"We've Come This Far By Faith": A Look into My Personal Baptist Identity
Lisa Seymour
Theology 445: Theological Identity in Baptist Life
December 7, 2010
Professor James Wolfe
Coming to an understanding that I had a call on my life was not something that came easy for me being an African-American women growing up in a traditional Baptist church. The only gifts that I thought were given to women by God as a child was to teach Sunday School, be a First Lady, an Usher, a Nurse, sing in the choir and so forth. These were all the ministries that I ever saw women working in because it wasn't until I was about 10 years old did I realize that God did call women to preach the Gospel. Although, I had been exposed to women preachers during my father's tenure at a local church, when I began to wrestle with my call I could not fully accept it. For me I thought all God wanted me to do was marry a pastor and speak on women's day at the church because that is what all First Lady's did so, I thought.
I was born on August 17, 1977 as the fifth child of Rev. Leon Williams Jr. and Lula Williams. My parents both active in the church made it their priority to make sure that my sisters and I had a strong foundation in our faith in God. My family and I lived in Harvey, IL for the first 7years of my life and then we moved to a more safer neighborhood after my mom was attacked coming home one night from Bible study. Although my parents knew who was our Protector, they thought it would be wise to move us into a neighborhood that would allow us to intermingle with diverse cultures. It took us a bit getting use to because we were one of three black families in our neighborhood, but my parents made sure that they practiced what they preached and taught us to embrace our neighbors because they were created by God.
Although we moved to a safer suburb where there was a greater degree of safety and diversity, my parents did not take us from our church home. My...