“These All Died in Faith: Women in the AME Church"

I was pleased to be a part of the Investiture Banquet the other night in Nashville where I witnessed the African Methodist Episcopal Church elevate Bishop Vashti M. McKenzie to the office of President of the Council of AME Bishops. Bishop McKenzie is not only the first woman bishop in a mainline black denomination; she now becomes the first woman to preside over the bishop's council.

Bishop McKenzie’s elevation to president of the Council of Bishops in December 2003 brought shouts of praise and peels of joy to all in the audience. Lay women in the banquet hall waved their white napkins in victory. Other women, the clergy women in the audience, wept openly, no doubt thinking back to all the times we were humiliatingly refused a seat on the pulpit, or the times people called us "sister" instead of “reverend.” Some of us heard the sound of chains unfastening around our necks and ankles as Bishop McKenzie gave her acceptance speech. Many men in the banquet room applauded loudly, proud that theirs was the generation to begin the work of righting some of the wrongs that sexism has done in the church. Even the bishops of the church, especially those who recall a time when the notion of a female bishop was laughable, seemed pleased and prepared to accept this new inevitability.

The AME church which in centuries past had been at the forefront of advocating for social and political justice on behalf of disenfranchised black people was now making steps toward addressing gender injustices within its own ranks.

By the time the evening was over, the applause had ended, and the church was ready to move on as though such things -- as having a female presiding bishop and three women bishops in the church -- were normal and to be expected, my mind went back to all the women (and men) who struggled toward this day, who longed for this victory, who died in faith.

These all died in faith, not having receiving the promise...

Jarena Lee experienced her conversion in 1804, at twenty-one years old, under the preaching of then Rev. Richard Allen. Allen would go on to become founder and bishop of the AME church. Years later, after marrying, having several children, and being widowed Lee announced her call to preach. But Bishop Allen, unwilling to ordain Lee, pacified this relentless woman who sought him out every chance she got by giving her papers in 1817 which "authorized" her to preach, but didn’t ordain her to preach.

Sarah Hughes’ 1885 ordination by Bishop Henry McNeil Turner was later rescinded by the church in 1887.

"All these [women] were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive what was promised; they only saw them and welcomed from a distance." (Hebrews 11: 13)

It wasn't until 1948 that women were authorized by the AME church to be ordained local deacons.
It wasn't until 1956 that women were ordained local elders in the church.
It wasn't until 1960 that women were ordained fully to the itinerant ministry in the AME church.
It wasn't until 1973 that women were made presiding elders in the church.

In the forty years between women gaining full ordination (1960) and Bishop McKenzie's election (2000), a number of clergy women dreamed of and fought (unsuccessfully) for the right to become bishops in the AME church: Carrie Hooper, Elizabeth Scott, Louise Harris, Delores Jacobs, and Gloria Barrett, to name a few. They were laughed at, scorned, maligned, and ultimately ignored.

"These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:39-40)

In 2000 Rev. Vashti McKenzie was elected the 117th bishop and the first female bishop in the AME Church.

In 2004 Rev. Carolyn Tyler Guidry and Rev. Sarah Davis joined Bishop McKenzie as female bishops in the AME Church.

Looking beyond African Methodism, we mustn't forget Rev. Leontyne I.C. Kelly who in 1984 was made the first African American bishop in a mainline denomination ( the United Methodist Church), and Rev. Barbara C. Harris, the first woman bishop in the Episcopal Church (1989).

Of course, there were Baptist women like Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961) who, denied any possibility of ordination in the Baptist church, founded in 1804 the Women's Convention Auxiliary in the National Baptist Convention. From that organization she and other Baptist women sought to uplift the lives of black women through training and education.

As you can see, the story of women in the church, especially the black church, is a story of struggle.

Having to content ourselves with cooking and frying fish when we felt call to expound God's word. Having to content ourselves with singing and playing the piano despite the sermon burning within us. Once permitted into the pulpits, having to content ourselves with reading the Decalogue or praying over the offering basket even though we had a sermon typed up and ready in our purses.

"Oh Mary don't you weep..." says the Negro spiritual. Whether the songwriter had in mind Mary of Bethany or Mary Magdalene, the truth is that centuries later Mary has still has reason to weep.

How different might women's history in the church had been had the disciples the courage and foresight to elect a woman apostle when they had a chance in Acts 1:12-26. Surely, Mary Magdalene's name was one of those proposed to replace Judas's vacant slot on the council. If, as Peter pointed out, the only job requirement was being a witness to the resurrection (Acts 1:22), who better qualified than Mary Magdalene?!! But Peter and the rest of the apostles, afraid to call any more negative attention to their fledgling movement, chose the easier course of electing a man and keeping with the status quo.

We can only pray that our daughters, granddaughters, goddaughters, nieces and the students we teach will have a smoother road in the coming decades. Hopefully, they will not have to swallow their gifts, squelch their anointing, extinguish their passion, deny their worth, unthink their thoughts, and pretend not to know what they know-- because they are women. By faith, we hope, we believe, we pray, we continue the struggle for gender justice even in Christ's church.

Renita J. Weems, Ph.D.