I am a conflict avoider. I know it isn’t the wisest response in all situations, so sometimes even I have to step into a conversation I would rather not have. The picture above is a case in point.  For months, I have been dreading being one of two women on a panel addressing the topic of women in ministry. If ever there was a controversial topic in my circles, this is it. And the largest contingent in the audience I was facing? Male Southern Baptist pastors - a group not often considered the friendliest towards women in ministry and the use of all of our gifts in local churches. With them and many discouraged women in ministry in one room, I feared contention. What I encountered instead was something truly beautiful: men and women searching God’s Word and contemplating together how we could best work as brothers and sisters in the family of God.