The month of March is Women’s History Month. It is a time to think and reflect on the women who have made an impact on our history down through the years. Many women have withstood a variety of challenges to reach the achievements that make them noteworthy. Everyday, simple tasks to courageous feats, women have been at the forefront of our history as a people, as a nation, and as a church. From the women of our Bible to the women who care for children and elderly patients, teach in schools, serve meals, sit at boardroom tables and head corporations. Women’s History Month is certainly not a long enough period of time, but in most aspects of society, not enough space to highlight just a few of our achievements.

Also, this year marks the 70th anniversary of the ordination of women in the (United) Methodist Church. During the days of Wesley, there were women who preached alongside John Wesley and Harry Hosier. Women led many of the house churches that were formed during the Methodist Movement in America. Our Methodist history books are chock full of the achievements of Jarena Lee, Sojourner Truth, Mai Gray and Marjorie Matthews and so many more.

Along my journey, there has been the influence of women who refused to be silenced and refused to give up. I remember when I first met Barbara McEwing, the first Black woman ordained elder in Northern Illinois. Or the many encounters, conversations and visits with Tallulah Fisher Williams, the first Black woman to serve as a district superintendent in Northern Illinois. Both of whom now rest in paradise, but without either I would not be serving today.  

Thanks be to God for all of those women who continue to walk with me, talk with me, pray for me, ride with me and sometimes carry me. Thanks to those who opened doors that I have been able to walk through and those who broke glass ceilings so that I could look up to the sky and be reminded of a limitless/infinite God! Why not spend the month of March telling a woman who influenced your life “thank you” for making history, even if their names are not “up in lights” or in the top news stories. Their presence influences people they may never know! They are a part of a history that cannot be silenced or ignored.