Editor’s note: This article has been expanded and updated from its original version.
The board of directors of American Baptist Home Mission Societies issued a statement June 24 saying it “wholeheartedly affirms women pastors.” And last week’s biennial meeting of the American Baptist Churches USA prominently featured women in leadership.
This statement came at the opening of the ABCUSA biennial gathering in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It also came less than two weeks after both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church in America took actions to limit the role of “pastor” to men.
Laura I. Ayala-Álvarez
“Clergywomen have been and remain essential to our churches and the fulfillment of our mission to spread the gospel,” the ABHMS statement explains. “Out of the 51 leadership team, missional staff and board members of ABHMS, 23, or 45%, are ordained women and either presently or have served in pastoral ministry. Other members of our board have either hired or actively support women in pastoral roles. “
The current board president is a female minister, Jamie Washam, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, R.I. The current vice-president is Mia Chang, founder of NextGen Church in West Windsor, N.J.
“These clergywomen and their churches represent the continuity of Baptist life,” the statement says.
Further, “Baptists in the United States have long ordained women to pastor and preach. In 1818, Freewill Baptists ordained Clarissa Danforth, and in 1882 May Jones was ordained as a Northern Baptist, the forerunner to current American Baptists. For generations, women have served in every level of leadership within the denomination and the local church.
“For us, ordaining women to serve in pastoral roles is a settled issue.”
“For us, ordaining women to serve in pastoral roles is a settled issue. We are on strong biblical ground and stand firm within the conviction of the priesthood of all believers. This gives us a foundation to continue to build the church in the image of God in all its manifestations.
Throughout the ABCUSA biennial event, women in pastoral ministry were affirmed in their call and practice of ministry.
Miriam Méndez
Three of the four worship services featured keynote speakers who are women in ministry: Miriam Méndez, executive minister and senior regional pastor of the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey region; Laura I. Ayala-Álvarez, coordinator of Global Missions for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and until earlier this year general pastor of First Baptist Church of Río Piedras, Puerto Rico; and Joy Martinez-Marshall, pastor at First Baptist Church of Lincoln, Neb. Frederick D. Haynes III, senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, preached Friday evening.
The ABC also elected Nikita G. McCalister as president for a two-year cycle beginning Jan, 1, 2024. She currently serves as transitional ministries consultant for the American Baptist Churches of Michigan and transition pastor at Westhaven Baptist Church in Port Huron, Mich.
Nikita G. McCalister
“I am standing here, draped in my American Baptist women in ministry stole, because we have always been on the cutting edge,” she said. “For a hundred and fifty years we have been ordaining women in ministry. We are indeed a denomination that understands the biblical basis for equal partnership in God’s kingdom. Because we understand that God poured out his spirit on all flesh — all flesh — we are all made in God’s image.”
Also, ABCUSA General Secretary Jeff Woods recently issued a statement affirming women in ministry.
“American Baptist Churches USA supports women in ministerial roles through a variety of pathways, including our historical track record, our continued encouragement of women in ministry, and the creation of empowerment opportunities for women in ministry,” he said.
Woods recounted how in 1921, Helen Barrett Montgomery was elected the first female president of any denomination in the United States when she became president of the Northern Baptist Convention, now known as ABCUSA.
“We welcome women in ministry searching for an environment of support, empowerment and advocacy,” he said. “While American Baptists do not agree on every issue, including this one, we consistently find ways to be in community without needing to all be in the same corner. We welcome women in ministry, especially those who feel placed in the corner of ministerial duties.”
What is today known as the American Baptist Churches USA was formed in a split with what became the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845 over the issue of slavery. Northern and Southern Baptists, then organized together as the Triennial Convention, did not agree on whether a slaveholder could be appointed as a missionary.
ABCUSA describes itself as “one of the most diverse Christian denominations today.” It encompasses about 5,000 congregations with 1.3 million members across the United States and Puerto Rico.