Women in the Black Church

American Black Journal’s series on the Black Church in Detroit continues, produced in partnership with the Ecumenical Theological Seminary and Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. In honor of Women’s History Month, the show takes a look at the history of women in the Black church.

Historically, the contributions of Black women have been extremely crucial to the church’s growth, operations and survival, yet many houses of worship remain male dominated with few women in leadership roles. Stephen Henderson has a candid conversation with three women ministers: Rev. Dr. JoAnn Watson of West Side Unity Church, Rev. Cindy Rudolph of Oak Grove AME Church and Rev. Kenita Harris of Detroit Bible Tabernacle. They’ll talk about the importance of faith and religion in the lives of Black women, their roles in the church today, and the ongoing debate over gender equality in the ministry.