If every other area is getting new leaders, why not the racial-ethnic ministries or the women’s ministries of the General Assembly? They both are welcoming one and the same new leader. Rhashell Hunter is the newly-arrived director for Racial-Ethnic and Women’s Ministries for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s General Assembly Council.
On Easter Sunday, Hunter preached her final sermon as pastor of the Community Church in Flint, Mich., a congregation of about 130 members, where she had served for nine years.
She grew up in the manse; father Charles H. Hunter is a Presbyterian pastor. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts, theatre, journalism, and teacher education. While pursuing a theatre career in New York City, she volunteered in an inner city soup kitchen. Soon she sensed a pastoral call and went to McCormick Theological Seminary, where she earned an M.Div. Later she returned there and earned a D.Min. with a focus in preaching.
This new calling came as a surprise. “Would I have chosen to be in Louisville? No,” she blurts. “Would I have chosen to work at the denominational offices? No. Why would I want to do that? But when you follow God’s call it just seems to work out.” Nevertheless, she’s enthused about the role. “It’s just an amazing-to-me call.”
She has no intention of relinquishing her pastoral instincts, though. “The staff has got to get back into the congregations, because that’s the life of the church. … Sometimes when you’re away from the congregation you sort of forget that they are the people that we’re serving.”
Unlike the previous organizational structure, the new GAC staffing plan combines into one staff position the oversight of both women’s ministries and racial-ethnic ministries. Asked if that’s not an unreasonably expansive job, she responded, “I’m actually thinking this will be good for the program area. Although they have distinct responsibilities and distinct advocacy roles, they share similarities in a lot of ways, and I think they can be advocates for one another.”
Hunter’s biggest goal is to become obsolete. “I’d love to work my way out of a job, so we don’t have to advocate for justice for women because justice is being done. And that we don’t have problems with inclusivity for racial-ethnics in our church.”
She is quick to admit that Presbyterians’ commitment to racial balance has a long way to go. Many a church’s desire for comfort and familiarity has caused it to drag its feet into change, but she holds high hopes for the next generation. “Younger people don’t seem to have the issues we have with multiculturalism.” Also, she adds, “There are some churches that are doing a really good job. My own personal experience is that I grew up in what we called then ‘integrated churches.’ And what was so odd for me when I went to seminary was that I had to pick. Am I going to serve a white church, or am I going to serve a black church? And I didn’t feel that I could make that decision, because I wanted to be with all different kinds of people.”
In the area of justice advocacy for women and children — the primary tasks for the denomination’s women’s ministry — Hunter applauds the many advances made by women in recent decades. However, two needs stand out. First, there’s the unfinished business of women’s equality in the denomination. “I am concerned as a pastor in the field. When you go to presbytery meetings, you see the staffing positions and configurations. Often women are at little rural, yoked, too-poor-to-function, need-redeveloping-badly churches, while the bigger, more prestigious churches have male pastors. … And there are some churches that don’t even look at women, won’t allow them to be considered for serving as ordained ministers.”
And, she adds, “there are some churches that feel that way about women elders and deacons, which makes absolutely no sense. … I’m sure you and I both know absolutely fabulous elders and deacons (without) whom our institutions would not have survived or thrived. …”
The second area for continuing concern relates to women’s rights in general. “In this country, some may say women have achieved quite a lot, and the work is not as necessary. That might be true to some extent,” she says, ” … although if you look at the statistics, we’re talking about privileged women; we’re not talking about underprivileged women. … In [some] other countries it’s just terrible for many of these women and children. They’re non-entities, they are treated terribly. There are a lot of justice issues for women.”
The work will be extensive, and the responsibilities great. However, Hunter looks with anticipation to her new role. “I’m excited to join the new leadership team. One of my motivations for this work is the feeling that I can do some good. And I’m excited to be working with Linda Valentine and Tom Taylor and the other directors. I just think we have the potential of doing some really good work.”
