Back to Videos

About Jane L. Crane

Jane L. Crane has taught on five continents about women in Christianity and been published internationally. She holds a Master’s in Peace and Justice from the University of San Diego and conducted three years of doctoral-level research in Oxford, England.

She was born in Augusta, Georgia, attended a “society church” as a child, and fell away from it when young. She returned to her Christian faith at age 30 through the dramatic testimony of a Jewish woman judge. She then went to Bible school, Discipleship Training School, and began to organize large Christian events in San Diego. These included the March for Jesus with 25,000+ people and the National Day of Prayer with thousands across cultures and denominations. She was key in inviting Billy Graham to San Diego in 2003 for one of his last crusades and was an officer on the board of directors for that event. She had the joy of opening in prayer for him in front of 46,000 people at San Diego’s stadium.

Jane began to study the Bible regarding women in ministry and developed the “Map for Gender Reconciliation” to teach 50+ passages on this topic. The scripture portion of the Map was published by the Lausanne Movement (started by Billy Graham). She taught the Map on DVD in 2006 and now presents it as “Fact or Theory, the Truth about Women in Church History and the Bible.” Jane gives facts and theories on both sides of the debate about women in leadership and leaves it to the reader to decide what to believe.

She was a Senior Associate for the Partnership of Men and Women in the Lausanne Movement and a committee chair for this purpose during the Lausanne Movement’s 2010 Cape Town Congress with 4,000 delegates from 198 countries, considered the most representative gathering of Christians in history. She also authored a book chapter on the history of the partnership of men and women in the Lausanne Movement.

Jane was a delegate to the United Nations in 2007 for a conference on women, where she learned about widows in Africa, one of the largest marginalized women groups in the world.  She journeyed to seven African countries to interview more than sixty widows, many in their 20s and 30s, and wrote about them in her book Half A Piece of Cloth, the Courage of Africa’s Countless Widows (available on Amazon). She includes some of her experiences in finding the widows and has a chapter on whether religion is helping or hurting them. She then began an Adopt A Widow program in two African countries.

Jane has also done extensive study on the scriptures about leadership in marriage and the church and believes God’s intent is much deeper and richer than a surface reading of the Bible might suggest. She is currently working on a concise book on the topic with detailed references from respected theologians, historians, and others. Married for 36 years to Christopher, she has one grown son and lives in San Diego, California, USA.

Links to Publications by Jane L. Crane

Map for Gender Reconciliation
(Fact or Theory)
History of the Partnership of Men and Women in the Lausanne Movement
Half A Piece of Cloth: The Courage of Africa’s Countless Widows.