By Tiffany Ginyard
AFRO Staff Writer
St. Louis--Three’s a crowd.
But in the case of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, three is not enough.
Not until the dawning of the 21st century did women have a shot at filling the highest position of the episcopacy. In 1995, Rev. Carolyn Tyler Guidry, who has since claimed one of the three seats filled by women in the bishopric, introduced a resolution calling for the Church to elect a woman by 2000. The Rev. Vashti Murphy McKenzie was elected that year, followed by Guidry and the Rev. Sarah Frances Davis in 2004. Though the “glass ceiling” has been shattered, however, the disparity in the representation of women in the episcopacy still remains.
“We, as the church of God, follow a word of God that says He is no respecter of persons.”
The AFRO interviewed one of the chosen few, Bishop Davis of the 18th District, for her perspective on the progression of the Church relating to the appointment of more women to the bishopric and why she will continue to be an advocate for qualified women seeking the position.
AFRO: What are your thoughts on females serving as bishops?
Bishop Davis: “I think that in the body of Christ there, is no male and female. But until we work in the spirit of God, we are going to keep looking at who wears the pants, and who is male and who is female. If we were all walking in the mind and the body of Christ, then we would have no problem [with gender]. We would want the best person for the position. It doesn’t matter whether you’re male or whether you’re female. And until that happens, I think that you will have voices such as women in A.M.E. ministry saying, ‘Hey ya’ll, the picture doesn’t look right. The church doesn’t look like what you have before me, so let’s be fair.’”
AFRO: Are outsiders of the A.M.E. Church looking at gender too closely? Is the gender issue really that serious?
BD: “ It’s serious to the extent that when you look out into the congregation you are ministering to, it is not represented by those who are doing the ministry. And we, as the church of God, follow a word of God that says He is no respecter of persons. So if the Church [is being called to] expound on that theology, then we [women] out here want to see that God is calling no respecter of persons. And until we get there, there has to be a voice to express that.”
AFRO: What do you say to women looking to fill a seat in the bishopric in the future?
BD: “I think that at every level of leadership in the church, women who have a passion for that kind of ministry and service need to lift themselves up and seek those particular positions. We sometimes hold ourselves back. But if we can do it in the secular world, if we can move up the corporate ladder, what’s wrong with the church?”