Every Friday, Baptist Women in Ministry features an amazing minister on this blog. Today, we are pleased to interview Bethany Busby. Bethany IS what a minister looks like!
Bethany, tell us about your ministry journey and the places and ways you have served and are serving.
I started my ministry career by serving in any capacity that I could. I have worked in children’s ministry and youth ministry, and I worked for a Christian non-profit working to alleviate senior hunger. After graduating seminary, I had the opportunity to take a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education in a hospital setting. I took it as a way of helping me gain confidence as a minister, and I ended up falling in love with chaplaincy. I followed that unit with a year-long residency in a level I trauma hospital and just completed it in August. I now serve as part of the pastoral care team for Baylor Scott & White in both Temple and Waco, Texas.
What have been your greatest sources of joy in ministry?
My greatest sources of joy have been providing others an example of women serving in ministerial roles. This was something I never saw while growing up in my faith community. The first time I preached at a community sunrise service an 80-year-old woman approached me after to share that I was the first woman she had ever heard preach, and she wanted me to keep on preaching! I also had a member of our church bring her 12-year-old granddaughter to my ordination, because her granddaughter did not know that women could be ordained. My church member wanted her to know that ordination was a possibility for her. Of course, my greatest joy of all is knowing that my own children are growing up witnessing me preach and proclaim the gospel.
What have been the greatest challenges you have encountered in ministry?
During seminary and early in my ministry, I carried a chip on my shoulder toward all the people who had told me that God does not call women as ministers. I often blamed them for my own lack of self-confidence and insecurities. During my chaplaincy training, I realized that overcoming my bitterness was necessary for me to thrive as a minister. I learned that once I had faith in my own abilities and calling, it didn’t seem to matter much what others thought. During this process of letting go of bitterness and leaning into my calling, I found my voice. It freed me in many ways to be the pastor God called me to be.
What is the best ministry advice you have received?
The best advice I can give is to find people in your corner. Have someone you can call upon and trust to be completely transparent and vulnerable. Gathering those around you to encourage and support you is crucial for your own spirituality and self-care.