Each week, Baptist Women in Ministry introduces an amazing minister. This week, we’re thrilled to introduce Karen Sethurman.
Karen, tell us about your ministry journey and the places and ways you have served.
From a very young age, I was actively involved in the local Baptist church in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The youth group had a huge influence on my life, particularly during my teenage years. Around the age of seventeen, I remember sensing (very deep inside) that God was calling me to something. However, I was also being taught that women are not permitted to be in a pastoral or leadership role within the church.
At the age of twenty-four, I got married and moved neighborhoods. We then joined the local Baptist church. I was involved in all sorts of ministries. The senior pastor spent time mentoring me, providing opportunities to teach and lead, and I eventually joined the staff team. He constantly told me that he felt I was called to pastor. However, for a woman to be ordained as a Baptist pastor in Ireland is not a possibility—so I dismissed the idea.
A few months later I attended a women’s conference. Nancy Beach was the keynote speaker. At the end of the conference, Nancy announced that she believed there was a woman present who had been called to pastor. I immediately knew it was me. Even as I type these words, I still get emotional as I recall the events of that evening; such was the conviction that God was speaking directly to me. While remaining on the staff of my Baptist church, I started theological training. Knowing that I could not be ordained as a Baptist pastor in Ireland led me explore the possibility of moving to England or America. But I could not shake off a deep love and sense of call to Northern Ireland. I remember constantly crying out, “God what do you want me to do?”
Part of my role within the Baptist church was to work out in the local community. As a Christian leader, the religious divide within Northern Ireland always troubled me. I would encounter many people who kept saying that they felt they “didn’t fit” in church (for various reasons). This led me to ask all sorts of questions: Can a Christian community exist in Northern Ireland that is not defined as Catholic or Protestant–one that seeks to build peace and bridge the divide? What would a Christian community look like for people who feel they “didn’t fit” in traditional church?
For a number of years a few of my friends and I had conversations around such questions. Eventually in 2010, I shared with the elders at my church a vision that I felt God had given me to set up a place for people who felt they “didn’t fit” in church. I stepped out of my ministry role at the church, and along with a few other people, I planted The Down Community (in the heart of County Down).
In October 2010, two Baptist pastor-friends informally ordained me as the pastor of The Down Community. Together as a new community we began a journey of unlearning, reinvention, and experimentation, striving to provide a place of belonging for all. Over time and with many mistakes, a template has evolved that enables our fledging community to engage with God. We rediscovered our Celtic heritage, and simply provide a space for people to explore faith. Yet it is the time and energy invested in building community and the sense of togetherness that has proven successful. Recently, we have established a second community, “Soul Space,” based in Belfast. The journey continues. And last year, I received the news that The Baptist Union of Great Britain is willing to accredit me as a Baptist pastor.
What are the greatest challenges you have faced in ministry?
There have been many times I have felt very alone. This has often led me to doubt myself and my calling. I spent a number of years feeling misrepresented and misunderstood as often my greatest challenges have come from other church leaders. However, I am thankful for those who have, and continue to stand with me and cheer me on.
What are the greatest joys in ministry?
My greatest joy is sharing the love and hope of Jesus with others. Being entrusted and hearing people’s story is a privilege, and it is a complete joy to point people to Him. l also love the challenge of leading in Northern Ireland and the opportunity to figure out what it means to be a peacemaker and to bring the good news of Jesus to a much-divided context.
What words of wisdom do you have for your Baptist sisters in the United States?
I would point you to the story of Mary and Elizabeth.
Every Christmas, many young girls are given the role of this unknown, unmarried, unnoticed teenager who was told by an angel that she would give birth to God’s son. In our eyes, she was an ordinary girl called to do something extraordinary. Yet to God, she was an extraordinary woman called to do something pretty ordinary (to Him). I have often wondered—what would we do with Mary today? If she was to come into our lives and churches announcing that she was pregnant with God’s son—how would we handle her? I suspect we wouldn’t know what to do with her. We would probably dismiss her claims and question her mental state. Mary’s experience is meaningful beyond the Christmas season. She lives on today in the lives of every woman who is called by God to do something that doesn’t meet society’s expectations for women. Many women are “pregnant” with a calling, a vision, an idea. They are called to lead, pastor, preach, teach, speak out, plant, champion, and take risks. These women are all waiting for the right time and place to give birth to their visions. Many women with a calling are waging their own battles deep inside. Like Mary likely did, many feel inadequate and incapable. They question God over and over again, just as Mary did, ‘“how will this be?” (Luke 1:34).
We need to remember that no matter how much we feel opposed or restricted and no matter how many times they throw their interpretation of a woman’s role at us, we will give birth to our church callings. What God has called women to accomplish will happen.
God gave Mary an Elizabeth—someone also pregnant, someone a little further on in the journey, someone who would cheer her on, someone who would pave the way for her. I believe God will continue to raise up of more “Elizabeths.” There are those of us paving the way.
To the “Marys” who may be reading this: I know your frustrations, questions, wonderings, fears, feelings of inadequacy, tears, confusion, and opposition. But I also know the force of hearing God’s voice calling you to give birth to your calling as a leader. I’m not going to lie to you, it will take time for this vision, this calling, to develop and grow. The birthing process is always painful. Know that God is faithful, and God will do what He says He will do. May every girl and woman reading this, be free to give birth to their callings.