"God doesn't call women to ministry."
Those are the words of my former pastor, who made that declaration 30 years ago during my early vocational discernment.
But black women -- despite few female role models, mentors, guides and support networks to encourage them -- have been entering ministry in increasing numbers. I am one of those women.
The belief that I am ultimately accountable to the Spirit inspired me to pursue my call against those kinds of patriarchal restraints.
What gave me courage to counter patriarchal resistance to women in ordained ministry and sexism in the church were the internal voices of my ancestors who instilled in me a fervor to pursue and do what "thus says the Lord."
The Christian witness of Sojourner Truth, the 19th-century abolitionist and women's rights activist, strengthened my resolve. The African American spiritual "We're Gonna Do What the Spirit Say Do" sustained my hope. The wise counsel of the Rev. Dr. Katie Cannon -- "Do the work your soul must have" -- became my charge.
It was the lack of black female mentors and multicultural support networks that spurred me to create mentoring spaces for women in the church. That glaring need catapulted me into what has now been a 23-year journey of mentoring black women in ministry.
Read more from Lisa Rhodes » |
| | MINISTRIES THAT IMPACT: WOMEN IN MINISTRY |
Overcoming stereotypes and assumptions has been difficult for a female minister in a historic African-American church. But, she writes, she was not serving the people by trying to be what others wanted her to be.
Read more from Natasha Jamison Gadson » |
Sister Mary Luke Jones of Our Lady of Grace Monastery in Indiana shares what she learned from spending time with women clergy. Among the lessons: The things that separate Catholics and Protestants are not really that important.
Read more from Sister Mary Luke Jones » |
Lay and ordained Christian leaders can receive up to $15,000 to step away from their current work to reflect on accomplishments, broaden perspectives and discern next steps.
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Becoming the Pastor You Hope to Be: Four Practices for Improving Ministry by Barbara Blodgett
Becoming the Pastor You Hope to Be unapologetically urges clergy readers to develop practices that will help them become more excellent ministers.
A long-time field educator, now serving as a denominational staff person responsible for ministerial formation, Barbara Blodgett believes excellence is a matter of doing simple things with care and consistency. Ministers who commit themselves to excellence will grow and flourish, and even become happier in ministry. Blodgett urges ministers to resist praise and instead to ask for feedback, to seek the company of mentors who are better than the reader is at what he or she does, to be vulnerable before their peers in order to learn from them, and to define themselves as a leader who does not merely take activist stances but risks entering into deep, transformative relationships. Improvement in ministry, Blodgett argues, comes about not through extraordinary leaps and bounds but rather through adopting simple habits and carrying through on small but thoughtfully made choices.
Addressed to ministers, Becoming the Pastor You Hope to Be is also a valuable resource for discernment committees, Christian educators, leaders of continuing education and lay education programs, and all those who partner with theological schools to help form ministers, both lay and ordained.
Learn more and order the book » |
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