Listening to the ‘Sacred Voices’ of Black Women Preachers

When Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman created a seminary course on women in the Black church, she had no idea it would lead to WomenPreach!, an organization now celebrating its 15th year.

by

Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware

Throughout the history of the Black church, men have dominated the pulpit, hampering efforts by women to break through and share a female-centered interpretation of the Bible. WomenPreach! has an academy named after Jarena K. Lee, the first Black woman evangelist in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

It’s been a stubborn reality for women in the Black church: men who are called to preach are readily accepted, but women struggle to have their call even acknowledged, much less get encouragement to preach their interpretation of the Gospel.

So in 2006, Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgem