The traumas and burdens inflicted by COVID-19 are borne in our bodies, brains, hearts and communities. Physician Bessle van der Kolk explores the connection between trauma, the brain and the body in his fascinating book The Body Keeps the Score….
On women in church leadership: When you know better, you do better
The report on The State of Women in Baptist Life is only a couple of weeks old and already has caused quite a stir. And rightly so. From excellent opinion pieces calling for repentance to recognition and a call for…
How a verbally abusive male pastor derailed a young woman from ministry
“I can’t tell you how many Monday mornings I cried in the bathroom not wanting to go to work because I was so terrified of what the senior pastor was going to say to me when he came into the…
Women in ministry face daily slights that add up, BWIM leaders explain
While women face well-known and painful obstacles to ministry, the little, daily slights can be just as hurtful and draining, Laura Ellis said during a June 29 workshop hosted by Baptist Women in Ministry. “The smaller but not-insignificant microaggressions really…
Jesus calls women to ministry by name and asks them to rise up, Stewart says in fiery BWIM sermon
Like the crippled woman in Luke 13, female clergy know what it means to be paralyzed by sexism, patriarchy and other forms of emotional and psychological abuse, Gina Stewart preached during Baptist Women in Ministry’s June 28 worship celebration in…
Who’ll bring the sackcloth and ashes to CBF General Assembly this week?
“Think they’ll have everyone wear sackcloth and ashes at CBF General Assembly this year?” I texted those words to a fellow Baptist clergywoman after reading the State of Women in Baptist Life report. I wasn’t kidding either. I desperately want…
Annual report on Baptist women in ministry finds some gains but serious losses due to COVID
Women in ministry continue to feel blocked in their callings and ignored in their ministry settings because they are female, according to an annual report released June 21 by Baptist Women in Ministry. “The State of Women in Baptist Life,”…
If you’re glad women were the first Easter preachers, what are you doing about it now?
During Easter weekend this year, my social media feed was filled with posts about women preaching on the first Easter. The main theme of the posts was that if we want to be biblical, then women should be preaching the…
Lesson learned: While lifting up women we unwittingly put down those who cannot stand
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” — Maya Angelou On March 1, the first day of Women’s History Month, Baptist Women in Ministry introduced a new name for its monthly…