Providence Baptist Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina has called Julie Merritt Lee to serve as their senior pastor.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship blog made this announcement in a post entitled Another Baby Step for Women in Senior Pastor Roles.
Below is the announcement from the newsletter of Providence Baptist Church:
On Sunday, May 3, by unanimous vote, Providence Baptist Church voted to call Julie Merritt Lee as its second pastor. A magna cum laude graduate of William Jewell College and a graduate of George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Julie brings unique gifts to Providence. Following college, she taught middle school English for two years. Since obtaining the Masters of Divinity degree at Truett, she has served two churches, one Baptist and one United Church of Christ, has completed a Clinical Pastoral Education course of study and is currently winding up a two year pastoral internship at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas Texas. The program at Wilshire is funded by the Lilly Foundation and provides a marvelous opportunity for promising seminary graduates to gain on the job experience under the guidance of a seasoned pastoral staff. Her clear preaching skills are in evidence via a number of her well crafted and Biblical sermons available on the Wilshire website.
Julie will assume the Providence pastorate in mid-July following the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly where she has been invited to preach. Accompanying her to Hendersonville will be her equally personable husband, Michael Lee, a native New Yorker and graduate of Union Theological Seminary. Michael is also ordained and he too has also completed the CPE training. The couple met during the course of their CPE training in San Antonio. Michael now serves as both a minister to singles and as a hospice chaplain. The Providence congregation is excited about the prospects of welcoming Julie and Michael to Hendersonville and eager to introduce them to the friends who have so warmly supported the church over the past eight years.
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In my last post, I highlighted three controversial proposed amendments to the BGCT’s constitution and bylaws. These proposals were aimed specifically at Texas Baptist congregations such as Wilshire Baptist in Dallas and their pastor.
Today’s post notes the great work that Wilshire Baptist Church is doing through their pastoral internship program, a program that has obviously helped put gifted young men AND women in Baptist pulpits.
Go, Julie!!!
BDW,
Thanks for including a good word about Julie and Wilshire. In reading some of the latest news about the BGCT and the proposed amendments that would affect churches like Wilshire, I have had a kind of surreal feeling wondering who these people are they are talking about. I don’t feel the need to defend myself or the church, but I wish everyone had a feeling of being included as we do. Sometimes being included is as frustrating as not being included. The decisions made and directions taken by the BGCT are mind-boggling at times, and I only wish I had the influence to peddle that is attributed to me. But alas, perception is reality to many.
Thanks for your good work.
Some common trends I’ve observed with celebrated women pastors lead to a couple of honest questions:
Is it required, or just helpful, to be named Julie?
Is it remarkable, or totally understandable, that women pastors named Julie are among the greatest preachers in New Baptist-dom, as evidenced by their program invitations to BGCT and CBF events? I think they outnumber “George’s,” “Aaron’s,” and “Chuck’s” on these programs, probably trailing only “John’s” and “Michael’s.” Quite impressive–proportionally speaking.
While I know some great preachers named Julie (and congrats to Rev. Lee), I have to hand it to such other fine preachers as Linda Weaver-Williams, Nancy Hastings Sehested, Cindy Weber (my pastor), Molly Marshall (one of my mentors), Sarah Shelton, Amy Butler, Mary Hammond, April Baker, Elizabeth Pugh, and LeAnn Blackert, to name just a handfull of the great Baptist preaching women currently out there.
Good that Julie is a woman.
Good luck to that church!
I wish her and the church all the best.
George,
There aren’t nearly enough BGCT-elected trustee or other leadership positions for anyone, much less everyone, to feel included as you do. That’s the point.
Michael,
As evidenced by your list, the Julie’s still lead all the rest 2-1.