Wanda Elizabeth "Beth" Moore (born Wanda Elizabeth Green, June 16, 1957) is an American Anglican evangelist, author, and Bible teacher. She is president of Living Proof Ministries, a Christian organization she founded in 1994 to teach women. Living Proof Ministries is based in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. Moore, who is "arguably the most prominent white evangelical woman in America", speaks at arena events and has sold millions of books. In conjunction with

Lifeway Christian Resources Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of its physical retail presence ...

, Living Proof Ministries conducted more than a dozen "Living Proof Live" conferences around the United States annually, with Travis Cottrell leading worship. From 2007 to 2011, Moore,

Kay Arthur Kay Lee Arthur (November 11, 1933 – May 20, 2025) was an American Christian author, Bible teacher and co-founder of Precept Ministries International. She was a four-time winner of the ECPA Christian Book Award. Early life and education Ka ...

, and

Priscilla Shirer Priscilla Shirer (born December 31, 1974) is an American author, motivational speaker, actress, and Christian media personality, and evangelist. Her father is Dallas mega-church pastor Tony Evans and her brothers are motivational speaker and c ...

collaborated on a LifeWay weekend conference known as "Deeper Still: The Event". While Living Proof Ministries no longer works in conjunction with Lifeway, Moore continues to teach through live events and a podcast/radio show called ''Living Proof with Beth Moore'', as well as on her YouTube channel of the same name. Moore continues to write books and produces video resources based on the Bible studies that she conducts at the Living Proof Live conferences, although today they are published through Living Proof Ministries rather than Lifeway Christian Resources. She has taught at conferences for women in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Moore and her husband, Keith, joined the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba. ...

in 2021.

Early life and education

Born in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

, and raised in

Arkadelphia, Arkansas Arkadelphia is a city in Clark County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,380. The city is the county seat of Clark County. It is situated at the foothills of the Ouachita Mountains. Two universities, Hender ...

, where her father owned a cinema house. Moore is the fourth of five children, all of whom worked at the cinema from a young age. Moore was raised in the

Southern Baptist Church The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Ch ...

and regularly attended as a child three times each week. She has often referenced that church was a safe place for her as she was growing up and was the place where she could escape the sexual abuse she experienced at home. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in political science at

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

, where she pledged and was initiated into

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is an American women's collegiate fraternity. It was established in 1895 at the University of Arkansas. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapters. Since its founding in 18 ...

Personal life

Moore and her husband, Keith, married in 1978. Keith, who was raised in a Catholic family, continued his father's plumbing business. They have two daughters, Amanda and Melissa. Both daughters, along with son-in-law Curtis Jones, work with their mother at Living Proof Ministries. Moore and her husband attend an

Anglican church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

in Spring, Texas.

Ministry

Moore committed her life to vocational Christian ministry at the age of 18. When she was volunteering as a

Sunday school ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...

teacher, Moore realized she needed to learn more about the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

.Emma Green,
The Tiny Blond Bible Teacher Taking on the Evangelical Political Machine
theatlantic.com, USA, October 2018 She went to a biblical

doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

class that gave her a deep yearning to know the Bible, and she began teaching a weekly Bible study class. By the mid-1990s that class had grown to 2,000 women, and she was speaking at churches throughout

South Texas South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of th ...

. Although still without any formal theological education,

LifeWay Christian Resources Lifeway Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the Christian media publishing and distribution division of the Southern Baptist Convention and provider of church business services. Until the end of its physical retail presence ...

' publishing arm Broadman & Holman (later B&H) began publishing her Bible studies in 1994, leading to a national speaking ministry for Moore. With the help of a

worship band Contemporary worship is a form of Christian worship that emerged within Western evangelical Protestantism in the 20th century. It was originally confined to the charismatic movement, but is now found in a wide range of churches, including many ...

she assembled, she began holding weekend conferences around the country. As a base for her national speaking ministry, she founded Living Proof Ministries. In 2008, she held a simulcast of her "Living Proof Live" that is estimated to have been watched by 70,000 people at 715 locations. The sales of her book about

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

were credited as part of what made a "strong" quarter for Lifeway Christian Stores during the height of the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. Moore then supported the Southern Baptist Convention’s complementarian theology which teaches that males and females have complementary roles and does not allow women to be pastors. Male SBC church leaders criticized her for speaking repeatedly on Sundays, which was in contradiction to their understanding of the Bible's position on the role of women in regards to teaching.

