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"Strength for the Journey": Feminist Theology and Baptist Women Pastors

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W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2014 "Strength for the Journey": Feminist Theology and Baptist Women Pastors Judith Anne Bledsoe Bailey College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the History of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Bailey, Judith Anne Bledsoe, ""Strength for the Journey": Feminist Theology and Baptist Women Pastors" (2014). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539623641. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-0mtf-st17 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “Strength for the Journey”: Feminist Theology and Baptist Women Pastors Judith Anne Bledsoe Bailey Richmond, Virginia Master of Arts, The College of William and Mary, 2000 Master of Religious Education, Union Theological Seminary, NY, 1966 Bachelor of Arts, Lambuth College, 1964 A Dissertation presented to the Graduate Faculty of the College of William and Mary in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy American Studies Program The College of William and Mary May 2014 © Copyright by Judith Anne Bledsoe Bailey, 2014 All Rights Reserved APPROVAL PAGE This Dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Judith Anne Bledsoe Bailey f Approved by the Committee, January, 2014 m m Committee Chair Associate Professor MaHireen FitzgeraldrKeligious Studies and American Studies The College of William and Mary Associate Profes jcGovern, History and American Studies of William and Mary hl/L *U su ------------------------------ Associate Professor Nancy Gray, English and Women’s Studies The College of William and Mary Associate Professor and Chair KathleeTfcronkins, Sociology The College of William and Mary COMPLIANCE PAGE Research approved by Protection of Human Subjects Committee Protocol number(s): 2008-04-22-5305 Date(s) of approval: June 2, 2008 ABSTRACT This dissertation grows out of an interest in the women who are pastors in formerly Southern Baptist churches. Because they continue to face opposition to their role as pastors I wanted to know the sources of their strength and determination. Specifically, how did feminism and feminist theology influence their decision to be pastors and their continuing ministry? I interviewed twenty woman pastors in five different states representing two generations of pastors. These women are among the very few who grew up in Southern Baptist churches and are now pastors, since the Southern Baptist denomination has officially banned women from the pulpit since 1984. I found that their experience of call was nurtured in the church and their plans for ministry were encouraged until the plans included being pastors of churches. Faced with opposition, the women claimed their calling, joined networks of support and turned to feminist theology for alternative biblical interpretations, validation of their role as ecclesial leaders, and inspiration for non-hierarchical models of theology and ministry. These pastors embody feminist theology. This dissertation explores Southern resistance to evangelicalism, the gendered and racial dynamics in the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, as well as the post World War II changes wrought by the civil rights, women’s movement and women’s ordination movements; documents the ways Baptist women employed feminist theory and theology to counter the backlash and Southern Baptist controversy of the 1980s; and relates these women pastors’ narratives of call, ordination and ministry. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii Dedication iv Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Southern Baptists and Women’s Power 18 1.1. Baptists and the Great Awakenings in America 21 1. 2. Southern Resistance to Evangelicalism 30 1. 3. Formation of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1845 37 1.4. Women’s Rights and The Woman’s Missionary Union 41 1. 5. Post World War II Challenges to Southern Baptists 52 Chapter 2: Backlash and Feminist Responses 62 2.1. “They Don’t Know Change is Coming” - Women Advance in the SBC 64 2.2. Controversy and Control in the Southern Baptist Convention, 1979-1991 76 2. 3. Moderates Respond to the Resolution 88 2.4. New Associations: Southern Baptist Alliance and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship 101 Chapter 3: Narratives of Call and Ordination 109 3.1. Narratives of Call 112 3. 2. Called to be Pastors 119 3. 3. Calling and Authority 127 3.4. Ordination Stories 130 3.5. Resistance to Ordination 134 Chapter 4: Feminist Theology and Ministry Narratives 138 4 .1 . Biblical Hermeneutics 146 4 .2 . Theology 153 4. 3. Understanding Jesus - His Life and Death 161 4 .4 . Views of Mary - Mother of Jesus 166 4. 5. Worship Leadership 168 4 .6 . Vision of the Church 181 4. 7. Appropriate Pastoral Leadership 187 4. 