(RNS) — As she prepared to preach at the evening service Tuesday (Sept. 9) at the annual session of the National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc., the Rev. Tracey L. Brown admitted to feeling the nerves she always has before entering a pulpit and “dealing with people’s souls.”
But the occasion took on other emotions when the New Jersey minister learned from NBCUSA leaders that she would be the first woman ever to preach to the 145-year-old, historically Black denomination’s annual meeting. “I feel humbled and honored,” Brown, 63, founder and pastor of Ruth Fellowship Ministries in Plainfield, told Religion News Service hours before the service at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Religion scholars said Brown’s preaching was a noteworthy moment, even as women have long been preaching in local Baptist churches, often without much recognition.
When the Rev. Gina Stewart preached at a meeting of four Black Baptist denominations in 2024, the historic moment temporarily disappeared from the Facebook page of the NBCUSA. A later post on the page reassured members that the stream of the service was not blocked by its officers or administrators, but there also were claims some attendees chose not to be present when Stewart spoke.
“It’s a long time coming; it’s 2025,” said the Bible scholar and retired professor Renita Weems, of Brown’s sermon on Tuesday. “A lot of local churches are light-year …