Spring 2016 - Baptist Women In Ministry

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a voice for women in baptist life
VOLUME 10, NO. 1, SPRING 2016
IN THIS ISSUE
GATHERING THE FRAGMENTS
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You Are Invited
Celebrate and Worship with Baptist Women in Ministry
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Baptist Women in Ministry News
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA
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BWIM Supporters, 2015
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The Imposter Syndrome
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2016
WORSHIP at 10 a.m. • LUNCH at 11:15 a.m.
Lunch Tickets are $22 and will be available on the BWIM website on March 15.
Be watching the BWIM Facebook Page and the BWIM E-newsletter for more details.
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Claiming Our Equality
by Pam Durso
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A Church that Gives
P. O. BOX 941294
ATLANTA, GA 31141-1294
404-513-6022
FOLLOW BWIM ON FACEBOOK,
INSTAGRAM & TWITTER.
EMILY HULL McGEE
Our Preacher
OUR VISION
OSSIE X. McKINNEY
Our Worship Leader
Baptist Women in Ministry will be a catalyst in Baptist life, drawing together women and men,
in partnership with God, to illuminate, advocate, and nurture the gifts and graces of women.
YOU ARE INVITED
TO BWIM’s ANNUAL GATHERING
BAPTIST WOMEN
IN MINISTRY
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Mary Alice Birdwhistell
Lynn Brinkley
Taryn Deaton
Daniel Glaze
Julie Long
Carol McEntyre
Tambi Swiney
Tonya Vickery
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Pam Durso
[email protected]
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
Ashley Robinson
[email protected]
INTERN
Kevin Pranoto
[email protected]
Come join us in June in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, for worship, fellowship, and
good food!
Our worship theme this year is
GATHERING THE FRAGMENTS. As
ministers and as followers of Christ, we
often feel scattered or broken. We struggle to
piece together our job or jobs with multiple
other commitments; we seek to balance our
ministries and our family responsibilities; and
we feel weighed down by disappointments
and isolated by painful words. As churches,
our congregations seem all too often
fractured and torn by old controversies or
new disagreements. And we all daily live
with the overwhelming reminders of the
brokenness of our world. Amidst all the chaos
and fragmentation, we turn to God’s promise
of unity and peace: “in the fullness of time,
God will gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which
are on earth.” (Eph. 1:10)
WORSHIP
Worship begins at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday
morning, June 22, at First Baptist Church,
501 West Fifth Street, Winston-Salem, North
Carolina, and will be led by Emily Hull
McGee and Ossie X. McKinney. Emily is
pastor of First Baptist, Winston-Salem, and
Ossie serves as minister of music at Faith
Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia.
LUNCH
Lunch will be served following worship.
Tickets for lunch are $22 and will be available
on March 15 on the BWIM website –
www.bwim.info. More details to come soon.
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First Baptist Church, Winston-Salem
WORKSHOP
During the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s
General Assembly, join Pam Durso on
Friday, June 24 at 2:45 p.m., for a discussion
of “The State of Women in Baptist Life,
2015.” The report will include information
and analysis with regard to ordinations,
theological education, and pastoral leadership, will highlight the recent gains in
pastoral leadership roles, and will identify
continuing places of difficulties and challenge
for women as they search for and serve in
ministry positions.
A second workshop held on Thursday,
June 23 at 1:30 p.m., “Gender and Ministry
in Baptist Life: A Conversation about Fifty
Years of Change,” will highlight themes
from Eileen Campbell-Reed’s new book,
An Anatomy of a Schism. A panel discussion
moderated by Pam Durso will feature Eileen
Campbell-Reed, Bill Leonard, Molly T.
Marshall, and Emily Hull McGee.
BAPTIST WOMEN IN MINISTRY
THE BWIM WEBSITE
The BWIM website is packed full
of resources, including information
about Martha Stearns Marshall
Month of Preaching, the Addie
Davis Awards, and our 2014-2015
monthly conversation recordings and
transcripts. On the resource page,
you will find maternity leave policies,
ordination and installation service
resources, placement and personnel
helps, state and regional BWIM
contact information, and a list of
helpful books and articles.
THE BWIM BLOG
Baptist Women in Ministry
welcomes you to read, enjoy, and
share our blog.
