Romans 16:1–7
September 4–6, 2025
Seminario Internacional Teológico Bautista
Cnel. Ramón L. Falcón 4080, C1407GSP Cdad. Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Entrance and main foyer.
Registration and check-in location.
Conference
Women’s Restroom
Stairs to 2nd floor:
Workshop Classroom and Men’s Restroom Chapel
Men’s Restroom
Stairs to 1st floor: Chapel, Connections Hall, and Women’s Restroom
Welcome to “Let Her Lead: The Biblical Basis for Women’s Leadership,” CBE’s 2025 International Conference!
Dear Friends,
We are thrilled and honored to share this event with you. We look forward to exploring Scripture’s teaching that men and women alike are gifted and called for ministry according to God’s pleasure and are not limited by race, class, or gender. Our hope is to address biblical passages and Bible translation that have been misinterpreted and mistranslated to limit women’s calling while considering those passages that support women’s leadership. We will also celebrate the many women leaders throughout history as they have demonstrated that God’s gifting and calling is not bound by gender. Finally, we’ll also pay attention to the status of women in church leadership in Argentina and opportunities for them in ministry. Thankful for the generosity of donors who have provided books for each of you, I trust that God will use this event to grasp fully the biblical basis to “Let Her Lead.” Thank you for joining us, and please know I’m happy to answer any questions you might have.
If this is your first CBE conference, we welcome you with much joy and appreciation for your partnership! We pray that the sessions will enrich your life, and through you, the lives of those in your community. A nonprofit organization comprised of Christian women and men from around the world,
CBE makes known the biblical foundation for women’s shared leadership in the home, church, and world. CBE’s supporters along with our church, institution, and organization members stand together to advance the biblical basis for women’s shared leadership and authority.
If you are here alone or if you and your friends would like to share a meal with others, please speak to our onsite conference coordinator, Eliel, or our team of volunteers. They would be delighted to answer any questions you might have about the conference or CBE’s ministry.
If you’re conflicted over which workshops to attend, don’t worry! All conference sessions will be recorded and available shortly at www.cbeinternational.org . In addition to conference recordings, you will want to visit the conference bookstore on the main floor. There you will find a few resources for further reading! If you like to travel, consider joining CBE in Chicago, Illinois, next year for our 2026 international conference, “Made Whole: Healing in the Body of Christ!”
Thank you again for sharing this time with us. If there is any way CBE might make your conference experience better, please let us know. We are here to serve you!
Mimi Haddad, PhD President of CBE International
All Times listed are in Argentina standard time (GMT-3)
All keynote lectures and workshop block A sessions will be live streamed for online participants. All lectures and all workshop blocks (A and B) will be recorded and available to watch in the coming months following the conference.
SEPTEMBER 4 | Thursday
15:30 Registration | Check-in (Exhibitor Booths Open)
Location: Entrance Hall
18:30
9:00
10:00
Keynote Session 1: Does Paul Silence or Support Women’s Leadership? A Whole Bible Approach
Mimi Haddad
Location: Chapel
SEPTEMBER 5 | friday
Devotional
Location: Chapel
Keynote Session 2: Equal to Serve
Taffi Dollar
Location: Chapel
11:30 Workshop 1:
Workshop 1.A: Solidarity or Competition in the Ministry
Mayra Ugalde
Location: Chapel
Workshop 1.B: Language for God
Charles Read
Location: Workshop Classroom
12:30
Lunch (Provided)
Location: Conference Connection Hall
14:00
Keynote Session 3:
Prisca and Aquila as Authoritative Teachers and Church Leaders in a Team Ministry Model
Aída B. Spencer
Location: Chapel
15:30 Workshop 2:
The Prominence of Women in Exodus: Their Crucial Role in Israel’s Liberation
Walter Merino
Location: Chapel
16:30 Coffee Break (Exhibitor Booths Open)
Location: Conference Connection Hall
17:30 Workshop 3:
Redeeming the Culture of the Fall in Your Church/Ministry Context
Sheri and Keith Onishi
Location: Chapel
18:30
9:00
10:00
Keynote Session 4:
The Prophetess Huldah: A Woman as God’s Spokesperson
Pablo Andiñach
Location: Chapel
SEPTEMBER 6 th | saturday
Devotional
Location: Chapel
Keynote Session 5: Where are you coming from, and where are you going? A Study on Hagar
Mayra Ugalde
Location: Chapel
11:30
Workshop 4:
Workshop 4.A: Not a Slippery Slope, but the Road to Flourishing
Mimi Haddad
Location: Chapel
Workshop 4.B: Insights and Applications from the Team Ministry Model of Prisca and Aquila
William D. Spencer
Location: Workshop Classroom
12:30 Lunch (On Your Own)
14:00
15:30
16:30
Keynote Session 6: Translation and the Samaritan Woman
Jonatan Leopardi
Location: Chapel
Workshop 5: Workshop 5.A: But Jesus was a man!
