Sisters of change

BLACK women, who have always been a foundation--some would say the foundation--of the Black Church, are assuming new roles and are redefining themselves and the Church. Nothing testifies to this more dramatically than the fact that The Right Reverend Sister Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie is scheduled to be inaugurated this month as the presiding bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Bishop McKenzie is not alone at the summit of the spirit. There are now three AME women bishops, and Black women are pastors, preachers and spiritual leaders in some but not enough pulpits and offices. Women are pastoring, preaching, counseling, teaching, administering, and performing their age-old tasks of foundationing, and they are leading as well as following. Interestingly and significantly, Black women were among the founders of the first Black megachurches, and they are among the pioneers in the national movement to redefine what it means to be spiritual. They have been particularly active in forcing a widening dialogue on soul, sexuality and spirituality.

Here, as elsewhere, Sisters have "loosed" the Church and have made Sisters and Sisterhood key elements in Black and White spirituality.

The women interviewed for this article say progress has been made, but that the struggle continues in the spiritual world as well as in the secular world.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group