Each Friday, Baptist Women in Ministry introduces an amazing minister. This week we are pleased to introduce Joyce Cope Wyatt, who was interviewed recently by Ashley Robinson, executive assistant at BWIM. Joyce IS what a minister looks like!
Ashley Robinson: Joyce, tell us about your faith and ministry journey.
Joyce Wyatt: I came up in a Christian home in a Baptist church, went to GAs (Girls in Action). When I was fifteen-years-old, I really felt a call to be a missionary. I went to seminary and met my husband there. We were appointed to go to Spain in 1953 to open a seminary in Barcelona. We were there about ten years, then we served in Chile for three years, and then in Colombia, where we served the longest–twenty-six years. We always served in some form of education. Following our retirement, we did a year of volunteer work and then taught at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. My husband and I often went back to the seminary in Cali, Colombia, which celebrated its 65th anniversary on March 3, 2018, to teach for a semester. So, in all, I’ve had my foot in Colombia in some way for fifty-one years, which seems like a lifetime.
In five seminaries, I taught the first women in ministry seminar. I taught women in ministry seminars in Cali, Colombia, in Ecuador, in Santiago, Chile, at Golden Gate Seminary when we were on our last furlough, and then at Southeastern Seminary. So, I’ve been an active women’s advocate for many, many years.
At the present, I’m still working in education. I’ve been teaching Bible studies ever since we came to Knoxville, Tennessee in 1996. More recently, I’ve helped get our church started with an ESL (English Second Language) ministry. I teach the advanced ESL class. We have a citizenship class, and I’m also tutoring immigrants at a local high school. I’ve been an active advocate of helping local churches welcome immigrants.
AR: It sounds like your ministry does not stop.
JW: Well, that’s the wonderful thing. I’m ninety. I’ll be ninety-one in May. And, it’s amazing that there are still so many, many opportunities to live out my calling.
AR: What part of your ministry has brought you the most joy.
JW: Witnessing the development of my students has brought the most joy. It’s wonderful for an educator to be able to see their students learn and to have some satisfaction that I had a part in their lives and they had a part in mine. To see my students go beyond what I taught them to do and to succeed brings me great joy. Just to be able to teach and to see that God has allowed me to have a part in the development of people brings me so much joy.
AR: There must have been challenges along the way as well. Can you speak to some of the challenges you have faced?
JW: The greatest challenge for me has been learning from my mistakes. I know I have made plenty of them. Certainly, many of them were made because of my lack of knowledge of the culture or poor choice of words. The ability to say, “hey, I made a mistake,” and then learn from that mistake has been a challenge.
Accepting criticism, especially if it’s something that I’m really passionate about is a great challenge. For example, right now, immigration is something I’m very passionate about, and criticism might come from some of my dearest friends. Hearing people with views that are so different from mine is always a challenge.
I think through the years, gender discrimination has been a challenge. I have had opportunities to teach in seminary positions, particularly in Colombia, where some people would not want a woman to teach. As I’ve thought about some of the gender discrimination I’ve faced, I realized that some of it came from my own colleagues.
AR: How did you navigate those moments when people questioned your call or did not accept you as a woman in ministry?
JW: As a woman in ministry, usually, I was just able to push ahead. When it came to women in leadership in general, though, one story comes to mind. I got my Master’s degree in Adult Education, and I presented my Master’s project at North Carolina State. I had developed a new curriculum, an interactive multicultural approach to seminary training in Colombia. When I finished presenting the project, one of the other missionaries who was on faculty (and was really someone who had very little training in the subject area) said, “Well, that was just alright for adult education,” as if adult education was unimportant. I had developed a new curriculum! When he said that, I was just crushed. As everyone was leaving, one of the students present, who had been my student, and now is Vice President for Theological Education, came up to me and said, “this is a good program, you must not give up hope.” That affirmation gave me so much energy and hope. I remember that as a grace moment. I often found hope in my students.
AR: Joyce, what kind of advice would you give now to a young woman discerning a call to ministry?
JW: I would say first, thank God for calling you. I think it’s a great privilege to be called into ministry. I do believe that all of us are called to ministry, but we are talking about a specific vocational ministry.
Secondly, I would say, take care to verify your calling. I think that can be done with trusted people—mentors, your pastor, or someone you could talk with. Because, unless you have assurance in your call, you’re not going to be able to last in ministry. If you have a grounding in your call, you’ll be able to overcome discouragement and difficulty.
Then, I would say, find a mentor. Find someone to walk with you. I think it is essential to find a mentor in someone who has proven in her life a commitment and lifelong service to God who would be able to help you develop your understanding and commitment.
I think you should be active in church. It’s important to have a church to support you and to be a place where you could try out your ministry skills. One of my blessings as a young woman during the year between college and seminary came from my church. I was too young to go to seminary, you had to be twenty-one. I was twenty. So, I taught in Knoxville, Tennessee, and joined the First Baptist Church. I sang in the choir, and the pastor immediately gave me a class of thirteen-year-old girls that I taught. That was wonderful preparation. I think finding ways to serve while you’re still preparing for ministry is important.
And, then, of course, I believe that getting the best training possible is essential. I have found that I have been able to use all of my educational training in ministry.
Finally, since you are a woman sensing a call to ministry, knowing that there will be gender discrimination is important. Not to be discouraging, but you need to be prepared. If you know that you have been called–if you are sure of that–then you will have a conviction that will allow you to face anything that might come up. Knowing that you have been called of God, you’ll be able to respond to any discrimination with love, tact (hopefully), and determination.