In the muggy August of 1871, a group of six emancipated slaves left Green Brier Baptist Church in Utica, KY, to establish their own congregation, which led to the construction of Pleasant Point Baptist Church in 1878.
That church is still standing and active at 3723 Kentucky 764, and its leadership continues to make history.
Rhondalyn Randolph, the church’s pastor, is one of only three female Southern Baptist pastors in Kentucky, which leaves her church unrecognized by the Southern Baptist Convention.
According to the Southern Baptist Convention’s website, the organization’s official stance on female pastors is: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
Randolph challenges that view. She says God has called her to pastoral work just as he has her male colleagues, and she’s fulfilling that work despite obstacles she’s faced.
“God does not put any constraints on ministry — that’s man-made,” Randolph said. “I had to fight through all of that opposition in regard to what other people thought, so I had to go with what God spoke to me. And I know what God spoke to me because at each opportunity, he just kept opening doors.”
The journey toward a pastoral career began for Randolph as a preacher in ministerial training with Zion Baptist Church on 2311 W. Ninth St., the church her father pastored.
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SOURCE: Collin Morris
The Messenger-Inquirer
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