Limited Liberty: The Legacy of Four Pentecostal Women Pioneers

Today's Pentecostal clergywomen find very little progress has been made for women since the days of early Pentecostalism. Most encounter obstacles when seeking to be ordained with full clergy rights and affirm that the patterns of deployment are still heavily gender based. It is crucial that these women have role models to inform and guide them as they struggle to create significant change and remain loyal to a tradition that continues to marginalize them.

Limited Liberty shares the stories of four Pentecostal women who, despite their gender, pursued their freedom to preach and defend the Christian gospel, and found the following denominations: Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate-The Church of the Living God; The Pillar and Ground of the Truth, Inc., Florence Louise Crawford-The Apostolic Faith Church, Aimee Semple McPherson-The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, Ida Robinson-The Mt. Sinai United Holy Church of America, Inc., These Pentecostal denominations still flourish, and have a collective constituency of over two million members. Alexander hopes modern clergywomen will find guidance in the stories and illustrations of these four courageous Pentecostal women pioneers.

About the Author:
Estrelda Y. Alexander, a licensed minister with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, is associate pastor at Emmaus Foursquare Church in Chesapeake, Virginia. She is associate professor of theology at Regent University School of Divinity in Virginia Beach, Virginia