Awards

The Addie Davis Awards
Baptist Women in Ministry established the Addie Davis Awards in 1995 to honor Addie Davis, the first Southern Baptist woman ordained to the gospel ministry.
These awards are also a way for BWIM to give public recognition to gifted women seminarians. That year and in the years since, BWIM has requested nominations for the awards from Baptist seminaries, divinity schools, and houses of study. Each theological institution is asked to nominated two women students: one for the Addie Davis Awards for Excellence in Preaching and one for the Addie Davis Award for Outstanding Leadership in Pastoral Ministry.
View List of Past Recipients
2022 Angela Zimmerman (preaching) and Cheri Adams (pastoral ministry)
2021 Brittany Darst-Hermsen Edwards (preaching) and Nataly Mora (pastoral leadership)
2020 Joya Moore (preaching) and Tarsha Banister (pastoral leadership)
2019 Andrea Huffman (preaching) and Julianna Marraccino (pastoral leadership)
2018 Kristen Pope (preaching) and Scarlette Jasper (pastoral leadership
2017 Demi McCoy (preaching) and Genetta Williams (pastoral leadership)
2016 Elizabeth Coates (preaching) and Margaret Brooks (pastoral leadership)
2015 Brenda Kay Hafer (preaching) and Crystal M. Shepherd (pastoral leadership)
2014 Racquel Gill (preaching) and Erica Evans Whitaker (pastoral leadership)
2013 Molly Brummett (preaching) and Heather Mustain (pastoral leadership)
2012 Erin James-Brown (preaching) and Angela Fields (pastoral leadership)
2011 Kyndall Rothaus (preaching) and Griselda Escobar (pastoral leadership)
2010 Karen Hatcher (preaching) and Gwen Brown (pastoral leadership)
2009 Marquette Bugg (preaching) and Tammy Jackson Gill (pastoral leadership)
2007 Shelley Hasty Woodruff (preaching) and Renee Kenley (pastoral leadership)2008 Bailey Edwards Nelson (preaching) and Caroline Lawson (pastoral leadership)
2006 Stacy Cochran (preaching) and Debra Anne Carter (pastoral leadership)
2005 Martha Kearse (preaching) and Teresa Pugh (pastoral leadership)
2004 LeAnn Gunter (preaching) and Holly Sprink (pastoral leadership)
2003 Susan Burnette (preaching) and Shirley Ramsey Luckadoo (pastoral leadership)
2002 Andrea Dellinger Jones (preaching) and Belinda Creighton-Smith (pastoral leadership)
2001 Nikki Finkelstein-Blair (preaching)
2000 Kimberly L. Hardegree (preaching) and Ellen Holden DiGiosia (pastoral leadership)
1999 Veronice Miles (preaching) and Virginia Dempsey (pastoral leadership)
1998 Kelly Bazemore, Tammy Condrey, Jennifer L. Dundas, Joy Heaton, Jana Stewart Kinnersley, Gloria Jean Ortega, Rachel A. Stephen

Angela Zimmerman (right) was the recipient of the 2022 Addie Davis Award for Excellence in Preaching and Cheri Adams (left) recipient of the 2022 Addie Davis Award for Excellence in Pastoral Ministry.
Distinguished Mentor Award
Each year, Baptist Women in Ministry honors a mentor who has supported and empowered women called to ministry to use their gifts in service of the church with the Frankie Huff Granger Distinguished Mentor Award.
Established in 2013, the award honors the legacy and ministry of Frankie Huff Granger who served at First Baptist Church, Berea, South Carolina for over 20 years. Frankie’s legacy includes leadership that extends beyond her congregation across the landscape of Baptist ministers in the 1970s and 1980s. However, her greatest gift was serving as a mentor to young women who were discerning their callings from God, and as an example and role model when few women ministers to fill that role could be found.
The work of Baptist Women in Ministry and the service of women ministers among Baptists would not be possible without mentors who walk alongside, listen, love, affirm, encourage, equip, and nudge women new to ministry to use their gifts for the beloved community of God.

