Table Of ContentIF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT: EMPOWERING WOMEN
MINISTERS TO WALK COMFORTABLY IN
THEIR CALL TO PREACH
Rose Irwin
B.A., Wright State University, 2012
MDiv, United Theological Seminary, 2015
Mentors
Robert Walker, DMin
Kenneth W. Cummings, Sr., DMin
Brenda Braam, DMin
A FINAL PROJECT SUBMITTED TO
THE DOCTORAL STUDIES COMMITTEE
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
UNITED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Dayton, Ohio
December 2021
Copyright © 2021 by Rose Irwin
All rights reserved
CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... vi
DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... ix
ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................ x
EPIGRAPH ........................................................................................................................ xi
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1
CHAPTER
1. MINISTRY FOCUS ................................................................................... 5
2. BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS ................................................................... 32
3. HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS ............................................................. 57
4. THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS ......................................................... 83
5. INTERDISCIPLINARY FOUNDATIONS ............................................ 104
6. PROJECT ANALYSIS ........................................................................... 116
APPENDIX
A. INVITATION LETTER ......................................................................... 151
B. DOCTOR OF MINISTRY PROJECT .................................................... 153
C. CONSENT FORM .................................................................................. 155
D. PROJECT PRE-SURVEY ...................................................................... 158
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E. PROJECT POST SURVEY .................................................................... 161
F. PROJECT OVERVIEW MODULE OUTLINE ..................................... 164
G. PROJECT MODULES/SERMON OUTLINE ....................................... 167
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 171
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ABSTRACT
IF THE SHOE FITS, WEAR IT: EMPOWERING WOMEN
MINISTERS TO WALK COMFORTABLY IN
THEIR CALL TO PREACH
by
Rose Irwin
United Theological Seminary, 2021
Rose Irwin
Robert Walker, DMin
Kenneth W. Cummings, Sr., DMin
Brenda Braam, DMin
The context of this project is United Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio. The
problem in the context is that there is no ministry present to empower women ministers to
walk comfortably in their call to preach. If women ministers attend empowerment
sessions on preaching, then they will be empowered to walk comfortably in the call to
preach. The project was conducted over five weeks. Data was collected utilizing pre-
project and post-surveys, group discussions and personal journal entries. Because women
ministers participated in empowerment sessions, they were more empowered to walk
comfortably in the call to preach.
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, this Doctor of Ministry journey would not have been possible
without the help of “Team Trinity”: God, the Father; Jesus Christ, the Son; and the
person and power of the Holy Spirt! Thank you “Team Trinity” for always reminding me
“I can do all things though Christ Jesus, which strengthen me.” (Phil 4:13). Thank you for
always reassuring me, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jer 29:11). The only
reason that I am able to stand here at the end of this doctoral journey is because you were
with me, and for that I am eternally grateful!
To my rock, my biggest supporter and the most important woman in my life, my
mother, Margie N. Fields! Mom, words simply cannot express the gratitude that is in my
heart, the impact that you have had on my life and what you mean to me! Thank you for
all your prayers, support, advice, words of encouragement, and even your words of kind
and loving rebuke during those times that I procrastinated, which were many. Thank you
for always sacrificing your time, talents, and your treasurers to make sure that I had
everything that I needed on this doctoral journey! Thank you for always reminding me
that you are proud of me, and for always telling others that you are proud of me! Mom, I
stand here today because you loved me and believed in me, and I never would have made
it without you! You are by far, the best mother a girl could have, and I am the luckiest
girl in the world because you are my mother! I love you, Mom!
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To my “other mothers,” Momma Betty, Momma Gaines, Momma Ella, Momma
Johnson, and the late, Momma Julia G. Brown! Thank you for sowing into my life!
To my family: thank you for all the love, support, and encouragement that you
have always given me during my educational pursuits! Thank you for always reminding
me that I am a life-long student and the many graduations that you have to endure on my
behalf, and yet again, you are willing to do it one more time! For that I am grateful.
Thank you! To my siblings: thank you for always believing in me and looking out for
your baby sister! I am the woman that I am today because I had you all to help lead me
and guide me! To my aunts and uncles: thank you! To my cousins: thank you; and to my
nieces and my nephews: thank you! To every relative, whether through blood or love, I
say, Thank You!
To my pastor, Rev. Dr. Leroy Cothran, thank you for your leadership and
mentorship and for always, “seeing” more in me than I “see” in myself! To my church
family, United Missionary Baptist Church, thank you for raising me up from a young girl
and teaching me in the ways of the Lord! Thank you for allowing me to “practice
preaching” to you for the past eighteen years! Thank you for your prayers, support, and
encouragement during these past three years in this Doctor of Ministry program! I am
blessed to have you as my church family!
To my mentors, Dr. Robert Walker, Dr. Kenneth Cummings, Sr., and Dr. Brenda
Braam. Thank you for being the educators that you are; thank you for the expertise that
you display; and thank you for the examples that you set! You are by far the best
mentors! To Dr. Tolly A. Kennon, III, thank you for all your help and thank you for
being our faculty consultant. To the entire, “Prophetic Preaching and Praxis” Focus
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Group, please know that I hold each and every one of you close in my heart and I
consider you all family! To my peer buddy, Pastor Sedaric Dinkens, there really are no
words that can described what you have meant to me on this journey! All I’m going to
say is “Thank You!” To Dr. Cynthia Thompson, thank you for being “Dr. Sis” and
teaching me to “trust the process!” To Dr. Lee E. Fields, Jr., thank you for the “pink
paper!” To Dr. Mary Walker and Mrs. Anita Cummings, thank you for being the “moms”
of Prophetic Preaching Praxis! Your presence is powerful!
To my “Big Seminary Sis, my “BSS,” Dr. Bridget Weatherspoon, thank you for
being there for me during my entire seminary journey! You have truly been like a sister
to me! You believed in me, encouraged me, invested in me, pushed me every step of the
way, and even threatened me a time or two, and for that I am eternally grateful! To my
friend and seminary sister, Rev. Robbin Boozer, thank you for your friendship and your
expertise in technology!
To The Brunner Literacy Center, my “BLC” family, thank you for including me
and making me part of the team! To my students, thank you for allowing me to serve
you!
To the various women and men in ministry who agreed to join me on this journey
and participated in this project, I would like to say, “Thank You!” I appreciate each and
every one of you!
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DEDICATION
The dedication of this doctoral thesis is in honor of my grandmother, my “Big
Mama,” the late great Catherine Harrison. As young girl, I would spend my summers in
Alabama with my “Big Mama” and my aunt, who were very instrumental in my church
upbringing. As the matriarch of our family, my “Big Mama” did not get the chance to
witness my call to the ministry, nor did she ever get the chance to hear me preach!
However, every time that I stand up to preach, I feel my “Big Mama’s” presence! For
every time I open up my preaching Bible, there lies a picture of my “Big Mama. She is
there to greet me, and she is there with me from the beginning of the sermon to the end of
the sermon! I dedicate this work to her memory!
I would also like to dedicate this dissertation to every female in ministry that has
gone before me, to every female in ministry that stands here with me, and to every female
in ministry soon to come. “If The Shoe Fits, Wear It!” Preach The Word!
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ABBREVIATIONS
CROWN Clergy Resource of Women Network
KJV King James Version
NIV New International Version
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
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