Celebrating the Voices of Women During Lent

Mark Johnson | February 24, 2022

During this season of Lent, we hope you will join us for worship as we encounter familiar texts from women's perspectives.

At the end of the Summer in 2021, Hebrew Scholar Dr. Wilda Gafney offered the church a new lectionary for consideration. The “Woman’s Lectionary For The Whole Church” is a new resource she has developed for congregational use in addition to the Revised Common Lectionary that has been in use for over 70 years by mainline congregations.  Her new work invites churches to consider many of our familiar Biblical texts from the perspective of women.

This lectionary is not merely a collection of stories about women in the Bible.  Rather, the lections suggest that women have a special and insightful understanding of all of our stories and teachings that would be helpful and healing for the whole church to consider.  This year during Lent, we have invited 6 different women preachers to help us examine and consider this emphasis as a renewing and rewarding practice for our observant of Lent 2022.  We will hear from many different and diverse women voices from Baptist, Episcopal, Disciples and African Methodist Episcopal backgrounds.

Our first preacher is Rev. Erica Whitaker, who will be with us on The First Sunday of Lent, March 6th.   Let’s welcome her and all our preachers this Lent for this important and ground-breaking focus.

Erica Whitaker serves as the Associate Director for the BSK Institute for Black Church Studies. She recently served for five years as the senior pastor at Buechel Park Baptist Church in Louisville, KY. Erica is a Ph.D. Candidate at the International Baptist Theological Studies Centre at the Free University of Amsterdam. She is a monthly writer for Baptist News Global as well as a certified yoga instructor. She and her husband, Josh, live in Louisville with their two furry children, Fred and Lucy.