It’s been a year since Columbia was devastated with a historic flood. It isn’t that we weren’t warned that the rain was coming, it’s that no one who lived in famously hot Columbia could imagine what that amount of rainfall could do to homes, businesses, and lives. Just last week I took Waylon to our …
Last night, I stood on our back porch smelling the post-rain air. The air was particularly sweet because it had been threatening to rain for two days. The herb garden Sam got started for me for my birthday in April had been baking on the steps of our front porch ready to soak up the …
As I have shared some of my pastor search experiences as a female pastor, I have often gotten the response from colleagues, “But you wouldn’t want to work in that church, would you?” “That” church is meant to describe churches that “aren’t ready” for a female senior pastor. At first when I was asked this question, …
You Wouldn’t Want to Work in That Church, Would You? Read More »
Recently, I received yet another rejection from a pastor search committee. While I have become accustomed to these responses or no responses from submitting my resume to pastor search committees claiming to be supportive of women in ministry in my three years of ministry, there was something different about this one. In the short response, …
Spiritual Abuse Keeps Women Out of Senior Pastorates Read More »
Spiritual abuse is the misuse of power by religious leaders or authorities to manipulate and coerce unquestioned adherence to a particular dogma for that spiritual leader’s own gain. This unquestioned adherence is often obtained through a pattern of conditioning. This conditioning can take the form of repeated dogmatic statements, repeated rituals, but is always used …
Recently I was interview by a student who was working on a project about baptist women in ministry, in particular women who service as senior pastors. She asked me, “What was one thing you would tell a woman who is called to preach or be a senior pastor and is finishing school or looking for a …
It was one of those nights, where we had already been up a lot. I think Ben must have been going through a growth spurt or maybe he just wanted to spend some quality time with his parents throughout the night. I heard his rustling in the midst of the fog of slumber, and I thought …
I’ve been asking the question, “What’s next?” throughout the Lenten season. I knew God was calling me to leave Emmanuel in capable hands and step into the darkness of the unknown. The unknown is not a comfortable place for me and my planning instincts. I’ve spent many sleepless nights wrestling with why I couldn’t see …
Recently, Baptist News posted an article that provided some key questions ministerial candidates should ask during the pastor search process. They were good important questions and in some cases tough questions, but as I read the article, what overwhelmed me were the questions that the author didn’t have to ask in the pastor search process. …
What White Males Don’t Have to Ask in the Pastor Search Process Read More »
I grew up in a tradition where ministers wore suits and ties because they were all male. Pastors were considered to be CEOs and so it made sense that their professional attire would match that of the business world. This always bothered me, especially after experiencing worship communities in which the ministers were set apart in …
