The changing role of Black women in British Petecostalism since 1948

Pastor and author Dr Elaine Palmer-Taylor charts the rise of more women in leadership roles within the Church – including her own

Nearly half a century ago, I sat at the back of a church business meeting with something to say. I was not permitted to speak because I was female. The women, referred to as ‘sisters’, would write notes and pass them to a ‘brother’, who would speak on their behalf at church business meetings. A custom that continued through to the 1990s.

Today, I am the first woman to chair the Board of Directors of Assemblies of God Great Britain, a movement of more than 600 churches. Working strategically alongside the National Leader, our Board helps shape the Movement’s governance, development and future. It is a privilege to chair a Board whose wisdom and faithfulness strengthen the work we do. I also serve as Senior Pastor of an Assemblies of God church in Redditch, Worcestershire.

Caribbean migration

When I first became a Christian, in the 1970s, I could not have imagined occupying either position. Women did not lead denominations. Women overseers and bishops were unheard of in the church tradition I was raised in – or in any other Pentecostal denominations I knew. Leadership at that level was a male domain. Despite this, I loved my church and my Pentecostal beginnings.

My parents migrated from Jamaica to Britain in the 1960s and later joined the Church of God of Prophecy. I was raised there, among those I call “Caribbean trailblazers”. I use this term for Caribbean migrants who came to Britain between 1948 and the early 1970s, including the Windrush Generation and those, like my parents, who followed, often flying with BOAC.

Through migration, they helped shape a distinct Black-majority-led expression of Pentecostalism in Britain, although some churches belonged to US denominations with distinct histories and leadership.

Women were central to church life. They prayed, evangelised, taught, raised funds and supported families. Yet leadership remained predominantly male. A few women pastors served but were often restricted from administering Communion and participating fully in church business.

A changing church in a changing world

One of the greatest changes in Black-majority-led Pentecostal churches since 1948 has been the growing recognition of women in formal leadership roles. That said, some still believe women should not occupy the pulpit or certain positions. Despite objections to women preachers and pastors in some Pentecostal circles, Black female leaders were not new.

Before 1948, Lucy Farrow (c.1847/1851–1911) – an African American preacher and pastor associated with the Azusa Street Revival – preached, pastored and undertook missionary work in Liberia. Black women exercised significant spiritual leadership from the outset of modern Pentecostalism.

Since 1948, the position of Black women in Britain has changed considerably. Daughters and granddaughters of Caribbean migrants entered higher education, professional life and leadership. Legislation challenged discrimination and unequal pay, while women’s expectations shifted. Today, some Black Christian women have moved beyond Black-majority-led denominations to establish independent churches and ministries, serving as apostles, bishops, pastors and prophets. Their reasons are varied and cannot simply be attributed to exclusion, but their emergence marks a significant development: women are increasingly establishing and leading church structures themselves.

Social constructionism recognises that ideas about women and men are partly shaped by society. While I am not suggesting the Church should follow society, we should consider whether practices regarded as biblical were also shaped by historical context.

Two Pentecostal worlds

My Christian Pentecostal journey led me to Assemblies of God Great Britain, a Pentecostal movement established in 1924, more than two decades before Empire Windrush. The local church I now serve was established in 1957 and once held that church leadership should be male. However, in 2020, when I was appointed Senior Pastor, the congregation concluded that its resistance to women in leadership stemmed from tradition rather than from biblical conviction. The contrast is striking.

The girl who had no voice in a church business meeting now chairs the board of a national Pentecostal movement! It is more than a personal story. It tells us how far Pentecostalism has travelled and invites us to consider how far we still must go.

Even though my reflections are steeped in love, questions remain. How did Pentecostalism, born of the promise that sons and daughters would prophesy, sometimes fail to hear its daughters? I explore these questions through history and my own journey in The Colour of Pentecostalism: A Black Woman Pastor’s Journey Through Pentecostal Fire and Its History.

Dr Elaine Palmer-Taylor

Chair, senior pastor, CEO, author, international speaker. Visit www.palmerandtaylor.co.uk

Dr Taylor’s book is available on www.amazon.co.uk