On Mondays, the BWIM blog
features a Monday devotion written
by our friend, Nikki FinkelsteinBlair. We are excited to hear from
her each week and learn with her.
Nikki’s devotions are based on
lectionary texts and the church
calendar. So for those of you who are
in lectionary-using churches, be sure
to read our Monday devotion as you
prepare for worship.
On Wednesdays, the blog presents
the writing of our friends and
readers. We have gathered a beautiful
collection of writings from women
across the United States, who share
stories about ministry and family
relationships, responsibilities, and
real life challenges.
On Fridays, BWIM introduces an
amazing minister in a series titled
THIS IS WHAT A MINISTER
LOOKS LIKE. Over the next year,
you will meet fifty-two women—who
serve across the nation and in other
parts of the world. They are living
out their callings in a beautiful ways,
filling a variety of ministry roles.
NEWS
NEWS TO CELEBRATE
We invite you to celebrate with Baptist
Women in Ministry the successes and
progress of 2015. This past year we have
sensed a new spirit among Baptists as
more and more churches called women
pastors. BWIM is delighted to have
contributed to the cultural change that
is taking place. Churches have also called
women to serve in a whole host of other
ministry roles, and we celebrate the
increase of opportunities.
DAYS OF DISCERNMENT
FOR COLLEGE WOMEN
BWIM is now hosting “Day of
Discernment” events for college women.
These events create intentional space for
college women to reflect on and discern
their God-given calling. Themes for
the day’s conversations come from Five
Hundred Miles: Reflections on Pilgrimage
and Calling by Lauren Brewer Bass.
Two “Day of Discernment” events have
been have been held in Texas and North
Carolina, and a Georgia event is on the
2016 calendar.
STATE OF WOMEN
IN BAPTIST LIFE, 2015
In the past fifteen years, the BWIM
Leadership Team commissioned,
published, and distributed four “State of
Women in Baptist Life” reports in 2005,
2006, 2007, and 2010. Each report had
a unique focus of research and included
statistical information related to Baptist
women’s roles in ministry and leadership.
Since 2010, many changes have taken
place, and in September 2015, the
Leadership Team requested that another
report be produced. Pam Durso and Kevin
Pranoto, the BWIM intern, are gathering
information and completing the research.
The report will be released on June 22,
2016 at the BWIM annual gathering in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
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WITH MUCH THANKS
TO BAPTIST WOMEN IN MINISTRY
SUPPORTERS, 2015
INDIVIDUALS
Monthly Givers
Yvonne Harold
Tambi Swiney
Jo Ferguson
Merianna Harrelson
David Tew
Jaime Fitzgerald
Alyssa Aldape
Kristen Harris-Bridwell
Jeffrey and Tonya Vickery
Jerry Gentry
Courtney Allen
Missy Ward Angalla
Jessica Asbell
Catherine Bahn
Lauren and David Bass
Irene Bennett
Mary Alice Birdwhistell
Lynn Brinkley
Katrina Brooks
Tiffany Brown
Gary Burton
Paul and Suryani Capps
Becky Caswell-Speight
and Josh Speight
John Chowning
Ruth Clowater
Jeni Cook Furr
Mary Jo Dailey
Taryn Deaton
Paula Dempsey
Ellen DiGiosia
Rebecca Dixon
Pam Durso
Charlotte Epley
Pam Foster
Penny Gammill
Daniel Glaze
Christy McMillin-Goodwin
Sarah Greenfield
Erin and Jake Hall
Martha Kate Hall
Ircel Harrison
Will Ward
JD Granade
Tracy Hartman
Rhonda Walton
Beverly Greer
Claire Helton
Donald Williford
Bill Gunter
Jenny Hodge
Ashton Wells
Eddie and Judy Hare
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Karlan Holik
Genie Hargrove
Emily Holladay
Annual Givers
William Craig Henry
Jane Hull
Nancy Ammerman
Linda Hill
Becky Brooks Jackson
Robin Bolen Anderson
Dan Hobbs
Barry and LeAnn Johns
Mary Little Apicella
Wyndee Holbrook
Libby Johnson
Patricia Ayers
Dalen and Shari Jackson
Linda Jones
Judith Bledsoe Bailey
Craig Janney
Carrie Juarez
Emily Ball
Annell Johnson
Ruth Perkins Lee
Libby Bellinger
Barry Jones
Amy Lin
Carolyn Blevins
Frances and Joseph Jones
Julie Long
