Every Friday, Baptist Women in Ministry features an interview with an amazing minister on this blog. Today, we are thrilled to interview Shay Easter-Bills. Shay IS what a minister looks like!
Shay, tell us about your ministry journey and the places you have served and are serving.
As a young child and well into my teenage years, I always knew I was very inquisitive. So much so that, anytime I was in church or overheard anything concerning the Lord, “I just had to know what it was or what it meant.” I grew up in church, every Sunday and Wednesday as did most of my family and friends. Church was very traditional, the standard men and women roles were understood and respectfully followed, but I always had questions. (smile) I was blessed to be surrounded by strong women growing up, namely my mother, aunts, and especially my Grandmother Betty Lou King. Her love for God and His word kept our whole family together through jubilant and turbulent times.
It was normal to hear women give “words of expression” or “passionate testimonies” from the church floor, but never from the pulpit. Of course, while in high school and college, I’d catch a glimpse of women on television preaching and teaching but I’d rationalize it in the context of roles for men and women, because of course that’s how I was raised. And when you’re from a small town in the Bible-belt of far Northeast Texas, well; that’s what you do, right? But then, a shift happened after I graduated from college.
My inquisitiveness turned into studying, searching, and seeking. Through marriage I was introduced and had a front row seat to my mother-in-law, Pastor Carolyn Hicks, preaching every Sunday, and by this time, I was already struggling internally not with my own questions but with the Lord questioning me about “Why I was asking questions I already knew the answers to?” One Sunday I was asked to give a “short talk.” Well, you know what happened? That short talk ended up being a sermon, which turned into my first book, in the form of a question, “Is Your Ghost Holy?”
Fast-forward about ten years, and the Lord called me to pastor. My husband Terry and I founded a small church, Upper Room Christian Center in 2014, and the next year I was called to St. Paul Baptist Church, a Texas Historically Registered Landmark built in 1867 and located in Paris, as the first female senior pastor. Looking back, it has always been the hand of the Lord since I was that little inquisitive girl. I am grateful He answers right on time. For the past five years I have lead the most God-loving and God-fearing congregation. I know this is where I am suppose to be at this time, in my hometown, serving, equipping and winning souls for the Kingdom through Jesus Christ.
What have been your greatest sources of joy in ministry?
I absolutely love witnessing up-close and personal when one gives his/her life to Christ. Such joy rushes through me that my initial reaction every time is to run with excitement or shout as loud as I can how grateful I am to the Lord. I think we sometimes take for granted what our eyes have just witnessed. I don’t know what the reasons could for us all not to be consumed with such expressions of adoration the more for Christ but each time the Lord makes a point to remind me personally of how He saved me, delivered me and made me free. When I witness Him do the same for others, I am often overcome with an explainable joy. For me, nothing compares to this demonstration of Love from our Father toward us.
Additionally, I love building community within and outside of the church. One of the pillars of our church since I became pastor is “Doing Good In The Neighborhood.” It’s where we seek to make an impact in the lives of others through service but also through building bridges that connect us to one another in our daily lives. Creating and fostering community through inter-generational opportunities aides in the sense of pride and belonging for our youth and adults. We can all learn from each other, the youth teach us to remain “curious and inquisitive” and the adults teach us “wisdom through experience.” Each has his/her role to play in building a strong community and I find joy knowing that as we learn more about God, we also learn more about each other.
What have been the greatest challenges you have encountered in ministry?
Dealing with loss within my own family or the lives of my church members, is one of my greatest “emotional” challenges in ministry. Believe it or not, by nature I am an introvert, especially during times of great grief or sorrow. I tend to want to retreat in the background, but because I am the pastor, I must be front and center. It is challenging, but I’ve learned to lean even more on the Lord to help my own emotional state in order to be a source of comfort and resource for others. Personally, I have overcome so much and continue to put one foot in front of the other through current challenges, knowing it is both a privilege and an honor to be used in service to the Lord.
What is the best ministry advice you have been given?
I have been so blessed with strong mentors on my journey in ministry. The best advice I have ever received and advice I actually took to heart from the start as a pastor came from multiple seasoned leaders who all said, “As you take care of others, don’t forget to take care of yourself because most of the time, people don’t realize you need to be cared for too.” I took that to heart, and as the number of pastors leaving ministry increases from year to year and suicide rates among pastors now consume the news regularly, it is the same advice I give to others. Remember there is only one of you serving many, and caring for your own mental, physical, emotional, financial, marital and spiritual well-being is a scriptural priority. You can’t be always there for the congregation and always there for yourself and your family too. Something is going to get left “undone,” or put on hold, just make sure it’s not always your own well-being or family.