With Heart and Hand: A Manual for Women in God's Service

by Beneth Peters Jones

HAS A SMALL BAD SPOT ON SPINE.NO MARKINGS,DOGEARS.

281 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1992

Reviews

[Abigail]

This book was written to a very specific culture - 1990s southern fundamentalism. The authors’ tone implied that if you didn’t do it in the way it would best be done in that culture, you were not representing Christ well. She had many short segments covering a plethora of topics, many of which would require their own books to adequately discuss the topic. The topics I found interesting they merely scraped the surface and I wished they had gone deeper, giving more specific explanations and ideas. Due to the cultural background, the chapters on etiquette and hostessing I found interesting but not particularly applicable, apart from the underlying principles of being courteous, thoughtful, and welcoming. The chapters relating to office work were very dated.

The authors made some good points, but sometimes appeared to contradict themselves. For instance, they mentioned several times the need to get rest and the importance of making ministry about people, but the entire tone of the book implied that in order to be a good ministry lady, you must do all of these many things perfectly (the way the authors thought they should be done), rather than emphasizing using your gifts.

There wasn’t a ton of Bible quoted, which was fine, because the book was supposed to be practical tips. However, in two separate places they quoted 1 Peter 5:2 (written to pastors) as applying to ministry ladies. Do they believe in women pastors?

There were things with which I agreed and things with which I disagreed, but overall I didn’t find it particularly helpful.

[Emma Fischer]

I think some chapters in this book was absolutely great and helpful. There were a few chapters I thought to be a little over extreme though. I found the first half of the book to be more beneficial for me.