By Dora Muhammad
If the liberation of women is not proclaimed, the church’s proclamation cannot be about divine liberation. If the church does not share in the liberation struggle of Black women, its liberation struggle is not authentic. – Rev. Dr. Jacquelyn Grant, a founder of womanist theology, author of the position paper, “The Status of Women in the AME Church” presented at the 1976 General Conference
I am encouraged by the enthusiasm for the “The Women of African Methodism” anthology series thus far from the Connectional leadership of the CLO and RAYAC and the administrative staff for the offices serving the 1st and 14th Districts who have shared its announcement. The submissions portal for the 1st and 14th District opened in September and will close on November 30, with portals opening each month for other districts through next June for collection periods of three months.
My aim is to spread the word across the various levels and auxiliaries of the Connection so that every sister who would possibly contribute knows about the project and can begin to prepare so they will be ready when their district portal opens. Among the first submissions—an endearing acrostic from a 10-year-old on what family means to her. So ALL women and girls who are the life and leadership of African Methodism in their presence and service should be encouraged to share their story, testimony, reflections or life lessons in prose, poetry or prayer under one of the topic areas – the work of liberation, sacred relationships or spiritual transformation.
Two years ago, I held the 2006 anthology, “When I Touched – Testimonies of God’s Transforming Power” published by a women’s committee at Metropolitan AME in DC, and was inspired to work on an anthology for this generation. That 20-year benchmark of 2026 loomed profound as my vision expanded to see the historic and prophetic power of an anthology for each district. This series is now a root of my divine service. These anthologies will be more than a good read—they will be a spiritual light in the increasing darkness surrounding all humanity, as overflowing lamp oil, to help all people make it through the night hours. This lamp oil has bathed the paths of my engagement with the light of the women of African Methodism among the many denominations and faiths I worked with across the country in recent years. It is AME women as individuals or in formal roles who have been the first to step up, lean in, speak out, or offer cover.
This abundant light flowed in the authentic embrace of sisterhood upon my first interactions with WMS International President Sister Deborah Taylor-King as we worked on the critical state of Black maternal health, WMS SAMS President Sister Joan Oxendine as I volunteered at Metropolitan’s food bank, Sister Joy Gallum who took up my search for a ticket to the Jarena Lee Breakfast at General Conference, not once telling me her title of WIM Vice President as she encouraged my ministry while giving me her number to coordinate, WMS 16th District President Nisan Superville on our shared priority of ending domestic violence in Trinidad, and Joy Masha, Program Manager CDF Freedom Schools, as she vanguards the clearing space for the regeneration of young adult ministry at Metropolitan.
As we quench our thirst from water in wells we did not dig and feel the warmth of fires we did not build, this project will honor the wisdom of our elders and inspire the future of our girls. This work honors the sisters in the North and South who did not let differences in geography or mission focus hinder their unity when their missionary societies merged to form the Women’s Missionary Society and the 13 votes cast for Rev. Carrie Hooper to support the leadership of the first woman to run for the Office of the Bishop during the 1964 General Conference. This work moves Sister Ethel Wallace Gothard from behind the scenes as the SED Lay Organization’s Public Relations Director to coordinate the Lay president and bishop’s historic meeting with U.S. President Johnson and standing as witnesses for his signing of the 1965 Voters’ Rights Bill.
This work values the glorious presence of generations of AME women like the 106-year-old mother of SAMS Life Member Jeneal Ball sitting beside her during our annual day yesterday or Sister Marsha Botts who I have never seen in Metropolitan without three generations of her family. We are the contemporary sewing circles of Dorcas and Daughters of the Conference who mend more than clothes. We are stitching threads of faith into the sacred seams of our communities with hands of love, like those of the unnamed maternal ancestors who planted seeds to bloom for us knowing that we, like Alice Walker, would come in search of their gardens. The Women of African Methodism anthology series is guided by this collective heritage of “a love of beauty and a respect for strength.” For details, visit www.tinyurl.com/AMEwomen2026.
Dora is the founder of The AWARE Project (Advocacy for Women’s Activism, Rights and Empowerment) and the Creative Grace firm. She serves as Faith in Public Life’s Theologian in Residence and the Institute of Caribbean Studies’ Ambassador to Women.