Charles Read
Location: Chapel
Workshop 5.B: Practical Way for Gender Equality
Taffi Dollar
Location: Workshop Classroom
Coffee Break (Exhibitor Booths Open)
Location: Conference Connection Hall
17:30 Round Table Panel
Moderated by Mimi Haddad
Location: Chapel
18:30
Keynote Session 7: Women in Evangelical Churches in Argentina: Tensions and Opportunities
Viviana Barrón
Location: Chapel
CBE runs weekly Christian radio spots that highlight women in Scripture and mission—and they are available in audio and text on CBE’s website. These stories show that women are an integral part of God’s work in our world and are created to share leadership with men. Through the power of the Holy Spirit they prophesy, heal, preach, teach, create, lead, nurture, protect, and disciple others.
Visit ministrywomen.org to read or listen to these radio spots in both English and Spanish.
Power Their Voices!
Your gift helps us reach more people through these inspiring stories delivered through radio and on CBE’s website. Scan the QR code or go to cbe.today/radio .
Pablo R. Andiñach holds a PhD in Theology and is Professor of Old Testament at the Catholic University of Argentina and Director of the Master’s Program in Biblical Theology at the University of the Latin American Educational Center. He completed postgraduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. He teaches courses, workshops, and classes in various locations, most notably through his participation in the Duke University course of study in El Salvador.
Elsa Viviana Barrón is a baptist pastor and rector of the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires. She holds a degree in social work (UNLAM), a master’s degree in religious studies (SITB), and another master’s in social science research (UBA). She holds a PhD and postdoctoral degree in social sciences (UBA). She is a professor for higher education (UAI), researcher (UBA, UNLAM, UMSA, UEP), and is a member of the Global Network of Suicidologists.
Taffi Dollar a native of Atlanta, Georgia, is a world-renowned author, teacher, spiritual leader, and motivational speaker. She is married to Creflo Dollar, and together they pastor World Changers Church International (WCCI) based in College Park, Georgia, World Changers Church-New York, and numerous satellite churches across the country. In addition to ministering from the pulpit, she frequently hosts prayer and Bible study meetings, retreats, workshops, and other events that empower women.
Mimi Haddad serves as President and CEO of CBE International. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado and GordonConwell Theological Seminary (summa cum laude). She earned a PhD in historical theology from the University of Durham, England. Haddad received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Palmer Theological Seminary of Eastern University in 2013. An awardwinning author, Haddad writes, teaches, and speaks on matters related to women in history and theology, women and development and the impact of women’s equality on human flourishing.
Roundtable
Workshop
Roundtable
Jonatan Leopardi graduated from International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires and is a Senior Professor of Theology with a specialization in biblical research. He is currently completing his master’s degree in sacred Scripture at the University of Buenos Aires (UCA). He is part of a project with the Argentine Bible Society in the area of biblical language teaching and serves as Associate Pastor at the Jesús Rey de Paz church in Lanús, southern Buenos Aires. He has been married to Nuria for eighteen years, and they have two children.
Walter Merino holds a Master’s in Theology with a specialization in sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina. He is a Professor of Secondary and Higher Education in Theology at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires. He served the Nazarene Apostolic Christian Church in San Antonio de Padua, Buenos Aires. He currently serves at the Baptist Church of Martín Coronado and has been married to Betina Paola Eisenach for nineteen years.
