“One thing that I keep telling my girls is that we have the life-giving true story.”
Erin Kunkle and Sarah Stonestreet have both wrestled with the modern secular narrative and its false view of womanhood.
And now, they’re spreading God’s idea of true femininity by telling the real-life stories of Christian women on this new podcast.
Kunkle and Stonestreet are the co-hosts of a new podcast, “Strong Women,” which is being produced by The Colson Center for Christian Worldview.
Founded by beloved theologian Charles “Chuck” Colson, The Colson Center seeks to equip modern Christians with clarity, confidence, and courage in their daily walk with Christ.
The organization offers many resources and training opportunities to help Christians “make sense of the world around [them].”
The Colson Center recognizes that we, as Christians, are called to approach truth in a special way that differentiates us from the culture or cultures around us.
And this includes the modern narratives surrounding womanhood, femininity, and the place of women in society and the Church!
Kunkle and Stonestreet started the podcast because they noticed a gap in “the way femininity is viewed in the church.”
“The problem is that, in our culture, femininity is viewed and presented to us in certain ways. And not good ways, I would argue,” said Kunkle.
She reflected on the ways that women are sexualized and objectified in current pop culture, wondering how the films and songs entertaining America right now contribute to the degradation of women and the disintegration of God’s story about femininity.
“There’s so much confusion.”
“And then the Church, that [should] help us think about these things…[we’re] frustrated sometimes by the lack of depth women’s ministries will include.”
“It comes down to a few roles that we’re allowed to participate in, and…sometimes the conversation just starts and ends in roles and not in our design and who we are.”
“When Sarah came to me with this idea to start a podcast about strong women, I was so excited about that.”
“To hold up for our daughters and ourselves women that we can…look up to as heroes as a way to paint this broad picture of what femininity looks like, of what faithfulness looks like…was just so exciting to me.”
Stonestreet agreed, discussing the importance of communicating God’s design for femininity to the next generation of young Christian women.
She was heavily inspired by the 2016 Women’s March, an almost violently anti-male event that didn’t provide good role models for her daughters in any way.
“Wow, these women were buying into this message of…sticking up the middle finger to the chauvinistic world,” Stonestreet remembered.
“Wow, this is such a lost and empty vision of the beauty that femininity has to offer the world.”
Stonestreet wanted to reimagine femininity for her three daughters, offering them a bigger vision—God’s vision!—of what the female vocation can look like throughout their lives.
The podcast will focus on telling the stories of strong, God-focused women throughout history and in contemporary times.
Their stories will serve to inspire and educate audiences on what God designed women to do, the unique capabilities and gifts of Christian women, and the importance of strong womanhood in the world.
“There is a thread of commonality, even amongst the differences, [in the stories of strong women],” Stonestreet said.
The Colson Center hopes that the podcast will “hold up a better way” for modern Christian women to pursue their calling.
The Center knows that it’s important to tell good stories of God-honoring womanhood in order to shape the next generation’s understanding—and the future of culture.
“Culture is upstream from politics, or law, or almost everything else,” according to Chuck Colson, and this issue is no different.
In other words, our understanding of gender roles and the gender divide will shape the future of our culture: it’s only a matter of time.
So far, “Strong Women” has released several episodes, each telling the stories of women who have upheld God’s design for female strength and dignity.
Kunkle and Stonestreet approach current and historical issues with a bold yet sensitive conversational style that invites listeners to fully engage and apply concepts to their own lives.
Each episode is a treasure trove of insight, humor, and compassion that will stir up today’s women to be bold in God’s design for their gifts.
“Strong Women” is available at The Colson Center website. You can also find it on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify.
Gather a few of your favorite female friends and listen to the first episode today!
