“When churches do not recognize the leadership gifts of women, the whole body is impoverished.”
— Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, A Many Colored Kingdom
As a Latina and Baptist ordained minister, reading about the “Six Markers of Congregational Environments which are Empowering for Women” in Baptist Women in Ministry’s State of Women in Baptist Life report resonates deeply with both my lived experience and the theology I carry — a theology formed in colonized margins, shaped in bilingual spaces and sustained by the Spirit who called me long before any institution ever “recognized” my calling.
Jessica Lugo-Melendez
The gradual progression of affirmation, as described in one of the markers, where women were first permitted to serve as deacons, then as associate pastors and then, slowly, sometimes decades later, entrusted with senior pastor leadership, reveals that change in the church is not merely structural; it is spiritual.
The shift toward affirming women is not only a matter of policy, but a matter of maturity. It is the result of congregations slowly learning to see what God already has revealed: that calling is not gendered and the Spirit does not wait for human permission to anoint.
This reminds me of a line I carry in my bones: Women do not need “power” given to them. God already has given calling, voice, authority and wisdom. The church needs to wake up to what heaven already has affirmed.
“The shift toward affirming women is not only a matter of policy, but a matter of maturity.”
Emphasis on intentionality is critical. Representation does not emerge automatically. Shared leadership, equitable access and gender-balanced structures do not happen naturally over time. They require intentional imagination and a decision to expand the table rather than protect the chairs around it.
The six markers indicate congregations moved forward because they chose to see, trust and open space. This choice and courage reflect spiritual discernment.
The steps of women serving as interns, emerging ministers and associate pastors matter because these women become embodied proof. People believe differently when they see differently.
I have lived this dynamic personally. Before I was ordained, I preached, taught, led and prayed with no title, like many other women. People heard my voice, but they waited for the institution to affirm what the Spirit already had done.
Congregational change happened because the people encountered my calling before the structures were ready to name it. In my experience, this section of the report describes that exact phenomenon.
Women empowerment is not a gift or a given quota. Empowerment is recognition and God-given agency to all.
The data also reveal something that often remains invisible: Women always have led, served and held the church together. But the sustainability of true empowerment cannot rely on women doing “all the things” quietly in the background. Sustainable empowerment requires equity, shared responsibility, fair load, equal investment.
Otherwise, what appears to be inclusion is merely extraction. This aligns with a theological conviction in Latina ministry: a kingdom vision of leadership must dismantle the culture of “women will just do whatever needs to be done because they are resourceful” and replace it with a culture that honors and supports the spiritual agency, theological brilliance and pastoral authority of women.
“The Spirit does not call women as an exception.”
Theologically, this is not a social trend; it is a pneumatological moment. The Spirit does not call women as an exception. The Spirit calls women as part of God’s design. And the church suffers when it resists that.
Another aspect of the study that gives me hope is that congregational transformation often occurs internally before it becomes externally visible. When a young woman interns, when she stands behind the pulpit for the first time, when she preaches during Holy Week, when she presides at the Table, the community begins to shift. Congregational imagination stretches. Their theology expands. Their capacity to see God’s call in women becomes natural, not controversial. This is discipleship of imagination.
Finally, as a Latina clergy member, this topic is not theoretical to me. It is embodied. It is in my story, my scars, my joy, my anointing. I’ve never asked for permission to lead. I’ve always answered the calling already received.
The more I read pieces like this, the more I am convinced the future of the church, if it hopes to be Spirit-led, must invest in women not as a category but as co-bearers of the mission as an urgent affirmation.
Because every time a congregation affirms a woman in leadership, it is not only advancing gender equity but also participating in the prophetic work of the Spirit who still whispers: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh … and your daughters shall prophesy.”
Jessica Lugo-Melendez serves as executive director for the Association for Hispanic Theological Education.
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