tell us about yourself. We recommend reading the top tips for registering first.
The project
Project 3:28 originated in 2014 with counts of male and female speakers at Christian events in the UK. You can read the annual reports and more about the initial project here.
Why Project 3:28?
The name originates from Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Who we are
We are a small collective who want to see the church recognise the gifts and callings of women and men. Our working group includes Natalie Collins, Vicky Walker, Hannah Mudge and David Bunce. Click on our names to be directed to our personal websites.
If you want to contribute to the on-going running costs of the database (and if so, thank you!) you can do so HERE.
Our Ambassadors
We are grateful to the Project 3:28 Ambassadors, for their support of the database.
Rev Dr Kate Coleman is founding director of Next Leadership. She has over 30 years of leadership experience in the church, charity and voluntary sectors and is a mentor and coach to leaders. Kate recently completed a term as Chair of the Evangelical Alliance Council (2012-2014), is a former president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (2006-2007), and a Baptist Minister. A popular speaker and lecturer, Kate has gained a reputation as a visionary and an inspiration to many. She is a strategic advisor who mentors, coaches and supports leaders and organisations locally, nationally and internationally. Recognised as one of the 20 most influential black Christian women leaders in the UK, her network extends across all sectors and church denominations. Kate is author of 7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership. Her media contributions include the mainstream press, radio and TV. Kate is a Certified Stakeholder Centered Coach and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
Dr Paula Gooder is a writer and lecturer in Biblical Studies. Her research areas focus on the writings of Paul the Apostle, with a particular focus on 2 Corinthians and on Paul’s understanding of the Body. Her passion is to ignite people’s enthusiasm for reading the Bible today, by presenting the best of biblical scholarship in an accessible and interesting way. She works as the Director for Mission Learning and Development in the Birmingham Diocese (Church of England). Before that she worked for twelve years in ministerial formation first at Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford and then at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. Following this she spent around eight years as a speaker and writer in biblical studies travelling the country and seeking to communicate the best of biblical scholarship in as accessible a way as possible. She is the author of a number of books including Let Me Go There: The Spirit of Lent (Canterbury Press, 2016); Body Biblical Spirituality for the Whole Person (SPCK, 2016) and Journey to the Manger: Exploring the Birth of Jesus (Canterbury Press, 2015).
Mark Woods is a Baptist minister who has worked in religious journalism for nearly 20 years. After two pastorates, one in Bristol and one in the Midlands, he joined the Baptist Times and then the Methodist Recorder before becoming a contributing editor for Christian Today, of which he is now editor. He has written widely for various Christian organisations and is the author of Does the Bible Really Say That? (Lion), a book that seeks to challenge some of the myths around in the evangelical world.
Chine McDonald is head of Christian influence & engagement at World Vision – a faith-based children’s international development agency. Prior to that, she was director of communications at the Evangelical Alliance, including running threadsuk.com – an online collective for people in their 20s and 30s exploring faith and life. She read theology & religious studies at Cambridge University before training as a newspaper journalist and over the years has written for several regional and national publications. Chine has been named in lists including Christianity magazine’s ’33 under 33’ and Keep the Faith’s ‘Most Influential Black Christian Women’. She loves taking the opportunity to make faith accessible and relevant within the mainstream world and regularly gets to do that through writing and broadcasting. That’s why she loves being a regular contributor to BBC Religion & Ethics programmes, including Thought for the Day, the Daily Service, Pause for Thought and Prayer for the Day. She has also been a regular speaker on issues of race, faith and gender at Christian festivals and conferences, including Greenbelt, Spring Harvest, New Wine, Movement Day and the Church & Media Conference. Chine is the author of ‘Am I Beautiful?’ – a book published in 2013 which explores body image among Christian women. She is a trustee of Greenbelt festival, the Church & Media Network, Christians Against Poverty and the Sophia Network, which equips women in leadership in the Church.
Martin Saunders is Director of Innovation and Deputy Chief Executive at Youthscape, where he helps to lead a team of passionate youth specialists intent on changing the course of the church’s engagement with young people. He’s also a contributing editor at Christian Today, one of the world’s leading Christian news and comment websites, where he writes regularly on a range of issues facing the church, including gender justice. Martin has been a passionate advocate for gender equality, particularly within Christian culture, and was a driving force in the annual Youth Work Summit event which ran from 2010-15, and which implemented a then-groundbreaking 50/50 gender platform policy. He’s also mentored and worked alongside a number of exceptional female leaders, all of whom have since gone on to greater things than he’ll ever be capable of. He’s married to Jo and they have four children, Joel, Naomi, Samuel and Zachary.
Steve Holmes is a Baptist minister and theologian, presently Head of the School of Divinity and Principal of St Mary’s College in the University of St Andrews. He writes on many issues, including theological perspectives on gender. He is involved with the Sophia Network, Christians for Biblical Equality, and the BMS Dignity Project.