Connectional AME Women in Ministry, has been made aware that a woman in ministry, because of her gender, has been locked out of her church and prohibited from proclaiming God’s word from the pulpit since June 20, 2021. As we celebrate a woman as President of the Bishops’ Council, a woman as President of the General Officers Council, a woman as President of the Presiding Elders’ Council, and an all-woman Executive Board of the National Council of Churches (USA), we are greatly distressed to hear of women in ministry concurrently being oppressed by systematic strongholds and discriminatory behavior.
AME/WIM is the official professional organization for women pursuing excellence in ministry in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and is the prophetic voice for parity and justice through advocacy and activism for women in ministry.
In December of 2016, The Commission on Women in Ministry called for the adoption of the following statement by The General Board of the AME Church:
We, The African Methodist Episcopal Church, affirm that all men and women were created equally by God and therefore, entitled to equality in employment, responsibility, promotions, and ministry. Therefore, we urge that each of our members work to eliminate gender-role stereotypes in all aspects of voluntary and compensatory participation in the Church and society. We urge our own communities to champion economic parity and justice by affirming the right of women to equal treatment by placing them in key leadership decision-making positions at all levels of our Church, our Institutions, and our society. We affirm the right of all women to live free from violence and abuse by urging our elected officials and government agencies to retain and enact legislation and policies that protect women against all forms of violence and discrimination.
And it was unanimously adopted.
Once again, Connectional AMEWIM seeks the commitment of our church to intentionally work towards justice and asks our church, specifically The Council of Bishops, The Connectional Council, The Presiding Elders Council, and the Lay Organization to denounce gender discrimination, enforce current legislation and work to implement new legislation that creates a culture that will strongly discourage and rid our great zion of this discriminative behavior.
#JusticeStartsInTheChurch #JusticeForJarenasDaughters
