It is with gratitude, excitement and concern that I share my observations and response to the Baptist Women in Ministry State of Women in Baptist Life report. I commend Heather Deal and all contributors for the clear, in-depth, insightful and sensitive manner in which this report was prepared. How blessed we are to have an organization like Baptist Women in Ministry that not only strategically supports clergywomen but also delves deeply into the layers of variables that impact our lives as church leaders.
In my own experience as a young woman, I frequently observed women in leadership positions with power and authority. Women raised the money, designed and led programs, held up the arms of the pastor (predominantly a male) and graciously “stayed in their place.” I can remember the women teaching that “women can be evangelists and missionaries, but not a pastor,” the distinction being that women could preach but they had to be under the authority of a man.
Chris Smith
I accepted and embraced that teaching until I heard the voice of God calling me to preach and ultimately become a pastor. Internalized sexism remains a formidable foe in the church and society.
The church in America is not exempt from the influences of American culture and societal patriarchy. Indeed, the structures of the two are conflated. In its 250 years, America has yet to elect a female president. While we celebrate the recent increases in women elected to pastoral leadership, we continue to wrestle with significant glass ceilings and glass cliffs.
The “glass cliff” is a phenomenon describing the reality that women are more likely than men to be appointed to precarious leadership positions in unstable, dysfunctional organizations. In other words, women in general and Black women in particular often are called as a last resort, when the organization is on its last leg. The “glory days” have long since faded.
The places to which women are called must be an important part of this conversation.
“The places to which women are called must be an important part of this conversation.”
In ABCUSA, we recently elected our first woman and Black person to serve as our general secretary, Gina Jacobs-Strain. We have had clergy and laywomen serve as national president, and several of our regions have women or have had women serve as executive ministers. Yet our churches (across ethnicities) still lag in calling women to senior pastor roles.
I frequently say, “You can tell how few women we have serving as senior pastors because we can call their names!”
It also is important to consider the places when and where women are called to lead. Cultural differences also matter. I appreciated the quote in the report acknowledging a viewpoint from “a white Western feminist perspective.” Using gender neutral language in reference to God may do more harm than good among Black women clergy. Removing references to God as our “Heavenly Father,” saying, “Father-God” in our prayers, and resisting quoting Scriptures of Jesus praying to his Father is a nonstarter for many.
Our cultural language embraces the concept of God being a mother and a father. Prayers such as, “God, you’ve been a mother to the motherless and a father to the fatherless” acknowledge our embrace of the all-encompassing God who made women and men in divine imagery.
Although not a monolith, in general, Black churches embrace the feminine imagery of God throughout the Scriptures, such as:
- Isaiah 66:13 — “As a mother comforts her child, so will I (God) comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”
- Isaiah 49:15 — “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I (God) will not forget you!”
- Deuteronomy 32:11-12 — “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.”
While the importance of imagery cannot be underestimated, the historical aspects of patriarchy in the Black community, particularly in America, cannot be overlooked. I discuss this extensively in my first book, Beyond the Stained Glass Ceiling: Equipping and Encouraging Female Pastors. The vestiges of slavery greatly impacted families, churches and the community. Both Black men and Black women endured horrific dehumanization, unthinkable abuse and malicious degradation. No matter their age, Black men were referred to as “boy” and women as “girl.”
The church became our place of refuge. The “strong Black woman” trope was birthed out of Black women watching fathers, sons, husbands and male elders being disrespected on their jobs, paid little or nothing for their hard work, and their brilliance being dismissed. While enduring much of the same, Black women took on the role of building, nurturing, lifting, encouraging and supporting Black men.
No place was more evident than in the church. Black women were conditioned to take a back seat so our men could have some place to rise, shine and thrive. Sadly, the sacrifice was not always reciprocated, but rather the sacrifice became an internal and external expectation for generations to come. As discussed in the report, “post-colonial horizontal violence” emerged.
“White feminism tends to ignore the lived experiences of Black women.”
White feminism tends to ignore the lived experiences of Black women. The advancement of white women in “the arena” and at the proverbial table does not translate into equity and inclusion for all.
Finally, I have observed that “non-hierarchical organizational structures” are Eurocentric in nature and impractical in execution. When female leaders, in particular, are placed in “flattened structures,” we usually end up carrying the weight of ensuring a well-functioning organization without the power to make critical decisions. Indeed, teamwork is essential. Collaboration and delegation are of utmost importance. Having a title with minimal authority is deadly.
All organizations have “a leader,” whether named or not.
When churches have structures that are board-led, without the voice and vote of the lead pastor, the pastor ends up functioning as a “hireling” rather than the shepherd. Female leaders need to be empowered to lead with support, respect, honor, strong infrastructure and pay commensurate with their preparation, skills and experience.
As BWIM looks to the future, I urge our leaders to include Black and brown women scholars as they conduct their research and write new reports. Our perspectives will broaden the scope of reporting and grant greater representation within the statistics and stories.
Christine A. Smith serves as associate executive director of American Baptist Women’s Ministries and as senior pastor of Restoration Ministries of Greater Cleveland.