8. Ongoing Challenges 191 Conclusion 198 Appendix 203 i Bibliography ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to express my great appreciation to Professor Maureen Fitzgerald, under whose guidance this investigation was conducted, for her patience, her guidance, criticism and encouragement throughout the process. I am also indebted to Professors Nancy Gray, Charles McGovern and Kathleen Jenkins for their careful reading and criticism of the manuscript. In addition, I am grateful to Professor Jenkins for assistance in forming research questions. Professor Grey Gundaker provided valuable comments on a portion of the manuscript while my advisor was on leave. I wish to acknowledge other faculty in American Studies, especially Professor Chandos Brown for his encouragement in my study of American religious history. I wish to acknowledge Pamela R. Durso for her generosity in sharing information on women pastors as well as her knowledge of Baptist history, and for her encouragement throughout this project. My appreciation goes to Tracy Hartman for early conversations about my dissertation, and to Phyllis RodgersonPleasants Tessieri for checking the accuracy of my very first chapter on Baptist history. Darlene Herod of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society provided valuable and patient assistance in accessing historical documents. With love and gratitude I acknowledge my family. My husband David’s unfailing support and absolute confidence that I would get it done have helped sustain me through all the research and writing. My daughters Kristen Bailey-Hardy and Lisa Bailey Cipolletti, sons-in-law Chip Hardy and Mark Cipolletti, along with our grandchildren Bailey and Reagan Hardy, David, Matthew and Michael Cipolletti have been wonderful companions with complete support during all my endeavors. I am grateful to friends from different settings - former students, church members and Virginia Baptist Women in Ministry members - who have encouraged me in my work and celebrated with me on its completion. I especially appreciate Ellen Burhans and Alta Burnett who encouraged and challenged me during all the years of research and writing. To Jackie Brooks, Margaret Sullivan and Betsy Young I express my gratitude for cheering me on during the final days of revision and approval of the manuscript. I acknowledge with appreciation Brian Barrier’s help in formatting my manuscript, as well as Kristen and David’s expert proofreading. This Ph.D. dissertation is dedicated to the women pastors who shared their stories with me. Introduction Feminist theology gives strength for the journey. It reminds you that no matter what, you are doing it. You are doing the right thing; you are doing what God calls you to do. And it helps give you strength to walk the sometimes irritating and lonely, sad path.1 Jessica My experience as a Baptist began in 1970 when I joined Bridgewater Baptist Church after my husband David became pastor. Having grown up and gone to Union Theological Seminary in New York as a Methodist, it was not an easy decision to make. There was not much difference in the basic evangelical message between the Methodists and Baptists, though church polity was decidedly different. In contrast with the Methodist connectional system and hierarchy of pastors, district superintendents and bishops, Baptists believed in the autonomy of the local congregation and voluntary membership in associations of churches. I also learned that Baptists stressed missions, soul competency, the priesthood of the believer and •y the separation of church and state. The emphasis on personal freedom allowed me to participate, even when I might disagree. Virginia Baptists were different from the west Tennessee Baptists of my youth who were influenced by Landmarkism to believe they were the only true church, 1 Jessica, interview with author, May 8,2009. 2 Walter B. Shurden, The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms (Macon: Smyth and Helwys Publishing, Inc., 1993), 25. Soul competency is the belief that the individual responds to God directly and freely, and “affirms the centrality of the individual over the institutional, the personal over the sacramental and the preeminence of direct access over indirect access to God.” The idea of the priesthood of the believer also assumes an individual’s direct access to God without a priestly mediator, and includes the responsibility associated with being a Christian believer. direct descendents of John the Baptist. Virginia Baptists were involved in evangelistic outreach as well as efforts to address the material and social needs of people. During our six years in Bridgewater, the Virginia Baptist Mission Board supported our church’s summer-long outreach in the community with sufficient funds for a variety of programs as well as the purchase of a used station wagon. In addition, when our Woman’s Missionary Union organized a pre-school for children of migrants who picked apples in the Broadway, Virginia area, for several years the state mission board provided funds for hiring part-time teachers and purchasing equipment.
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