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In 1987, Congress designated the month of March that year as
“Women’s History Month.” The annual observance continues to this day.
United Methodist News Service invited several women, both lay and
clergy, in The United Methodist Church to share their stories. Here
is the response from Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, elected to the
episcopacy in 2012. She serves the North Alabama Episcopal Area.
3:00 P.M. ET March 14, 2013 | BIRMINGHAM, Ala.
Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett and her husband, Lee, leave Canterbury
United Methodist Church after her installation service Oct. 7, 2012, in
Birmingham, Ala.
Photo courtesy of Dee Moore Photography.
View in Photo Gallery
Q: Tell us a little about yourself.
A: I was born in a small community in eastern
Kentucky called Buchanan. It is a rural area nestled in the foothills
of Appalachia. Family, church, neighbors and a small school were at the
center of the community.
I have wonderful childhood memories of immediate and extended family
gatherings. We would gather around the dinner table, at church, at the
ball field and in numerous other places. The point was not what we did
or where we were but that we were together, enjoying each other’s
company, stories, laughter and encouragement.
I also remember playing sandlot basketball, football and baseball
with cousins, siblings and neighbors. We would play the sport of the
season for hours after school, on the weekends and during the summer.
I recall with fondness the two-room school where I received the
first years of my education. Though it educated children through junior
high, when I entered the third grade, my parents sent my siblings and
me to a larger elementary school in a town called Louisa, which was
about 20 minutes away. The primary reason … was to ensure that we had
opportunities to experience extracurricular activities. They spent many
hours on the road between Buchanan and Louisa during my elementary,
junior high and high school years transporting us to piano lessons,
ballgames, dance lessons and band.
From there, I went to Berea (Ky.) College, where I received a
Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education; Scarritt College and
Graduate School, Nashville, Tenn. (Master of Arts, Christian
education); Lexington Theological Seminary (M. Div.); and Asbury
Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Ky. (D. Min.).
I am married to the Rev. Lee Padgett, a United Methodist deacon, who
is in his last month of a 24-year position as executive director of
Aldersgate Camp and Retreat Center, Ravenna, Ky. We have two children,
Leanndra, 21, and Andrew, 18.
Q: In what local church did you grow up?
A: I grew up in the Prichard Memorial United
Methodist Church, which became the Bear Creek United Methodist Church
upon being relocated to the geographical center of Buchanan. My father
was the pastor, and my mother was very active in this small-membership
church where my faith was initially formed. My positive experience in
that congregation has caused me to appreciate the life-shaping
influence that healthy, small-membership churches can have on the lives
of their members.
Q: What are your gifts and how do you share them with the church?
A: I believe that God’s Holy Spirit gives each
Christ-follower what we need to fulfill our calling. In my current role
as bishop in North Alabama, primary gifts that I am utilizing are
leadership, faith and encouragement.
Q: How do you nurture others, especially girls and women, through the church and in other aspects of your life?
A: Sometimes my vantage point allows me to see gifts
in a person that they may not see in themselves. Other times, they
recognize their giftedness but lose sight of it in the midst of life’s
challenges. As opportunities arise, I try to extend nurture to such
persons via notes or conversations about the gifts that I see in them.
I also encourage others to expose themselves to the larger world.
Education, travel, conferences and books are some of the ways that
life-changing doors are opened for persons. When feasible, I also
suggest or offer them opportunities to use their gifts to make a
difference.
Q: Why is Women’s History Month important to you?
A: Positive examples of women who have made a
difference in the world have inspired me over the years. By lifting up
such examples, Women’s History Month helps all of us to enlarge our
vision of who, by the grace of God, we can be.
This interview was conducted by Barbara Dunlap-Berg, internal
content editor for United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn.
Contact Dunlap-Berg at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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