2022 Frankie Huff Granger
Distinguished Mentor
Dr. Sophia Steibel
Nominate A Mentor
BWIM is now accepting nominations for the Distinguished Mentor Award 2023.
Nominations for the 2023 Distinguished Mentor are now closed.
View List of Past Recipients
2022 Distinguished Mentor
Sophia Steibel
2021 Distinguished Mentor
Dorisanne Cooper
2019 Distinguished Mentor
Jay Kieve
2018 Distinguished Mentor
Sharlande Sledge
2017 Distinguished Mentor
Nora O. Lozano
2016 Distinguished Mentor
Ka’thy Gore Chappell
2015 Distinguished Mentor
Molly T. Marshall
2014 Distinguished Mentor
Sue Fitzgerald
2013 Distinguished Mentor
Anne Thomas Neill
Award Criteria & Eligibility
The Frankie Huff Granger Distinguished Mentor Award will recognize someone who:
- Demonstrates a commitment to nurturing the callings and giftedness of Baptist women called to ministry through their time, energy, and personal investment
- Displays dedication to advocacy for the affirmation and elevation of women in ministry and leadership among Baptists
- Is a seasoned minister or layperson who has several decades of participation and service in Baptist life, and is an active member of a congregation affiliated with Baptists
- Exhibits integrity and spiritual maturity in their personal and professional life
Nomination Guidelines
Persons wishing to nominate an individual for The Frankie Huff Granger Distinguished Mentor Award should:
- Make your nomination via the nominations form on the BWIM website.
- Include a formal letter of nomination with the submission. The letter should detail how the nominee exhibits the criteria for the award.
- Clarity, brevity, and specificity are key to helping the selection committee make their decision. Personal stories are encouraged.
- Letters of 2 pages or less are appreciated.
- Include contact information for at least two additional persons (preferably women ministers mentored by the nominee) who can attest to the nominee’s qualifications for the award. These persons will be contacted to submit support letters for nomination.
- Nominations and all accompanying support letters must be received by March 31.
Church of Excellence Award
Each year Baptist Women in Ministry recognizes a Church of Excellence who has gone above and beyond in its encouragement of women ministers and leaders.
Churches have always been at the center of the Baptist movement toward affirming women in ministry. As Christ followers who uphold the autonomy of the local church, no authoritative hierarchical body exists who can compel churches to make changes to their leadership structures so that women are included. Instead, furthering the cause of affirming and elevating women in
ministry has required brave actions to be taken by individual churches and their leaders, and these actions have, at times, involved great cost.
The Baptist Women in Ministry Church of Excellence Award was established in 2013 to honor churches who have taken bold, intentional, and consistent actions toward affirming, empowering, and providing opportunities for women ministers and leaders.
The work of Baptist Women in Ministry and the service of women ministers among Baptists would not be possible without churches who have nurtured the faith of women of all ages, affirmed women’s callings and giftedness, blessed and ordained women as ministers, called women to serve in their midst, commissioned and sent women out to serve in the world, and who have stood alongside this organization and encouraged our work with their prayers and contributions.


Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee was given the Church of Excellence Award in 2022
Nominate A Church
BWIM is now accepting nominations for the Church of Excellence Award 2023.
Nominations for the 2023 Church of Excellence are now closed.
View List of Past Recipients
2022 Church of Excellence
Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee
2021 Church of Excellence
Pintlala Baptist Church, Hope Hull, Alabama
2019 Church of Excellence
Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham, Alabama
2018 Church of Excellence
Calvary Baptist Church, Waco, Texas
2017 Church of Excellence
Beulah Baptist Church, Devereux, Georgia
2016 Church of Excellence
Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina
2015 Church of Excellence
First Baptist Church of Austin, Texas
2014 Church of Excellence
Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, MS
2013 Church of Excellence
Watts Street Baptist Church, Durham, NC
Award Criteria & Eligibility
The Baptist Women in Ministry Church of Excellence will be a congregation who:
- Affirms and ordains women for all expressions of ministry and leadership
- Demonstrates support of women in ministry by taking action to eliminate barriers for women in ministry and leadership in their congregation
- Nurtures and cultivates the callings of women of all ages, calls women to leadership positions, and intentionally creates a supportive environment for women ministers in their midst
- Advocates for women beyond their own congregational community
- Is affiliated with a Baptist denominational group
Nomination Guidelines
Persons wishing to nominate a church for the BWIM Church of Excellence Award should:
- Make your nomination via the nominations form on the BWIM website.
- Include a formal letter of nomination with the submission. The letter should detail how the nominated church exhibits the criteria for the award. Clarity, brevity, and specificity are key to helping the selection committee make their decision. Personal stories are encouraged.
- Letters of 2 pages or less are appreciated.
- Include contact information for at least two additional persons who can attest to the church’s qualifications for the award. These persons will be contacted to submit support letters for the nomination.
- Nominations and all accompanying support letters must be received by March 31.