On behalf of Baptist Women in Ministry, I would like to express our deepest gratitude to all of our supporters, partners, and advocates. Thanks to your generosity and commitment, we have been able to advance our mission of supporting and advocating for the full affirmation of women in ministry and leadership in Baptist communities.
Your support this past year enabled us to offer a wide range of programs and services that allowed BWIM to be in solidarity with women in ministry and leadership to help them feel supported, connected, and to thrive in their ministry settings. Through your support you helped:
• Offer mentoring groups for new ministers and leaders.
• Share resources for congregations to ensure their congregation is an environment where women ministers and leaders can thrive.
• Advocate for women in ministry in Baptist communities through BWIM’s Month of Preaching.
• Release the latest State of Women in Baptist life report that helped us understand that our work is needed now more than ever.
• Welcome each other at our first in-person Annual Gathering since the pandemic.
• Offer community and shared learning experiences through Book Clubs.
This is only the tip of the iceberg of the work you enable at BWIM. This report will share about this work and much more.
We are grateful for your ongoing support and look forward to multiplying our work together to support and advocate for Baptist women in ministry. Thank you.
BWIM’s Mentoring Program continues to offer new ministers an opportunity to participate in mentor-led peer communities which provide support, encouragement, and guidance. In 2022, the 2021-23 cohort continued its journey as multiple groups took their small group retreats. Additionally, the 2022-24 cohort began in July with a retreat at St. Francis Springs Prayer and Retreat Center in Stoneville, NC.
COHORT BY THE NUMBERS
20 Participants
5 Mentors
7 Baptist Denominations Represented
12 States Represented
4 Pastors
9 Associate Pastors/Staff Ministers
4 Chaplains
2 Non-Profit Leaders
1 Ministry Entrepreneur
“I stepped into this program almost at the point of walking away from ministry. These women have reminded me of my calling, affirmed my gifts, and listened. Women need this kind of support in ministry.”
Baptist Women in Ministry hosts Book Clubs each spring and fall. We read Candice Marie Benbow’s, Red Lip Theology, in Spring 2022. Candice joined us for our final session to share her experiences of faith from a Womanist perspective. In Fall 2022 we read, A Brown Girl’s Epiphany: Reclaim Your Intuition and Step Into Your Power by Aurelia Pratt. Aurelia was named one of the 10 Women Shaping the Church in 2022 by Sojourners magazine. BWIM Book Club conversations have helped us reach and connect with a diverse group of women from across the US and the UK.
BWIM collaborates with independently led state and regional BWIM groups and contacts who coordinate support and advocacy efforts for women in ministry in their state. We partnered with our state and regional organizations to host watch parties for our 2022 Annual Gathering for those unable to attend in person.
BWIM is making plans to launch a new program that will focus on supporting and advocating for women of color. During 2022, Associate Director, Lynn Brinkley focused on establishing new connections, gathering groups of women to listen, and researching the needs of women of color who are in ministry. Stay tuned as this initiative takes shape in 2023.
BWIM hosted its first in-person annual gathering since 2019 on June 28, 2022 at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. The theme for Annual Gathering came from a Maya Angelou quote, “When you know better, you do better.”
During the luncheon, information from the newly released State of Women in Baptist Life Report 2021 was shared and awards were given. Then Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart brought a powerful message in worship that called us to urgently claim the freedom that Jesus has for us. All present joined in a responsive benediction in which we made commitments to know and do better for women in ministry among Baptists.
302 people registered for the luncheon
92 registered for virtual participation
Over 400 were present for the worship service
“THANK YOU!! After such a horrible, devastatingly disappointing and sad week, Reverend Dr. Stewart’s sermon and the entire service, so carefully and thoughtfully woven together, reminded me who I am and Whose I am. That is a priceless gift!” -Virtual participant
BWIM Month of Preaching continued its impact on Baptist congregations in 2022. Many churches featured a special emphasis throughout the month of February by uplifting women’s stories in various ways. In 2022, BWIM also introduced a new children’s worship bulletin for use during Month of Preaching, and we announced that we would be implementing exciting changes for the Month of Preaching emphasis in 2023.
BWIM walks alongside women who are engaging in the ministry search process and provides support to search committees who are including women in their searches. This year, BWIM developed and began promoting specific training to help search committees consider women candidates in an equitable manner. In addition to providing the training to committees, it was also presented to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship state and regional leaders so they could support search committees with these concepts in mind.
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“I’m just, again, so grateful for the work you’re doing. BWIM often feels like a lifesaver.”
- A newly called senior pastor
57 Ministry Positions Posted on our Website Search Committee Trainings Provided 30 Women Ministry Search Candidates Supported30% of women surveyed said they held a different ministerial title than their male counterpart(s).
59% of women in ministry said their judgment was questioned in their area of expertise.
72% of women in ministry said they had to provide more evidence of their competence than their male counterpart(s) did.