Sheri and Keith Onishi have served for thirty-eight years with an international Christian mission organization, seventeen of those years living in Latin America. They have three grown children and currently live in Dallas, Texas. Sheri and Keith develop leaders globally with an emphasis on spiritual leadership, self-leadership, strategic leadership, and shared leadership. One of their focuses is to create safe spaces for teams to discuss the challenges and barriers that are unique to women who desire to lead organizationally, in order to uncover the often unacknowledged root issues.
Charles Read, BA, MPhil, PGCE teaches liturgy and shares in the teaching of systematic theology. After reading theology at Manchester University, he served in a wide variety of parishes in Manchester Diocese, ending up as team vicar in a UPA in Salford. He has been a member of the General Synod, has helped to produce the new Eucharistic prayers for Common Worship, and is involved with WATCH (Women and the Church). His PhD focus was on inclusive language in Scripture. Charles is married to Judith, and they have two boys, Jonathan and Phillip. Charles Read serves on CBE’s Board of Reference.
Keynote
Workshop
Aída Besançon Spencer is Senior Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and is an ordained minister and founding pastor of Pilgrim Church (MA). She was the first Latina ordained by the Presbyterian Church (U.S. and U.S.A) and one of the only Latinas with a doctorate working full-time for an ATS-accredited graduate school. She has taught for the Facultad de Teologia Integral of Buenos Aires as well as courses and lectures in English and Spanish in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Colombia. Her latest book is The Exegetical Process: How to Write a New Testament Exegesis Paper, Step by Step.
William David Spencer is Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Theology and the Arts at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s multi-cultural campus in Boston. He and his wife, Aída Besançon Spencer, co-edit the Africanus Journal and co-produce the House of Prisca and Aquila series of Wipf & Stock Publishers. Together and separately, they have authored numerous books, including Christian Egalitarian Leadership, Marriage at the Crossroads, Global Voices on Biblical Equality, The Global God, The Goddess Revival, and Cave of Little Faces.
Keynote Roundtable
Workshop
Mayra Ugalde currently serves as Honorary Director of the Bible Society of Costa Rica, where she has served in the publishing, promoting, and distribution of the Bible all over Costa Rica for more than forty-three years. Mayra also serves on the Publishing Committee for the United Bible Society where she participates in developing and publishing different study Bibles including the Bible for Latin American women that’s called The Women in the Bible and also a Bible for adult women that was called The Bible I Adore. Mayra has an MBA in Administration and a postgraduate degree in Bible.
Eric E. Richter holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Universidad Adventista del Plata (River Plate Adventist University) in Libertador San Martín, Entre Ríos, Argentina, and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in history. He serves as editor for Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana (South American Publishing House) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He specializes in Adventist history and New Testament studies. Eric has written more than a dozen academic articles.
Ariel Alexander grew up in Córdoba, Argentina, and has called La Paz, Bolivia, home since 2009. She joined Word Made Flesh in 2012 and has supported survivors of abuse and sexual exploitation as program coordinator, researcher, advocate, and intercultural formation facilitator within the WMF community in Bolivia. At the beginning of 2023 she stepped into the role of Regional Coordinator for Latin America. She supports Latin American WMF communities and creates bridges of partnership between individuals and organizations serving those in vulnerable situations in the region.
Alejandra Diaz is a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God. She graduated from Nelson University with a BA in church leadership, AA in Bible, and an AA in intercultural studies. Currently, she serves as the Secretary-Treasurer for the TexasLouisiana Hispanic Network of the Assemblies of God Girls Ministries department. She also preaches and teaches at her local church, and she enjoys watching K-dramas and eating sweets!
Slava Petlitsa, DMin was born and raised in Ukraine. There, he earned degrees in both engineering and foreign languages, and worked for several years as an academic translator and interpreter. After emigrating to Canada, Slava earned further degrees in biblical studies and in linguistics. Slava currently teaches Spanish, Russian, and New Testament Greek at Trinity Western University and at ACTS Seminary in British Columbia, Canada. He serves with Avant Ministries as a non-resident missionary to Cuba and has also served for the last decade as a pastor among Latino migrant agricultural workers in British Columbia.
1 Cor. 12:26 More Details Coming Soon!
Chicago, Illinois
August 7–9, 2026
Crowne Plaza O’Hare Hotel and Conference Center
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
At CBE’s international conferences each year, we bring diverse egalitarian voices together to explore historical, biblical, and social perspectives on male and female mutuality.
