Interview with Amy Ford
What would it take for churches to provide the love, support, and encouragement women need when they’re unexpectedly expecting? Amy Ford, President and Founder of Embrace Grace, has some ideas.
Amy launched Embrace Grace, Inc. in 2008 after experiencing her own unexpected pregnancy. Today Embrace Grace equips churches nationwide to do their part. Lives are being changed and saved as a result.
In this episode of the Know Why Podcast, a continuation of Know Why’s series Know About Pro-Lifers, Amy shares her powerful testimony. She also tells listeners about the ministry that is making churches a place more pregnant women want to run to instead of away from.
“It’s Just What You Did”
Raised in church, Amy became “unexpectedly expecting” at age 19 with her high school sweetheart. When her abortion appointment didn’t go as planned, they decided to get married—but the first pastor they asked refused to marry them.
(Hear the whole story of Amy’s unexpected pregnancy, marriage, and reconciliation with the pastor who refused to marry them on the podcast.)
Amy Ford, President
“There are over 300,000 churches in America. If we all were doing our part, we could make abortion unthinkable.”
Embrace Grace, Inc.
Amy’s story wasn’t unique. Many other women have faced similar experiences in church, encountering judgment, shame, and loneliness at a time when they need love and guidance.
As one pastor told Amy, recalling a less-than-gracious response to a congregant’s unplanned pregnancy that he later repented for, “It’s just what you did.”
But is that the Christian way?
Pro-Love
Amy reminds listeners that it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). She also references the biblical parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) to illustrate how churches should respond to women with unplanned pregnancies. In the story the father throws a party for his son who returns after running away. That’s how God is, and how the church should be. Instead, we can often be like the other son in the parable, Amy said—envious of the celebration the father throws for his rebellious son.
Amy founded Embrace Grace, Inc. to equip churches to respond to women with unplanned pregnancies the right way—an approach she calls “pro-love.” While being pro-life is a political stance, “Pro-love is where the change happens. That’s the action,” she said.
Amy Ford, President
“You can have your baby and your dreams too.”
embrace Grace, Inc.
If more churches were truly pro-love, offering the support and assistance women need when facing an unplanned pregnancy, the felt need for abortion would disappear, Amy argues.
The majority of women who have abortions are doing so because they feel they have no other choice due to finances and other responsibilities, one study found. Churches can alleviate these concerns for women, Amy says. They can offer spiritual, emotional, and practical support for a woman and her family not just during pregnancy—but for life.
Additional Resources