BWIM released the State of Women in Baptist Life Report 2021 on June 21, 2022 with a virtual release webinar. In addition to providing statistics related to women in ministry in Baptist life, the 2021 report also included results and analysis of a survey to measure women’s ability to thrive in their ministries, to determine the obstacles that women continue to face, and to gauge the current trends of congregational support. We also released additional resources to accompany the report in the form of a discussion guide for supporters of women in ministry and a reader’s guide for women in ministry. We are deeply grateful to BWIM project manager, Laura Ellis, for her research and work on the report which continues to serve as a metric and motivator for progress.
“I wish each person who reads it could feel in their hearts that behind every statistic is a person whose body keeps the score. And behind the women represented in each statistic is a community of faith, a part of Christ’s body, wounded by the sin of misogyny, ingrained prejudice against women, and robbed of the experience of full healing in Christ.”
(Hannah Coe in https://baptistnews.com/ article/this-is-my-body/)
“The report demonstrates that two crises plague progressive Baptists: Women are either not given a chance or they are asked to do their holy work backward and in high heels by demonstrating greater competence than men in the same position or overcoming obstacles men do not face. It is little wonder that these women are exhausted.” (Anna Sieges in https://baptistnews.com/article/onwomen-in-church-leadership-when-you-know-better-you-do-better/)
*The statistics reported for ABCUSA include the total number of pastors (senior leadership) whose ordination is recognized by ABCUSA regions, not the total number of affiliating churches, and is based on a partial reporting from ABCUSA congregations.
2022 Total Revenue: $518,241
Total Contributions: $376,309 Other Income: $141,932
2022 Total Expenses: $457,250
2022 Net Income: $60,991
56.1%
19.5%
5.6%
13.5%
5.3%
Toni Adams
Gail Ashby
Beth Bailey
Judith Bailey
Mary Alice Birdwhistell
Lynn Brinkley
Lynn Brinkley
Gina Brock
Brianna Childs
Mothers at Talbot Park Baptist Church
Pintlala Baptist Church
Hannah Coe
Hannah Coe
Pam Durso
Teresa Ellis & Women Deacons at FBC Abilene
Faith Dickens Fitzgerald
Dixie Ford
Debbie Giese
Tracy Hartman
Marnie Fisher-Ingram
Cynthia Insko
Sue Murphy Jasper
Jenny Perkins Kiser
Mandy McMichael
Mandy McMichael
Anna Miller
Rev. Pamela Powell
Eileen Campbell-Reed
Sandy Rooney
Rob and Janie Sellers
Linda Serino
Linda Serino
Linda Serino
Linda Serino
Wendi Singletary
Gina Stewart
Meredith Stone
Meredith Stone
Meredith Stone
Clarissa Strickland
Sara Turpin
Chrissy Williamson
Lacy Wondree
RECURRING DONORS:
Nathan Adams
Dawn Hallman
Daniel Glaze
Nancy Stanton McDaniel
Ken Johnson
Bo Prosser
Michael Cogdill
Tyler Tankersley
Ferissa Childs
Andrew Brittain
Mandy McMichael
Sarah Shelton
Neal Knighton
Jewel London
Tom and Susan Martin
Larry and Gail Dickens
Sarah Shelton
Sarah Shelton
Kristen Koger
Daniel Glaze
Judith Williams
Kate Hanch
Sarah Shelton
Diane and Jerry Dawson
Pintlala Baptist Church
Daniel Glaze
DeVontae Powell
Mary Elizabeth Hanchey
Daniel Glaze
Meredith Stone
Linda McCalla
Eyleen Farmer
Martha Huffman
Pat Luttrell
Jodi Heston
Lynn Brinkley
Brent & Nancy Walker
Paula Dempsey
Joanna and Marv Knox
Molly Marshall
Ken Johnson
Cameron Vickery
Daniel Glaze
Individuals- 150 Churches- 12
ONE-TIME DONORS:
Individuals- 147 Churches- 35
$
GRANTS: 4
The Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation
Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Grant Me the Wisdom Foundation
BWIM continues to nurture partnerships as an instrument to amplify the message and work of supporting and advocating for women in ministry.
Our partnership with Good Faith Media resulted in the third installment of our short documentary series on female pastors in Baptist congregations. Released on November 13, 2022, the third documentary featured Rev. Danielle L. Bridgeforth, pastor of The Church at Clarendon in Arlington, Virginia. The congregation, in addition to friends and family of Reverend Bridgeforth, gathered in the sanctuary to be the first to watch the documentary as a part of the church’s celebration of Danielle’s fifth pastoral anniversary.
In 2022, we also developed a partnership with Baptist News Global (BNG) to encourage and support women’s writing by increasing the number of female writers on the BNG platform. Through uplifting the strong writing voices of women and encouraging women’s increased participation in shaping Baptist life, culture, and theology, we are working to move the needle from theoretical acceptance to actual embrace of women in ministry among Baptists.
58 Articles Written as a Result of the BNG Partnership
by28
Female Writers
