I always like to know a little something about an author before I sit down to open up his or her book. Today, I’m excited to interview Courtney Moore about her new book, Women & Work: Bearing God’s Image and Joining in His Mission through our Work. Courtney edited this book with a wonderful group of authors, including Hannah Anderson, Missie Branch, Portia Collins, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Joanna Meyer, Jen Oshman, Courtney Powell, Courtney Reissig, Faith Whatley and Amy Whitfield. Throughout the years, I’ve learned so much from many of these authors and I’m looking forward to gleaning from their wisdom on this important topic. Women and Work releases on June 13, 2023, and you can pre-order a copy here!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? 
I became a believer in Christ at age 9 via Vacation Bible School and felt called to ministry as a teenager, though I had no idea of how God might use me in vocational ministry. After college, I served as a missionary for 2 years in Costa Rica with the International Mission Board and then became a student at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary when I returned stateside. It was there I met my husband Brent, who is a pastor. We’ve been married for almost 17 years and have 3 kids. In 2018, the Lord led me to found the nonprofit Women & Work, and since then, I’ve had the privilege of serving women by inspiring them to confidently step into their God-given calling and view their work as meaningful to the kingdom of God. My family and I live in El Paso, Texas.
I genuinely want every woman in every season of her life to live with the confidence that her work matters to God and His purposes for the world, even if it’s not considered “ministry.”
When did you first start writing? What do you enjoy about it?
Journaling as a middle schooler was the beginning of my writing journey. Then and now, I find writing to be an incredibly useful way of organizing my jumbled thoughts, processing them, and then making sense of them from a biblical worldview. It’s even more beneficial if my writing can serve others, which is what I’m praying this book will do!
Is writing ever difficult for you? How so?
Yes, writing is hard work. It’s difficult to take these disorganized thoughts, manage them into coherency, and then form them into sentences and paragraphs that are both interesting to the reader and written in as few words as possible.
And my flesh wants none of this difficulty, so exercising self-discipline against the easy distractions of Instagram or snacks while writing is another challenge to overcome as a writer.
Women & Work is God’s answer to the prayers of my team at Women & Work, the nonprofit. For the last 5 years, we have served women through our various initiatives to inspire them to honor God and image Him to the world through their work as well as leverage their unique potential for His glory. We have loved every minute of creating the podcast, blog, events, book club, and awarding our first ever scholarship this year, but on each of our hearts was to publish, to put our message down on paper for our community. By God’s grace, He’s given us this opportunity with B&H Publishing Group.
Women & Work is a collaborative book. I served as general editor over the work of our 10 wonderful contributing authors who each wrote a chapter on a various topic around the subject of women and their work. I had the privilege of casting vision for the book, recruiting the authors, editing their work, and contributing my own. We’re so thankful the Lord brought this project to life.
What’s the central message you hope readers will take away from your book?
I genuinely want every woman in every season of her life to live with the confidence that her work matters to God and His purposes for the world, even if it’s not considered “ministry.” I hope they are reminded of their worth as women made in the image of God and that they don’t have to prove their value by the productivity of their hands. I pray the Holy Spirit will give them discernment to recognize not only their unique gifts but also His lead in their lives. I pray they will respond to Him with a faith-filled Yes! and then offer the work of their hands every day to Him in worship.
You and I, as well as our work, were made by God and for God. — Jen Oshman
For a sneak peek, here are some quotes:
“Since the fall, the world has been thrown into chaos but through our work, we can bring it back into order. So, when you file that stack of papers or clean out that junk drawer, you’re doing holy work.” — Elyse Fitzpatrick
“The world needs who God made you to be, not in an inspiring Instagram-post kind of way, but through specific, often unglamorous, use of your specific skills and resources.” — Joanna Meyer
“He knows what awaits you on the other side of each step. It’s the joy of His presence as you lean on Him with each stride. It’s the good of your neighbor and the glory of your Father. This is the purpose of not only your work but your life.” — Courtney Moore
“This book is a must-read. Every woman, no matter what season she is in, will find herself somewhere within these pages. Twenty years of leading in Corporate America, and I have never read a book that so accurately captures the plethora of issues that we contemplate as Christian women who work and the variety of journeys we are on. I am confident that women will feel seen and encouraged from chapter to chapter as well as emboldened to keep going! Our hearts, hands, and feet need this transformative content. This is a book I want all of my friends to read and that I will personally come back to again and again.”
—Allison Lawrence, President eCommerce, Stanley Black & Decker
If you had an afternoon to do whatever you’d like, where would we find you?
You’d find me at home in comfy clothes either taking a nap or sipping coffee. I’d be chatting with a friend on the phone or sharing the latest hilarious meme I’d seen via DM.
Courtney Moore is the founder and president of the nonprofit Women & Work, as well as general editor of Women & Work: Bearing God’s Image and Joining in His Mission through our Work (B&H Publishing, 2023). Courtney is also co-host of the Women & Work Podcast. She holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Mobile and an M.A. in Biblical Counseling from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Courtney is passionate about seeing Jesus Christ honored by women as they steward their gifts and leverage their unique potential for His glory. She and Brent are the parents of 3 kids and live in El Paso, Texas where Brent pastors. You can find her on Instagram and at womenwork.net.