Obstacles remain as women seek more leadership roles in America's Black Church

Rev. Gina Stewart preaches during church service at Rankin Chapel, Sunday, April 7, 2024, in Washington. Throughout its long history, the Black Church in America has, for the most part, been a patriarchal institution. Now, more Black women are taking on high-profile leadership roles. But the founder of Women of Color in Ministry estimates that less than one in 10 Black Protestant congregations are led by a woman.

“I still don’t know what happened with the sermon, but what is clear is that this was a form of erasure,” Stewart said. “I was just as shocked, stunned and surprised as everyone else.” The conditions aren’t new, but the public discourse over women’s equality in ministry has rapidly gained ground due in large part to the bullhorn social media provides, said Courtney Pace, scholar-in-residence with Memphis-based Equity for Women in the Church. Pace noted how Facebook affordeda venue to publicly share her grievances before filing a gender discrimination lawsuit in December against Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York.

But not all of Hall’s relationships within the insular preaching fraternity of the National Baptist Convention were as collegial as her relationship with King, whom she said in later years did more with “I have a dream” than she could have. Their current duties, some of the women said, left them exhausted and unable to grieve the members they lost to COVID-19.

“I don’t ascribe to this idea that the Black Church is dead,” Briggs told the AP. “But I do acknowledge and promote that we have to eulogize what it used to be so that we can birth something new.”

Discrimination General News GA State Wire TN State Wire DC Wire NYC State Wire Religion A Memphis Tennessee U.S. News N Baptist Church Black People U.S. News

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Obstacles remain as women seek more leadership roles in America's Black ChurchThroughout its long history, the Black Church in America has – for the most part – been a patriarchal institution, with men making up the vast majority of its ranks of clergy
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »

Judge strips Naperville Korean Church of assets amid property dispute with United Methodist ChurchA Korean Methodist church in Naperville has been stripped of its property and bank account while it engages in a legal battle for the assets with the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Meth…
Source: chicagotribune - 🏆 8. / 91 Read more »

Black Women Cannot Redeem AmericaIn recent weeks the word reclamation has been used a lot, primarily in regards to Beyoncé and her new country album. There’s an impulse to redeem iconography or institutions steeped in colonialism and white supremacy by giving them the sheen of a pro-Black revamp, but that only affirm their existence and their power.
Source: Refinery29 - 🏆 26. / 68 Read more »

Historic Black church in Delaware vandalized with racial slursThe slurs were written next to large propane tanks. Of all the words scrawled on the church, the word 'die' stood out.
Source: 6abc - 🏆 250. / 63 Read more »

What's causing an exodus of Millennials and Generation Z from the Black church?Part one of a two part series delving into faith among Black Americans pulls back the curtains on issues within the church according to younger generations.
Source: FCN2go - 🏆 523. / 51 Read more »

Black LDS theologian responds to those who say Jesus taught unity, not diversityBlack LDS theologian James Jones discusses unity, diversity and racism within the LDS Church.
Source: sltrib - 🏆 316. / 61 Read more »