Editor in Chief

As 2010 comes in, people of God are taking a more aggressive approach toward reaching the lost, encouraging the saved and listening to the instructions of God. Pastors are teaming up with known ‘secular’ avenues to reach the lost, ministries are moving outside of the walls of the church and into open venues to get to the lost and more and more women are coming forth to answer their calls to ministry.

While Dr. Naida Parson, Senior Pastor of New Antioch Christian Fellowship remains under constant scrutiny as a female pastor, she continues to shock the city of Las Vegas residents with unexpected and unconventional tactical strategies toward ministry. First on the list of moves for this month is Pastor Sheryl Brady in Primm, Nevada. 

The ‘silent but deadly’ doctor of psychology, Pastor Parson leads the team of New Antioch leaders in bringing Miss “tell it like it is” – Pastor Sheryl Brady - on the scene as part of the Unity Leadership Advance Conference 2010, an annual event sponsored by church.

Unity The Final Frontier, scheduled to be held at Terrible's Hotel Casino Resort in Primm January 28-30, 2010, will include workshops and guest speakers, including Pastor Brady; Pastor Parson; Pastor Sonya Cheltenham; Pastor David C. Burr; Pastor Betty Jackson; Pastor Welton T. Smith, III; and Bishop Luther Dupree.  For more information, contact Minister Monica Manig at (702) 480-8319 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Pastor, conference speaker, recording artist, wife, mother and grandmother, Brady does it all. She has traveled extensively around the globe for more than 25 years previously as a psalmist and now as a sought after speaker at conferences and churches. Her schedule is already packed through September 2010.

Brady, host of the nationally televised program “Connections with Pastor Sheryl Brady,” joins Pastor Parson as one of the women facing the age-old theological battle between scholars concerning woman and their roles in the church – specifically as a pastor.

“By now I'm sure many of you have read the news articles concerning Lifeway Christian bookstores decision to pull all September issues of Gospel Today from it's shelves (only selling to the public upon request) because of their owner's view of women in Pastoral roles,” Pastor Brady addresses in her latest blog.

 “As I was one of five Pastors featured on the cover in question, I wanted to share with you my views on this issue. I understand that Lifeway is owned by the Southern Baptist denomination that does not see a woman's role in the church inclusive of Pastoring,” she wrote.

“However, I find it disappointing that we haven't progressed beyond this gender bias in ministry. It is my contention that women have been the backbone of the church for centuries and shouldn't be exempt from leadership roles no more than Deborah was exempt from being a Judge over Israel,” Pastor Brady continues.

“I respect the theological debate about women in leadership and the Southern Baptist Convention's decision to disagree but to deny Gospel Today the right to freedom of the press to cover it and discuss it is alarming. The company may choose to ignore women in the pulpit but to deny Gospel Today the right to journalistic expression is a scary infringement for most Americans. Controlling the minds of the faithful through censorship is reminiscent of past historical tragedies where censorship was used to control, rather than to teach,” said Pastor Brady, a frequent guest on TBN’s national “Praise The Lord” program.

Chris Turner, a spokesman for Lifeway Resources which runs the stores for the Southern Baptist Convention told the 'Atlanta Journal Constitution' that the magazine's cover subject goes against their doctrine. "It is contrary to what we believe," Turner told the paper.

Southern Baptist Convention bases those beliefs on their interpretation of New Testament Scriptures in the Bible.
Southern Baptist representatives at national meetings have adopted statements saying women should not be pastors, but each church is independent.  And while some won’t admit it openly, Southern Baptists are not the only ones to reject the idea of women preachers.

The Catholic faith does not believe in women priests and the Presbyterian Church in America does not ordain women.
Over the last few years, organizations have sprouted up in an effort to support women seeking to answer their calls to ministry and move forward in these traditional environments. Baptist Women in Ministry is one such group.
In 1983, thirty three women met in Louisville, Kentucky, to discuss the needs and visions of women in ministry. Two entities were formed out of the initial meeting, Southern Baptist Women in Ministry, and the Center for Women in Ministry.

The purpose of that gathering, according to the group’s web site, was to  “ to empower women to hear God’s call and to have the courage to respond; to bless the ministries of all women; to encourage churches to enter into dialogue and to listen for the discerning voice of God who calls both men and women.”

Since that time the group has rallied to gain acceptance throughout the country. Many churches – all denominations – have opened themselves to the ideology that women can be used by God. The group has successfully gained support through its “Martha Stearns Marshall Women’s Preaching Month, “which is celebrated every February.

The event was named after Marshall, who was an eighteenth-century Separate Baptist female preacher. In February of 2007, fifty-four churches in the United States and one in Japan responded to the invitation, and the voices of women were heard from the pulpits of Baptist churches, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. In February of 2008, seventy-six churches invited a woman to preach. In 2009, the group reached for at least 100 churches to participate. For more information about Baptist Women in Ministry, visit the site at www.bwim.info.

While Pastor Brady and Pastor Parson serve as only two of the women targeted with opposition on this issue, they both join the ranks of women pastors leading ministries growing at astronomical rates.
Pastor Parson embarks upon the opening of her second location this month – yet another blow to naysayers. The first service for New Antioch Christian Fellowship – Aliante site will be at 12:30pm on January 17, 2010 in the Brian & Teri Cram Middle School Theater.  The theater is located at 1900 West Deer Springs Way. For more information, call (702) 644-7373.

Pastor Brady’s humanitarian efforts are affecting lives all over the world. Her ministry offers a wide array of outreaches, which include feeding thousands of people annually through the food bank program housed on the Sheryl Brady Ministries and The River Church campus, supporting the families of U. S. troops stationed overseas and many more.

Also, close to Pastor Brady’s heart is the support of families with terminally ill children through prayerful, emotional and financial support. One of the future outreach goals for Pastor Brady is to open “G-Ma’s House”, a loving and stable home for newborn babies of incarcerated mothers and a refuge and of hope for children.

Pastor Brady, who has ministered for Bishop T. D. Jakes at his MEGA-fest conferences,  and her husband, Bishop Joby Brady, are the founders and overseers of The River, a thriving church in Durham, NC.