Attendees gain awareness and the ability to address the marginalization of women and
abuse in Christian churches and homes. This empowers them to transform lives, workplaces, and ministries—advancing opportunities and dignity for all. The annual cost is $40,000.
Your gift today will open more doors and bring more people together to grow this vital conversation!
Join us by giving at cbe.today/conferences or scan the QR code to give securely online.
We are deeply grateful for you and for every gift, no matter the amount. Thank you for your generosity.
session descriptions
Keynote Session 1
Thursday, September 4th | 18:00 | Chapel
Mimi Haddad
From Genesis to Revelation, women live out their God-given identity as God’s “strong rescue,” (Gen. 2:18). Yet too often churches have allowed three NT texts (1 Tim. 2:11–15; 1 Cor. 14: 34–36; Eph. 5:21–30) to overshadow and suppress the abundant examples of women’s creational purpose.
Notes
Keynote Session 2
Friday, September 5th | 10:00 | Chapel
Equal to Serve
Taffi Dollar
We are all called to serve, women and men alike. This biblical concept will be explored through the example of Deborah and Barak, Mary and Joseph, and Paul and Onesimus.
Notes
Workshop 1.A | Friday, September 5th | 11:30 | Chapel
Solidarity or Competition in the Ministry
Mayra Ugalde
With the lives of Hannah and Peninnah, we will analyze together why as women we tend to compete with other women to be seen and heard. Is that what God wants for us? In serving God, we tend to forget the most important thing which is pleasing God who calls us. We engage in struggles that hurt us, making us believe that God is not enough for our fulfillment. But that is not the case. Pursue God’s purpose for your life.
Workshop 1.B | Friday, September 5th | 11:30
Workshop Classroom
Charles Read
This workshop aims to be an introduction to gendered language for God for those who have not thought much about this before and want a basic introduction. It will look at biblical images for God as well as why this issue is important. It will help us to see that the Bible describes God in a much broader variety of ways than we often think and that it is not helpful just to talk about God using male imagery. It will look at the implications of this discussion for Christian worship and for the way in which we preach, evangelise, and generally talk about God.
Notes
Keynote Session 3
Friday, September 5th | 14:00 | Chapel
Prisca and Aquila
Aída B. Spencer
The presentation will define a “teacher” from its biblical Greek basis and cite similar examples of New Testament women with authority. The biblical and extrabiblical history of Prisca and Aquila will be illustrated by power point, including pictures taken on location of their homes in Rome and possible store in Corinth. The presentation will explore the following questions: Why were Prisca and Aquila’s names presented in different orders, what evidence is there for Prisca and Aquila being authoritative teachers and church leaders; why were they outstanding, and what evidence is there for Prisca authoring Hebrews?
Notes
session descriptions
Friday, September 5th | 15:30 | Chapel
The Prominence of Women in Exodus: Their Crucial Role in Israel’s Liberation
Walter Merino
This workshop seeks to highlight the leading role of women in the book of Exodus, often overshadowed by traditional interpretations and a male-centered bias. To illustrate how this conditioning can conceal what is evident in the biblical text, we will use Exodus 2:1–10 as an example. Afterwards, we will analyze, using narrative tools, various passages in Exodus where women play a decisive role. Finally, we will emphasize the urgency of incorporating new exegetical analyses to rediscover the female participation in God’s salvific plan revealed in the Bible.
Notes
Friday, September 5th | 17:30 | Chapel
Sheri and Keith Onishi
Desiring to see more women in leadership in your organization/church is not enough. Secular-for-profit and nonprofit companies have discovered that no matter how many “bias trainings” and policy changes they make, they are still not seeing significant advancement in women thriving in leadership positions. As believers we need to understand that the root issues are spiritual and began at the Fall of humankind. Redeeming the Culture of the Fall in your church/ministry context and creating an environment of flourishing women leaders and male/ female partnerships begins with surfacing the root issues as you understand biblical and historical teachings, and learn to listen to one another, especially to the women in your organization.
Notes
Keynote Session 4
Friday, September 5th | 18:30 | Chapel
The Prophetess Huldah: A Woman as God’s Spokesperson
Pablo Andiñach
This session will examine 2 Kings 22 as it presents the prophetess, Huldah, as the woman who speaks on behalf of God. She confirms the truthfulness of the document found in the temple, and based on her testimony, the most important religious reform in biblical Israel begins. Her role as a woman spokesperson for God speaks to the value the Lord gives to women in the life of His people. Two male prophets were active at the time, but God chose Huldah.
Notes
Keynote Session 5
Saturday, September 6th | 10:00 | Chapel
Where are you coming from, and where are you going? A Study on Hagar
Mayra Ugalde
In this session on Hagar’s life, we will study together the reasons why you are in leadership and where you want to go, considering that God is the God who sees us. As women, we believe we’re winning battles in a world where men dominate, but we forget that winning the war is more important. But which is the ultimate war? If both, men and women were made in the image of God, what are we fighting against?
Notes
Workshop 4.A | Saturday, September 6th | 11:30 | Chapel
Mimi Haddad
Humanitarians consistently show that advancing women’s dignity, agency and leadership is the most powerful way to up-end poverty, illiteracy, and disease. This session will consider both the biblical and humanitarian research on women’s shared leadership as essential to human flourishing.
Workshop 4.B | Saturday, September 6th | 11:30
Workshop Classroom
William D. Spencer
This workshop will define and illustrate team ministry biblically, summarize the qualities that Prisca and Aquila exhibited in their ministry model, explain these, and draw contemporary examples. The workshop will include both presentation and discussion and suggest what keeps team ministry working.
Notes session descriptions
Saturday, September 6th | 14:00 | Chapel
Translation
Jonatan Leopardi
Listeners will be introduced to the problem of biblical translation and some translations that are interpreted in ways that seem to discourage female leadership. We will move on to a moment in which cultural anthropology can shed light on certain aspects of both the period of writing and the interpretation of the biblical texts. With this foundation, we will proceed to read the text of the Samaritan woman as recognized by Eastern tradition: Hagia Fotini (Holy LightBearer), emphasizing her leadership and missionary role. We will close with a positive perspective, endorsing the essence of ministry that women carry out.
Notes
Workshop 5.A | Saturday, September 6th | 15:30 | Chapel
But Jesus was a man!
Charles Read
Some argue that because Jesus was a man, then leaders in the church should be men. This workshop will look at what the early church thought about this and where the idea of male only leadership connected with the maleness of Jesus comes from. It will look at the doctrine of the Trinity and the idea that women should be subordinate to men because Jesus is subordinate to the father—and will offer a response to this view. This workshop will aim to be an introduction to these ideas and debates, but participants will find it useful if they know a little bit about the development of the doctrine of the Trinity already.
Workshop 5.B | Saturday, September 6th | 15:30
Workshop Classroom
Taffi Dollar
Power imbalances continue to exist between men and women, and responsibility is still unequally distributed. Yet, a day is coming when all things, including gender relationships, will be made new. In the meantime, how do we live out kingdom reality while the old order is still alive and well? Here are some biblical and practical ways to demonstrate the kingdom truth that the wall between men and women has been broken down.
Notes
session descriptions
Saturday, September 6th | 15:30 | Chapel
Panelists moderated by Mimi Haddad
Notes
Where leaders, pastors, and authors share women’s biblical equality in Scripture. A CBE International Podcast
AVAILABLE WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS
session descriptions
Keynote Session 7
Saturday, September 6th | 18:00 | Chapel
Viviana Barrón
In this presentation, we will explore the positions regarding the place of women observed in evangelical churches in Argentina, focusing on the tensions that can be identified and the potential of women’s ministry in the country. It is based on ethnographic field studies and documentary analysis.
Notes
Members receive many membership perks that allow them to receive resources and special discounts through CBE, including conference tickets. Schools, churches, and nonprofit organizations have benefited from their membership with CBE by creating spaces where both women and men can thrive together in shared leadership and authority.
Head to CBE’s conference bookstore to learn more or go to cbe.today/orgmembers
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Learn more about CBE chapters at cbe.today/chapters to get started on forming one in your region.
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Go to cbe.today/spanish to access:
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