A Liberating Vision,
A Courageous Voice
Allyson McKinney Timm speaks on Christian faith, human rights, and gender justice in talks designed to challenge, illuminate, and inspire. Drawing on over 25 years of advocacy, scholarship, and leadership, she helps audiences explore the moral questions at the heart of women’s struggles for dignity and rights—and what justice requires of us now.
Signature Talks & Workshops
Featured Author Talk
Taking Sacredness Seriously
Why Christians Must Defend Women’s Dignity, Uphold Human Rights, and Confront the Beliefs That Sustain Misogyny
A featured author talk based on If Women’s Lives Were Sacred: Christianity, Human Rights, and the Struggle for Equal Justice
What would America, the Christian Church, and the wider world look like if women’s lives were truly respected as sacred, inviolable, and precious to God? Through the lens of this urgent moral question, Allyson McKinney Timm explores the history of patriarchal Christian theology and its ongoing legacy in US law, policy, and culture, naming women’s oppression an original sin of both church and state.
Drawing on decades of human rights experience in Sub-saharan Africa and in the United States, she explores how abuses such as child marriage, exploitation of widows, lethal violence against women, and reproductive coercion devastate lives and communities. At the heart of the book, an ancient Bible story provides inspiration for upholding women’s rights—reaffirmed by the prophetic, liberating voices of feminist faith leaders across the generations. The book challenges the American exceptionalism that projects sins of misogyny onto other nations and cultures, insisting that women’s rights must always begin at home.
With the clarity of a lawyer and the moral imagination of a pastor, Allyson invites audiences into the book’s urgent call for gender justice—and a transformational Christian faith that treats women’s lives as genuinely sacred.
45–60 minutes + Q&A | Ideal for churches, faith leaders, seminaries, denominations, and justice-focused events | can be adapted for university, civic, and interfaith communities
Signature Faith & Justice Keynote
Amidst resurgent misogyny, patriarchal White Christian nationalism, and authoritarian challenges to American democracy, rights that were once secure are being challenged. Traditional gender hierarchy is being asserted with renewed confidence—from restrictions on women's bodily integrity to pronatalist politics, “tradwife” culture, and a toxic “manosphere.”
This struggle over women's equality is not only political and legal, it is also moral and theological—rooted in competing beliefs about women's personhood, dignity, and place in the world.
In her signature keynote, Allyson McKinney Timm examines key religious forces that brought us to this moment. She offers a clear-eyed assessment of how traditional Christian teachings and practices surrounding gender and marriage have contributed to many of the legal, political, and cultural barriers that women face today.
But religious faith need not enable patriarchy. The vibrant insights of feminist and womanist theologians offer powerful resources for affirming women's sacred worth and moral agency. Christian theories of human rights likewise underscore the importance of gender equality.
McKinney Timm makes the case for a renewed public witness by feminist and progressive people of faith in support of women’s freedom. Inviting people of all faiths and none into the work, she offers a hopeful vision of how moral conviction, democratic principles, and human rights can converge in the struggle for equality.
Faith, Feminism, and the Fight for Democracy
Confronting Misogyny, Christian Nationalism, and the Assault on Women’s Rights
45–60 minutes + Q&A | Ideal for church and interfaith groups, women’s advocates, ,human rights organizations, universities, and civic audiences
Interactive Gender Justice Workshop
Because All Are Sacred & Beloved:
Why Justice Requires Equality under the Law
If all human beings possess sacred worth in equal measure, what basis can there be for denying women and LGBTQ+ persons equal rights? There is no sound moral justification inequality under the law—yet gender inequality remains embedded in the U.S. constitutional system.
In this workshop, Allyson explores why the Equal Rights Amendment is necessary to correct the constitutional legacy of women’s exclusion and subordination at the nation’s founding. She explains how the ERA can strengthen legal responses to lethal domestic violence, child marriage, and other urgent harms of injustice. Participants consider how equality can play a crucial role in fostering a beloved community in which all people are valued as sacred. Participants will leave better equipped to claim equality for themselves and others.
Drawing on more than decade of teaching experience that has spanned seminaries and churches, college and law school classrooms, and community-based human rights education, Allyson creates dynamic learning environments where participants’ questions and insights help drive the conversation.
Allyson’s workshops are especially well-suited for communities ready to lean into gender equality, women’s empowerment, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and an intersectional feminist approach that affirms the sacred worth of every individual.
60-90 minutes | Ideal for church, seminary, ecumenical, and interfaith groups | can be adapted for women’s advocates, human rights organizations, and university and civic audiences
Select Past Engagements
Yale Divinity School
Center for Continuing Education
Virtual
Overseas Ministry Study Center
New Haven, CT
now at Princeton Theological Seminary
Pepperdine Caruso School of Law
Malibu, CA
Grace Cathedral
San Francisco, CA
Sojourners Summit
Washington, DC
Calvary Presbyterian Church
San Francisco, CA
ERA Centennial Interfaith Gathering
Seneca Falls, NY
Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church
Washington, DC
Let’s Work Together
Whether you’re planning an annual event, seeking inspiration, or exploring possibilities, I’d love to hear from you. Tell me about your community, needs, and vision. I’ll review your request personally and follow up promptly.
