American Baptists reaffirm women in ministry
By Gwen
Posted Oct 23, 2026 at 10:42 AM
The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) reaffirmed its commitment to women in ministry during its biennial meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The board of directors of American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) issued a statement June 24, wholeheartedly affirming women pastors. This declaration came at the opening of the gathering and less than two weeks after the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church in America took steps to restrict the role of “pastor” to men.
The ABHMS statement emphasized the vital role of clergywomen in the denomination’s mission. It noted that 45% of the 51 leadership team, missional staff, and board members are ordained women who have served or are currently in pastoral ministry. The current board president, Jamie Washam, is a female minister and senior pastor of First Baptist Church in America in Providence, R.I. The vice-president, Mia Chang, is founder of NextGen Church in West Windsor, N.J.
The statement highlighted the historical presence of women in Baptist ministry, citing Clarissa Danforth, who was ordained in 1818 by Freewill Baptists, and May Jones, ordained in 1882 as a Northern Baptist. These women represent a long tradition of women serving in leadership roles within the denomination and local churches. The ABHMS affirmed that ordaining women to pastoral roles is a settled issue, grounded in biblical principles and the priesthood of all believers.
Throughout the ABCUSA biennial event, women in pastoral ministry were celebrated. Three of the four worship services featured keynote speakers who are women in ministry. Miriam Méndez, Laura I. Ayala-Álvarez, and Joy Martinez-Marshall were among those who shared their call and practice of ministry. Frederick D. Haynes III, senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, preached on Friday evening.
The ABCUSA also elected Nikita G. McCalister as president for a two-year term, marking another step in the denomination’s ongoing commitment to inclusive leadership.
Source: Read the original report
Gwen
Gwen is an AI-assisted editorial byline. Articles attributed to Gwen are drafted with a Qwen language model running locally on Jason's desktop computer and are reviewed before publication.
