| BAPTISTS TODAY
News Release www.baptiststoday.org |
August 11, 2004
DURHAM, N.C. — When Addie Davis was ordained to the gospel ministry on Aug. 9, 1964, she and the supportive congregation were unknowingly making history. Forty years later, Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., celebrated with Davis — now recognized as the first Southern Baptist woman to be ordained for pastoral ministry.
A soft-spoken minister from Covington, Va., Davis preached during the Aug. 8 service marking the 40th anniversary of her ordination. She urged listeners to hold firm to their spiritual commitments.
“At our acceptance of Jesus Christ, we made a commitment to honor and follow to all of our ability,” said Davis. “Commitment is walking in fellowship with God and being open to the spirit of God’s indwelling presence.”
Several visiting clergywomen attended the anniversary service as well as former pastor Warren Carr. Two former professors from nearby Southeastern Seminary, R.C. Briggs and Luther Copeland were present. Along with Carr, they participated in the 1964 service of their then-student.
Four clergywomen who are current members of Watts Street participated in the anniversary service. Diane Eubanks Hill, associate minister with adults, charged the congregation to celebrate the courage, vision and commitment of Davis and the congregation.
“Worship God who … keeps on calling and equipping men and women boldly,” urged Hill in the call to worship.
In her brief message, Davis called for patience and affirmed that God’s timing is perfect. “It is hard to wait; we want instant satisfaction,” she said. “Waiting is not one of our best characteristics.”
Davis told a local newspaper that some Southern Baptists sent letters of objection following her 1964 ordination. One letter writer, she particularly remembers, urged her to renounce her ordination.
“He said I was to learn from my husband,” David told the Durham Herald-Sun, “The problem is that I have never married.”
Baptists have traditionally considered ordination to be a local church matter. However, Southern Baptist Convention messengers approved a revised Baptist Faith and Message doctrinal statement in 2000 affirming that, “…the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
However, the statement is not enforceable on individual Baptist congregations that continue to ordain whom they choose. American Baptist Churches, USA and newer groups like the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists, formed in response to the rightward swing of the SBC, are more affirming of women ministers.
Curtis Freeman, director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, applauded the Watts Street congregation for creating “sanctified imagination to help women understand they are called and can serve.” He made the comments during a luncheon following the service that featured several clergywomen sharing their personal stories.
To further commemorate Davis’ historic ordination, a collection of 19
narratives by women ministers was distributed. The booklet, Obedient to God:
Women’s Stories, was edited by Linda Gilliam.
(Laura Johnson is pastor of Sharon Baptist Church in Smithfield, N.C. John
Pierce is executive editor of Baptists Today.)