Hughe Dell Broadway
Allie Kilpatrick
Rebecca Mathis
Caralie Nelson Brown
Cheryl Kimble
Emily Hull McGee
Ann and Kent Brown
Joe Laguardia
Ossie McKinney
Charles and Diane Bugg
Laura Levens
Kristen Muse
Susan Cauley
Linda Lewis
Kevin Pranoto
Mary and Phil Christopher
Leslie Limbaugh
Melody Pryor
Reba Cobb
Deborah Loftis
Stacy Pyle
Allyson and Matt Cook
Jewel London
Stephanie Riley
Dolores and Melvin Cooper
Angela Lowe
Charity Roberson
Cherilyn Crowe
Nora Lozano
Ashley Robinson
Jim and Susan Crumpler
Joan and Terry Maples
Julie Sadler
Leah Grundset Davis
Molly T. Marshall
Robin Sandbothe
Ronald Davis
Adell and Jerry Martin
Ellen Sechrest
Amelia and Paul Debusman
Gloria and Phil Martin
Tamara Smathers
Deneise Dillon
Susan and Tom Martin
Maria Stinnett
Betty Ditto
Carolyn Mathis
Meredith and James Stone
Greg Earwood
Rebecca Husband Maynard
Carol McEntyre
Jean Willingham
Geneva Metzger
Laura Willis
ORGANIZATIONS
Monthly Givers
Veronice Miles
Ann and David Wilson
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Helen Moore-Montgomery
Barbara and Wade Wood
Smyth & Helwys Publishers
Katie Morgan
Joyce Cope Wyatt
David and Sarah Murray
Ouida Wyatt
Roger and Suzii Paynter
Brett and Carol Younger
Julie Pennington-Russell
Megan Pike
Amber Pillsbury
Roger Pittard
Bill and Ruth Pitts
LeDayne Polaski
Morgan Ponder
Aurelia Pratt
Bo Prosser
Jo Ann Sharkey Reinowski
Brittany Riddle
F. Gayle Roberts
Dan and Robin Robinson
Lorita and Mac Robinson
Royce Rose
Anthony Mark Roza
Ro Ruffin
Kenda Russell
Ray Schooler
Stephanie Moody Shaffer
Rachel Gunter Shapard
Layne Smith
Tammy Snyder
Julie Sorrels
Dennis Staley
Clarissa Strickland
Ellen and Robert Strickland
Lydia Tate
Benjamin Van Fleet
Patricia Villerial
Naomi Walker
Teresa Gunter White
Mark and Rebecca Wiggs
Winnie Williams
CHURCHES
Monthly Givers
Grace Baptist Church, Richmond, VA
Lamberth Memorial Baptist Church, Roxboro, NC
Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, MS
Annual Givers
Beulah Baptist Church, Deveraux, GA
Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville, KY
Calvary Baptist Church, Asheville, NC
Calvary Baptist Church, Waco, TX
Central Baptist Church, Newnan, GA
Cornerstone Church, Snellville, GA
First Baptist Church, Ahoskie, NC
First Baptist Church, Austin, TX
Annual Givers
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Foundation
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina
Seminaries
Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond
Baylor University’s Truett Seminary
Campbell University Divinity School
Central Baptist Theological Seminary
Duke University Divinity School
Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary
Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology
Wake Forest University Divinity School
First Baptist Church, Columbia, MO
Gifts Made in Honor or Memory
First Baptist Church, Dalton, GA
Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
in honor of Reba Cobb
First Baptist Church, Gretna, VA
First Baptist Church, Mocksville, NC
First Baptist Church, Plymouth, NC
Greenwood Forest Baptist Church, Cary, NC
Hayes Barton Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC
Immanuel Baptist Church, Nashville, TN
Meadow Heights Baptist Church, Collinsville, IL
Millbrook Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC
Northside Baptist Church, Clinton, MS
Pintlala Baptist Church, Pintlala, AL
Second Baptist Church, Liberty, MO
Wake Forest Baptist Church, Winston-Salem, NC
Watts Street Baptist Church, Durham, NC
James Crumpler, Jr.
in memory of Carolyn Crumpler
Jaime Fitzgerald
in honor of Carol Ann Hoard
Molly T. Marshall
in honor of Laura Willis
Katie Morgan
in honor of Rebecca Morgan
Donald Williford
in honor of Pam Williford
Barbara and Wade Wood
in honor of Jessica Asbell
Willow Meadows Baptist Church, Houston, TX
Wilshire Baptist Church, Dallas, TX
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THE IMPOSTER
SYNDROME
by Alyssa Aldape
D
ay 121: Still ordained. They haven’t figured out that I’m
internally freaking out.
