Bishop Ken Carter gathers with clergywomen from the Western North Carolina Annual Conference gathered at the 2022 Southeastern Jurisdictional Conference of The United Methodist Church. (Photo Courtesy of Bishop Carter)
Grinding the Beans | June 13, 2026
Good morning friends. Blessings to you on this mid-June summer day. Today I am reflecting on the recent news related to Southern Baptists and women. On Monday I will send an additional reflection on preparations for our Annual Conference, which begins this week.
I like to honor the paths of those who differ from me. Call it staying in my lane. So why would a United Methodist bishop weigh in on the decisions of a different denomination?
I will begin with some history and appreciation. I grew up in both Southern Baptist and United Methodist Churches and had important spiritual experiences in each–camps, youth groups, conference centers, campus ministries, congregations. I heard John Claypool preach. I read Carlyle Marney. I knew Randall Lolley. I was taught by Ralph Wood. Some day I may go into more of that, but I begin with some of their strengths–they taught me to read and center the Bible; they told me of the importance of sharing my faith; I gained experience in camping and music; they had the only campus ministry at my college. I made many close friendships there that continue until this day.
If you were or are a child of the south, as I was and am, you are often in an environment where there are more baptists than people. Southern Baptists are, to employ a ten- dollar word, ubiquitous.
My mother was a member of a Baptist church, off and on. In the end her church camouflaged its denominational identity. And, to be honest, I have known United Methodists who have done the same thing.
The prohibition against women in ministry by the SBC is a dark stain upon a tradition that has done great good and also significant harm, even as my own tradition has. It is a form of misogyny, and yes we have our own more subtle forms of this in my own church. The prohibition teaches young girls and adult women about the limitations of their professional roles and about who can speak for God and interpret the symbols of the sacred. The decision does great harm.
This might be the place to define misogyny:
Misogyny is the hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against women. Derived from Greek roots meaning “to hate” and “woman”, it functions as a deep-rooted cultural and systemic ideology that devalues femininity and seeks to control women to maintain traditional social hierarchies.
+
Many (most) clergywomen in the south who are United Methodist lead in a denomination that has had a polity of inclusion for seventy years but whose local churches are influenced by a culture that is Southern Baptist. And so the decision in Orlando this week has resonated deeply, surfacing the pain of experience. Ironically this is taking place in the year when we celebrate the 70th anniversary of women’s ordination in the UMC.
Last Sunday I was worshipping in Cherokee UMC, preaching and celebrating Holy Communion. My sermon was on the Holy Spirit, as it had been two weeks earlier at First UMC in Waynesville. I remembered the words of the prophet Joel quoted on the day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2: 17.
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh…and your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
I made the connection with the ordained leadership of women in our denomination, and the biblical roots of it. The narrative of the SBC this week, that women in pastoral leadership is liberal, is absurd, and reveals the political alliances and undercurrents.
So, as we were partaking of the body and blood of Christ, the pianist began to softly play the chords of “In Remembrance of Me”. This anthem is from the musical “Celebrate Life”, which I remember being a part of as a teenager. It was written by Ragan Courtney and Buryl Red, who were so gifted (they also wrote a youth musical entitled “Bright New Wings, which I still hear with gladness in my head). They came to speak and perform one evening with a group of college students on a summer staff. They mentioned a book by Elizabeth O’ Connor, “Eighth Day of Creation”. The music took me back in time to that church; I began to sing. Imagine being a teenager and singing these words:
In remembrance of me, eat this bread.
In remembrance of me, drink this wine.
In remembrance of me, pray for the time, when God’s own will is done.
In remembrance of me, search for truth.
In remembrance of me, always love.
In remembrance of me, don’t look above, but in your heart for God.
Imagine how these words changed a young person’s ideas about communion, spirituality, the church, and what it might mean to accept Christ.
And all of this is juxtaposed with the present harm done especially to our region, to women in particular and to the body of Christ.
So I am not here throwing darts at someone else’s failures. There is enough complicity and exclusion to go around. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I am here to name the good, to express gratitude, but also to say clearly that God calls women to every form of spiritual leadership, God has endowed woman with every biblical gift, the Holy Spirit is feminine if she must be gendered, and the church as we know it would not exist without women.
Search for truth. Always love. The patriarchy and misogyny is not of God.
Anyone in a position of influence must say something like this, not in the form of blame, judgment or arrogance, but as an act of ensuring that doors are opened and life in all its fullness is possible.
+
Watch for another reflection on Monday morning. A woman leaving the church in Cherokee, the sister of the pianist, said to me, “Thank you for what you said about women. I wish it was recorded. I want to share this with my daughter. I want her to hear this.” So I hope you will share this reflection, maybe with someone not in church. Talk about it in your Sunday School class, or send it out into the broader circles of social media. It makes a difference. I hope you will keep grinding the beans. And I thank you as always for your friendship and the connection.