(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…