I was ordained four months ago. I wore my most
woman-preacher-power blazer and sensible flats. We sang my
favorite hymns; mentors gave me advice; grandparents read
scripture; and I cried. A lot.
Four months later I still cannot believe that my
ordination happened. I keep thinking that someone is going
to hear me tell a bad joke or get Peter and Paul confused and
revoke my ordination certificate. This feeling that I snuck
into the party without being invited has been with me since
college. I used to wonder if one day a professor was going
to confiscate my student ID and say I’d been caught. In
seminary, I knew the day would come when what I thought
was a good sermon was actually inspirational poster quotes
strung together for thirteen pages. Those things never
happened, but. . .
I imagine myself walking through life with Groucho Marx
glasses on my face, hoping no one calls my bluff. There is a
term for this: Imposter Syndrome, which describes people
who are unable to internalize their accomplishments despite
their competence. They think that luck or perfect timing
helped them get a job or finish a project. I have struggled
with Imposter Syndrome for a long time, and I’m pretty sure
I am not alone.
I like to think that the disciples had the same feeling.
Maybe they counted the days until Jesus would finally
discover that they had no idea what they were doing. But
the good news is that Jesus knew who he was getting when
he invited them to be his disciples. And he accepted who
they were and knew they were capable of much more with
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him. This is why
I love the story
in John 21 so
much. Jesus’ three
questions to Peter
Alyssa Aldape
about his love for
him counter Peter’s three denials of Jesus, and that story tells
me that Jesus also is constantly redeeming us and giving us
the power we need to step out of the shadow of self-doubt.
I think the Imposter Syndrome is also why Jesus had
twelve disciples instead of just one or two. He knew they
would need partners on the journey who would understand
their struggles and who would stand with them in times of in
doubt and would provide assurance.
When imposter feelings start to creep up on me
unannounced, I think of the sea of people in the chapel on
the day of my ordination, the ones who prayed over me and
reminded me of God’s gracious love through community.
I remember the whispered words of encouragement that
people spoke over me as they passed by the kneeling bench. I
did not feel like an imposter that day in October.
Ordination does not make us holier or make us better
than the people who affirm us. Ordination instead is a
witness of the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of both the
minister and the village who brought them up and shaped
their story. Ordination is a reminder that God sees beyond
our Groucho Marx glasses and knows we are good enough.
(Hey, that phrase would be neat on a poster!)
Alyssa Aldape is interim minister of community ministry and
missions at First Baptist Church, Dalton, Georgia. She was ordained
by Northside Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta on October 24, 2015.
CLAIMING OUR
EQUALITY
by Pam Durso
O
n
January
12,
2016, the Religious
News Service
published an article
titled: “Gender
Pam Durso
pay gap among
1
clergy worse than national average.” Yes, you read it right: The
gender pay gap among clergy IS WORSE than the national
average! Last year, for the first time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
collected information about clergy pay, and the data revealed
that clergywomen clergy earn 76 cents for every dollar earned
by clergymen. Meanwhile the national pay gap for women as a
whole is shrinking. The national average pay for women is now
83 cents on the dollar, which is considerably better than it was
ten or twelve years ago. But for clergywomen…76 cents!
Women ministers are paid significantly less than male
ministers, and the story of pay inequity is even more bleak for
women of color in ministry. Too many black women ministers
serve churches, work long hours, and are at the beck and call of
their pastors, and while they may be given ministry titles, many of
them receive no compensation at all. Nothing. And many Latina
ministers, who in the past few decades have been busy founding
churches, preaching, and teaching, receive little to no pay, but a
good number of them are not even recognized as ministers. Their
calling and gifts are not valued in their culture.
