The Contributions Of Christian Women To The Pastoral Care And Counseling Ministry Of The Church – Part Four
Women Of Early Quakerism:
The early Quakers (1650-90) represented the most significant historic turning point for women since the time of Jesus and the Apostles. The early Quakers were preoccupied with a Christian lifestyle reflecting the compassion of Jesus and renouncing any dependence on outward religion. [1] This ideal carried over into their concept of Ministry that was synonymous with Christian living, pastoral care, and counseling.
Margaret Fell (1614 – 1702)
Fell was a former Anglican gentry and was instrumental in helping women learn to exercise their equality in Society. In 1666, while in prison for her faith, she wrote Women Speaking Justified, the first book by a woman giving a biblically based theology for female public Ministry.
Women Of Early Methodism
The Methodist revival in England (1739-60) was charismatic. It demonstrated an essential inclusion of women, giving them opportunities to be involved in pastoral care, counseling, and the freedom to minister. The emancipation of womanhood began with John Wesley. Wesley’s mother, Susannah, trained her sons well and imparted sound doctrinal counsel.
Amanda Matthews – Berry Smith (1837 – 1915)
Amanda was born to enslaved people in the state of Maryland. She became a Christian and began preaching in 1870. Amanda continued in her pastoral care with tremendous success despite cruel racism and barbarous sexism. Her gift made room for her, and she gained tremendous respect in all quarters of Society. She ministered with great success throughout America, the British Isles, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burma, and India, where she was commended by Methodist Bishop Thoburn. [2]
Katherine Bushnell
She was a brilliant woman whose devotion led her to China as a Methodist Episcopal missionary doctor and later to the Wisconsin lumber camps as an activist exposing the sex slave trade. Her single most important work and contribution is her book God’s Word to Women. This book was initially released as one hundred Bible study lessons on women’s place in the divine economy; it was later published in 1923.
Women In The Missionary Movement
Hosts of women were mobilized in missions when the Pentecostal revival arrived on the scene. Some women contributed their quotas to pastoral care and counseling on the mission field, and women functioned in all aspects of the Ministry. Groups such as A. B. Simpson’s Christian Missionary Alliance contributed immensely to missionary activity.
Phoebe Worrall Palmer (1807 – 74)
Phoebe was a devout Methodist from childhood; she married fellow Methodist and New York physician Walter Clarke Palmer (1804 – 83). Her simple obedience to God’s Call resulted in Phoebe’s far-reaching influence. She was a dominant theologian emphasizing a baptism of the Holy Spirit after conversion. Her meetings recorded at least twenty-five thousand conversions and sanctification experiences. [3] She was a prolific writer who used her books as a system of change and counseling. One of her books, the 421-page The Promise of the Father (1859), articulates a biblical theology validating woman’s right and responsibility to obey the Call to public Ministry with Acts 2: 17-18 as its starting point for discussion.
Catherine Mumford Booth (1829 – 90)
She was a co-founder of the Salvation Army with her husband, William Booth (1829 – 1912). She worked tirelessly and made an immense contribution to the growth and success of the Salvation Army. She not only got involved in pastoral care, but she also fought for equal authority, equal rights, and equal responsibilities for women.
Women In The Healing Movement:
Carrie Judd Mongomery (1848 – 1946)
She was the first woman to itinerate across America. Carrie was healed in 1879 through Elizabeth Mix’s Ministry and, since then, became active in the healing movement. She operated in the 1880s ‘Faith Rest Cottage’, a healing home in Buffalo, New York. In 1890, Carrie married George Montgomery and moved with him to Oakland, California. She opened the ‘Home of Peace’ in 1893, the first West Coast healing home.
Maria Woodworth – Etter (1844 – 1924)
She conducted mass tent healing revivals as a holiness preacher before becoming a Pentecostal in 1912.
Lucy Farrow
She deserves special mention. She was born in slavery as a holiness pastor in Houston when Parham arrived in 1905. She worked closely with the Parhams (Charles and Sarah, together with Sarah’s sister, Lilian), serving as governess to the children and preaching and ministering in the meetings. She was one of the first Pentecostal missionaries to Liberia, West Africa.
The Duncan sisters
In November 1894, Elizabeth Duncan Baker (1849 – 1915) and her four sisters began a mission-oriented faith ministry in Rochester, New York. Their impressive ministry center included Elim Faith Home (est. 1895), Elim Tabernacle Church, and Rochester Bible Training School (est. 1906 – 24). They held a special place in their hearts for missions. Elizabeth’s visit to Pandita Ramabai’s (1858 – 1920) work in India intensified this interest. Elizabeth and Ramabai became friends, and she was instrumental by her counsel in Ramabai’s establishing a mission to Temple prostitutes. She was involved in a lot of counseling. She raised money in England and the United States for the Indian Ministry.
Mother Moss. Virginia E. (1875 – 1919)
Mother Moss was an educator and pastor and a third-generation woman in Ministry. In 1910, Mother Moss moved her ministry center to North Bergen, New Jersey, where she merged her mission and healing home to become the Beulah Heights Assembly. She saw a great need to equip those in the field and established Beulah Heights Bible and Missionary Training School in 1912.
Minnie Tingley Draper (1858 – 1821)
She was another educator in the early Pentecostal revival on the East Coast. Draper had a powerful healing evangelist ministry and worked closely with A. B. Simpson as an administrative executive with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Her counseling was done mainly through her writings. She published the South and Central African Pentecostal Herald, which later adopted Full Gospel Missionary Herald. In 1916, Draper established Bethel Bible Training School as part of the Newark ministry center.
Aimee Semple Mcpherson (1890 – 1944)
She was the best-known woman preacher in modern times. The Church she founded, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, now spans the globe. In 1917, Aimee began the monthly publication of the Bridal Call. On January 1, 1923, she opened the 5,300-seat Angeless Temple, where for three years, she preached every night and three times on Sundays to over 5000 crowds. A month later, Aimee opened the Lighthouse for International Foursquare Evangelism, known as L.I.F.E. Bible College, a training center to equip men and women to become Evangelists, Missionaries, Pastors, and Teachers. So desperately, she needed to bring people to Christ and ground people’s faith in God’s Word. In 1924, Aimee began operating her radio station, and in 1927, Aimee opened the Angeless Temple Commissary. The same year she incorporated the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. She died on September 20, 1944, and was buried in forest lawn cemetery in Glendale, California, on October 9, 1944, in one of the largest funerals ever held in Los Angeles.
Notes:
- [1] Susan C. Hyatt – Spirit-filled Women
- [2] Vinson Synan – The century of the Holy Spirit
- [3] Vinson, Synan – The Century of the Holy Spirit
