This past weekend [February 21–22], I experienced a reality that I never anticipated. Someone decided to make a post about our church, First Baptist Church of Albemarle, and very specifically about me. The author of the post clearly stated his disagreement with our church’s belief that women can serve as pastors and preach. To make his point, videos of my preaching were pulled from our church’s livestreams, and a screenshot was taken from my personal Facebook post sharing my excitement at the end of my call weekend, when my FBC family called me to serve as their Associate Pastor of Family Ministries.
While I have been experiencing a mixture of thoughts and feelings, two major feelings from the post have been that of feeling violated and feeling small. All the things in the post did come from public places, so there was no legal violation, but I have still been left feeling a sense of violation over the past few days. And despite any confidence in myself and the calling God has placed upon my life, being talked about in this manner and this way, has also left me feeling small and as though parts of my agency have been taken away. I say all of this not to elicit any pity, but to show that words, actions and how we treat other people matter.
Let me also say that my feelings over the past few days have thankfully included feeling affirmed and loved as well. While I wish the circumstances were not there to cause the conversations on Sunday morning, please hear my deepest thanks for the ways in which my church family surrounded me with so much love and affirmation. All the kind words, hugs, and affirmations were needed, and they are so deeply appreciated.
I am now sitting, holding these thoughts and feelings, looking ahead to this coming Sunday [March 1] when I will step into the pulpit to preach again. This particular Sunday has been on the calendar for a while, as I have preached in March the past few years as a part of Baptist Women in Ministry’s (BWIM’s) Month of Advocacy.
And it is here that I feel a deep importance to say: advocacy for women in ministry, particularly in Baptist life, matters.
The experiences of female and male ministers in Baptist life are different. One example came up in conversations with my Senior Pastor, Kendell, this week. He pointed out that when people have disagreed with him, at times over his stance on women in ministry, they don’t question his ordination. In contrast, when others have disagreed with me and other Baptist women, including at least one comment on the post about me this week, the response is often to question our very ordinations.
While the post from this past weekend caught broader audiences and has been a new experience for me to navigate, please hear me say that experiences like this are not new for Baptist women in ministry. It is because these experiences are not new that the necessity of advocacy is particularly stark in my mind this week.
When I say advocacy, know that this can look and take shape in many ways. By definition, advocacy calls for public support and affirmation, and this is so important in the lives of women and for our churches. Advocacy can look like, but is not limited to, the following:
- reflecting on women who have shaped your faith journey
- praying for women deacons, chaplains, ministers and pastors
- sending messages of encouragement or gratitude to women in ministry or women who have shaped your faith journey
- calling out and celebrating gifts in women who lead in churches (whether formally or informally)
- speaking up in support and affirmation of women ministers when the moment calls for it and the Spirit so leads
These are just a few examples, but they are things that matter. In a world where there is still fierce and sometimes very unkind discouragement directed toward women in churches and ministry settings, using our voices and actions to encourage, affirm, love and support the women in our lives matters.
And know this is not something I speak up about just because it is personal to me. Yes, it is deeply personal, but these things matter for all the women in our lives–our grandmothers, mothers, aunts, daughters, granddaughters and friends. It matters to proclaim with our words and actions that the God we follow creates, loves and calls all women to all kinds of amazing work in God’s Kingdom. Yes, even the work of pastoring and preaching.
Know that as I step into the pulpit once again on Sunday [March 1], I will do so grateful, as I always am, that it is by God’s calling and God’s strength that I am able to do so. And I will step up with hope, knowing that God has called, does call and will continue to call women. And I will continue to be prayerful and hopeful that my life, the lives of others and our churches might be spaces where women are supported, celebrated, loved and affirmed as they hear and discern the ways God is calling them to participate in the work of the Kingdom.
Rebecca Stempniak is the associate pastor of family ministries at First Baptist Church, Albemarle.