Given the financial inequities that clergywomen encounter,
is it even possible to imagine that there be full equality in our
churches? To make that a reality will be costly. It will require
something of us—each of us. I am convinced that for there to be
full equality in the churches, Christian men, especially leaders,
pastors, and professors must become advocates of equality. But
more than lip service is needed. For equality to happen, male
leaders will need to step back, to take the second chair, to sacrifice
their positions of power and influence so that gifted and called
women can move forward. And Christian women, especially
women called to ministry, need to step forward. We need to move
into those places of leadership. We need to take a place at the
table.
Full equality in our churches will require sacrifice. It means
that some men might have to sacrifice financial security by
advocating for a woman to serve in that ministry role rather than
themselves. It means that some men will have to sacrifice ego
security by turning down board appointments or commitment
assignments and asking that a young woman be appointed in
their place. It means that some male pastors will have to step
down from their pulpits on a regular basis so that women new
to preaching have opportunities to try on their preaching skills.
It means that male pastors and leaders need to advocate for
equitable salaries and benefits for the women on their staffs—
even if it might mean taking a pay cut to help make that happen.
Full equality in our churches will require sacrifice for women
as well. Women must do the hard work of advocacy, and advocate
for themselves and for each other and call on churches to be
just with salaries and benefits. It means that women will need to
be prophetic in their calls for equality—even if it costs them a
ministry position or a paycheck.
Equality requires some to step down and some to step up, but
it demands that we all must speak up and speak out. To claim our
full equality as women AND men, we must all work together to
make it a reality in our churches.
Pam Durso is the executive director of Baptist Women in Ministry,
Atlanta, Georgia.
__________________
1
Tobin Grant, “Gender pay gap among clergy worse than national average–A first look
at the new national data,” Religious News Service, January 12, 2016, http://tobingrant.
religionnews.com/2016/01/12/gender-pay-gap-among-clergy-worse-than-nationalaverage-a-first-look-at-the-new-national-data/#sthash.QEnPBhSL.dpuf
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BAPTIST WOMEN IN MINISTRY
P. O. Box 941294
Atlanta, GA 31141-1294
Address Service Requested
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 11
Athens, GA
A CHURCH THAT GIVES
LAMBERTH MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH,
ROXBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
Located about thirty minutes
north of Durham, North
Carolina in Person County, the
town of Roxboro has twentyfive Baptist churches for its
population of just over 8,000.
One of those churches has a
significant part in the work of
Baptist Women in Ministry.
In August 2013, Lamberth Memorial Baptist Church signed on to
be a monthly BWIM contributor. The congregation has a strong
history of affirming the gifts and leadership of women, and when
members heard about BWIM’s work, they voted to add a line in
their budget to support the organization.
The church’s affirmation of women ministers began in the
1990s, during the pastorate of Jim McCoy, and in 1992, the
congregation ordained Lorene Eggleston, the church’s first woman
deacon. Lorene’s support of people in all the moments of life
serves as an inspiration to all who follow her.
During that decade, the church also invited women to preach
and share the gospel message from its pulpit. When McCoy
left to serve another church, Lamberth Memorial called Gerald
Thompson, and he continued to lead the congregation in
recognizing and supporting women called to ministry. A long-time
advocate for women ministers, Gerald has been a minister and
mentor for Julie Long, associate pastor and minister of children
and families at First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia.
During her teenage and college years, Gerald was the associate
pastor at her home church, First Baptist Church, Fitzgerald,
Georgia. During college when Julie returned to Fitzgerald and
served as summer children’s minister, Gerald helped her learn and
grow as a minister. In January 2005, Julie was ordained by First
Baptist, Fitzgerald, and she asked Gerald to preach her ordination
sermon. To this day, she “remembers his wisdom and still calls on
him for advice.”
Baptist Women in Ministry gives
thanks for Lamberth Memorial
Baptist Church and its pastor, Gerald
Thompson. Their support and ongoing
contribution makes possible BWIM’s
work of advocating, connecting,
and networking. You too can be a
supporter. Give online at www.bwim.
info or send in a contribution to
Baptist Women in Ministry, P.O. Box
Lorene Eggleston
941294, Atlanta, GA 31141-1294.