My Journey to Embracing My Call to Preach

Moreen lives in Abbotsford, BC and has lived out her desire to see women flourish, understanding God’s love for them in ever deeper ways while living out all that God has called them to be. She has served as president of Women in Focus, president of Canadian Baptist Women, president of Baptist Women of North America and Executive Director of Baptist World Alliance Women. She and her husband Paul have served God together in ministry for 43 years. She is mother of two beautiful daughters and grandmother of 3. 

I grew up in a strong Christian home and church, which gave me a solid foundation for my spiritual life. However, some areas of my faith, particularly regarding women in ministry, needed a major overhaul. I was taught that women should not preach or lead men, with passages like 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2 often emphasized, while the stories of female leaders in Scripture were largely overlooked.

Even as a child, I felt a pull toward preaching. I remember playing church with my older sister, holding my mom’s Bible, and enthusiastically developing sermons by flipping from one cross-reference to the next. When I was 11 years old, I felt God’s unmistakable call on my life to enter full-time ministry. I knew that Bible school was the next step after high school, so I enrolled.

At Bible school, the teaching remained clear: men were the preachers, but women were permitted to take hermeneutics and preaching classes—perhaps so we could “share” with women. I eagerly took these courses. When it came time to preach a sermon I had prepared for chapel, I felt an uncontainable fire and freedom as I spoke, sensing God’s power working through me. Afterward, a friend told me,

“When you preached, people really stopped to listen. It was powerful!”

Still, I struggled. Women weren’t supposed to preach, so I kept questioning why God had placed such a burning desire in me. I prayed repeatedly, asking Him to take it away—but He didn’t. Instead, the fire kept growing.

Later, I pursued further theological education at Regent College in Vancouver, BC, hoping to finally resolve my internal conflict. I studied under wonderful professors like Bruce Waltke, J.I. Packer, and Gordon Fee, and in one of Fee’s Galatians classes, he said something that deeply impacted me:

“There are no pink and blue gifts of the Spirit.”

That statement was a turning point for me.

As part of my studies, I wrote two significant papers:

Women in Church Ministry – In this paper, I explored the different interpretations of the “problem” verses about women’s roles. I created a continuum diagram, ranging from churches that insisted on women being completely silent to those that allowed women to serve as senior pastors. This visual helped me realize how widely views vary and challenged my previous assumptions.

The Life of Catherine Booth – This paper focused on Booth’s ministry, where I was deeply inspired by how God powerfully used her as a preacher, bringing many people to Christ, despite the opposition she faced.

Through these studies, God freed me. I finally understood that I was indeed called to preach, and I was no longer bound by the restrictive beliefs I had grown up with. Since then, I’ve been grateful for every opportunity God has given me to use my preaching gift.

However, the grief of all those years—when I felt I couldn’t preach—was real. I completely empathize with other women who have shared their tears and frustration over being silenced. I’ll never forget the powerful words of one female leader who told me,

“Don’t worry about the title. If God is calling you to do something, just do it.”

I’ve taken that advice to heart. Now, I encourage other women of God to do the same. Keep your focus. Keep your fire. Keep seeking God as to how He wants to work through you in spite of adversaries. He has gifted you, woman of God. Be free to use that gifting!