Leaving the Southern Baptist Convention

In March 2021, Moore announced that, though still a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, she was no longer identified as a

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

and had ended her publishing relationship with LifeWay Christian. It was subsequently reported that Moore had joined the

. The news, along with photos of Moore vested as an

acolyte An acolyte is an assistant or follower assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession. In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone performing ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In others, the term is used f ...

and

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as , , and . It has various specialized uses. Academic The title ''lector'' may be applied to lecturers ...

during an Anglican eucharistic service, triggered criticism from some Baptist ministers. In response, Bishop Clark Lowenfield of the Anglican Diocese of the Western Gulf Coast posted on Twitter: "As her Bishop, is an honor to serve God as Beth Moore’s spiritual oversight and covering. She is humble and grace-filled. And we pray for those who have been treating her in unChristianly ways over this past week."

Political and social views

Moore does not identify as liberal or feminist. She is opposed to abortion. In August 2020, Moore said, "

White supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

has held tight in much of the church for so long because the racists outlasted the anti racists." Moore criticized portions of the Evangelical movement that dismissed the moral flaws of politicians accused of sexual abuse, most prominently

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

and

Roy Moore Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed from office for judic ...

(no relation). Moore said in a March 2021 interview that after the October 2016 release of the ''Access Hollywood'' tape, in which Donald Trump was heard making offensive comments about women, she was shocked that fellow evangelicals rallied around Trump and could not understand how he had become "the banner, the poster child for the great white hope of evangelicalism, the salvation of the church in America". In December 2020 she tweeted, "I'm 63 1/2 years old & I have never seen anything in these United States of America I found more astonishingly seductive & dangerous to the saints of God than

Trumpism Trumpism, also referred to as the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, is the political movement and ideology behind U.S. president Donald Trump and his political base. It comprises ideologies such as right-wing populism, right-wing ...

. This

Christian nationalism Christian nationalism is a form of religious nationalism that focuses on promoting the Christian views of its followers, in order to achieve prominence or Dominion theology, dominance in political, cultural, and social life. In countries with a ...

is not of God. Move back from it."

Sexual abuse

Moore has said she was a victim of

childhood sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

within her home. After the #MeToo movement and a report in her local newspaper which described 700 cases of sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention, she became an advocate for sexual abuse survivors: sharing her story, listening to other survivors, and urging the church to examine crimes and coverups. She called out male church leaders for objectifying women and dismissing sexual abuse claims.

Criticism

In 2019, at a conference, when

John F. MacArthur John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. (born June 19, 1939) is an American pastor and author who hosts the national Christian radio and television program ''Grace to You''. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in ...

was asked what he thought of Moore, he responded, "Go home."Leonardo Blair
John MacArthur skewers Beth Moore, Paula White, evangelicals who support women preachers
christianpost.com, US, October 21, 2019 He supported his comment by saying that the Bible would not show an example of a woman preaching. In response, Pastor Wade Burleson stated "Mr. MacArthur, I've lost respect for your ministry. Your smug response of 'Go home' when asked to comment on Beth Moore is not only misogynist, it's unscriptural, and contrary to the character of Christ."

Works

*''When Godly People Do Ungodly Things'' – book (2002), *''Believing God'' – book (2004), *''Who Will You Trust?'' – audio/video series (2007) *''Get Out Of That Pit'' – book (2007), *''Songs of Deliverance'' – CD (2006) *''Fully Alive'': Audio/video series with Beth Moore, James and Betty Robison (2006) *''So Long Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend to Us'' – book (2010), *''Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God's Deliverance'' book (2017) *''The Undoing of Saint Silvanus'' book (2017) *''Chasing Vines: Finding Your Way to an Immensely Fruitful Life'' Bible study companion book (2020) ISBN 978-1496440822 * ''All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir'' book (2023)

Bible studies

*''To Live is Christ: The Life & Ministry of Paul'' (1997), *''Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit'' (1998), *''Breaking Free'' (1999) *''Jesus: The One and Only'' (2002), *''When Godly People Do Ungodly Things: Arming Yourself in the Age of Seduction'' (2002), *''The Beloved Disciple: Following John to the Heart of Jesus'' (2003), *''Believing God'' (2004), *''The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob'' (2005), *''Daniel: Lives of Integrity, words of prophecy'' (2006), *''A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place'' (2007) *''Stepping Up: Psalms of Ascent'' (2007), *''Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman'' (2008), *''Here and Now – There and Then: A Lecture Series on Revelation'' (2009) *''David: Seeking a Heart Like His'' (2010), *''James: Mercy Triumphs'' (2011), *''Children of the Day: 1 & 2 Thessalonians'' (2014), *''Living Free: Learning to Pray God's Word'' (2015), *''Entrusted - Bible Study Book: A Study of 2 Timothy'' (2016), *''The Quest: An Excursion Toward Intimacy with God'' (2017), *''Delivered: Experiencing God's Power in Your Pain'' (2019) *''Chasing Vines: Finding Your Way to an Immensely Fruitful Life'' (2020) *''The Surpassing Value of Knowing Christ: A Study of Philippians (2022)''