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MILWAUKEE – Very early in the morning, the women rose.
Eager to draw from the well of the close-knit community who shaped and formed them, faithful women — and all who would honor their often-unsung legacy of Christian witness, service and leadership — joyfully gathered to honor the 2026 Women of Faith Awardees at the biennial Women of Faith Breakfast.
Established in 1986, the Women of Faith Awards recognize women whose lives demonstrate ongoing dedication to justice, inclusion and compassion.
Presbyterian Women Inc., the women’s organization in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — represented at the breakfast by Pam Snyder, moderator of PW’s Board of Directors, and Dr. Susan Jackson-Dowd, executive director, among others — has been a partner with Presbyterian Life & Witness and its predecessor agencies from the proud tradition’s beginnings.
Explaining that the 2026 honors were awarded under the theme of “Faithful Advocacy,” Dr. Natarsha Prince Sanders, associate for Intercultural Leadership Development for Presbyterian Life & Witness and the breakfast’s host, told the gathering that there was “much to discuss and to celebrate” at the highly anticipated event.
“As we share stories, insights and strategies, let’s remember the impact we have when we come together,” Sanders reminded those gathered.
The frequently “behind-the-scenes” impact of centuries of faithful women was evoked by subsequent speakers who brought brief greetings — including the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(U.S.A.) and Executive Director of Presbyterian Life & Witness — and who offered prayers ahead of the awards presentation.
“Women have been leading whether they have been written into the official stories or not: midwifing babies who were supposed to be killed, leading praise and worship for a God of liberation, sitting at the feet of Jesus to hear the good news, running out to tell the story of Christ’s resurrection,” Oh said in part, “…and we get to tell their stories.”
Intended to recognize “women who live out their faith publicly and purposefully,” the 2026 awards specifically highlight those who advocate alongside people pushed to the margins, empowering others and helping to bring about both systemic and spiritual transformation in the church and broader community.
Following a powerful prayer by the Rev. CeCe Armstrong, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly — which creatively employed the metaphor of a quilt “as an expression of what women do” — the 2026 awardees were successively recognized and applauded.
The Rev. Adele Langworthy, nominated by the Rev. Werner Ramirez, was introduced by her husband and partner in ministry, the Rev. Rob Langworthy.
“Marrying Adele Langworthy was the second-best decision I made in my life,” said Rob Langworthy, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Long Beach, California, where Adele Langworthy is associate pastor. “The first was as a 17-year-old to be a follower of Jesus Christ. When Adele was in seminary, she always wanted to be the kind of woman who got this award. She’s bighearted, she puts Jesus first, and she loves others with his kindness, generosity and diligent love.”
Adele Langworthy, while working in every aspect of the church’s life and mission, spends the majority of her time heading Covenant’s free after-school program, Rising TIDE, which seeks to uplift the lives of urban children and youth.
With tears in her eyes, Langworthy pointed to a photo of a young girl displayed on the screen, her mentee since the now teenager was 4 years old.
She spoke poignantly of the “wonderful, exciting and scary” time before the teen, who is now preparing to enter college, having had “no one in her life to share with her” or teach her how to navigate an airport.
“In Rising TIDE, we love on children, we love on their families,” Langworthy said. “We want to empower people to get to a new place in life.”
After recounting a harrowing story of “a mother who didn’t want to be a mother anymore,” and how Rising TIDE cared for her children, Langworthy said that the organization exists “to give grace to mothers and fathers and children, where we don’t judge; we just offer God’s love and God’s grace.”
The second 2026 awardee, the Rev. Blanca Estrella Otaño-Rivera, was nominated and introduced by the Rev. Carmen Rosario, who hugged her and called her “my pastor, who paved the way for so many of us and so faithfully embodies the theme of advocacy.”
Otaño-Rivera made history as the first Hispanic clergywoman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) in June 1975. She was honored for her enduring contributions to pastoral leadership, advocacy and the preservation of Latino/a voices within the church’s history. A respected leader and scholar, Otaño-Rivera has worked to ensure that the stories and experiences of marginalized communities are recognized and valued. Her ministry bridges faith, culture and justice, strengthening the church’s understanding of its diverse body and its shared mission.
Otaño-Rivera began by saying that her mind was racing, carrying her “through memories of the many women of faith who have enriched my life during my 82 years.”
With a deep sense of gratitude for the “immense love of the Divine,” she said that the recognition she received was not hers alone, but also belongs to the many people who have walked beside her — among them her grandmothers, her mother, her father, and her aunt, who led her to church.
She closed by asking that the gathering pray for brothers and sisters in the Caribbean who are in the midst of great hardship and struggle, including those in Venezuela following the tragic earthquake; Cuba and Haiti.
“I invite you to raise your voices and be instruments of support,” she pleaded.
The third and final of the 2026 awardees, Ruling Elder Selma Jackson, was nominated and introduced by Zayn Silva, a corresponding member with the Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity, and a ruling elder at First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, New York.
Sharing with the gathering an experience he had where he was “hurt and frustrated as a new ruling elder,” Silva spoke movingly of how he turned in that moment to Jackson, who “listened and smiled and said, ‘You can change that; now let’s go have lunch.’”
“She changed my life,” he said. “Her faith leadership and love has shaped so many people. And the beautiful thing is that it’s not only my story, but that’s who Selma is.”
Before calling her up to the platform, Silva thanked her “for your amazing outfits, your beautiful smile, your eyes that deeply see me, and for teaching me that a good man is only as good as his willingness to listen to the women in his life.”
With a career spanning banking, education, nonprofit leadership and entrepreneurship, Jackson has continually invested in community well-being. She is especially proud of her work as a “Street Banker,” connecting underserved groups with financial resources and opportunity.
Within the PC(USA), she has held numerous leadership roles, including service on the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People, where she helped rejuvenate local efforts in New York City. A ruling elder at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, she has also served on the Commission of Ministry, as clerk of session, as a commissioner to the 218th General Assembly (2008) and as moderator of the Presbytery of New York City in 2024.
Jackson began her brief remarks by giving thanks to God for her blind grandmother, “who, with God, made this moment possible.”
She spoke of reading the Bible to her grandmother, a teacher, as being foundational to her faith formation as well as a transformational moment when she was a young girl.
“In 1955, when Dr. King came to our [Baptist] church to raise money for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, I asked my dad if I could contribute from my allowance, which he said wouldn’t be replaced until next week,” she recalled. “When I heard the news of the boycott’s success, I thought, ‘I did that’ because I had a contribution. It was then that I recognized that anything that had to be done, we had to be involved with it and make the change. Let’s go!”
It was from such giants as Thurgood Marshall, Marian Wright and Derrick Bell that “she got her learning” at the height of the era of the civil rights movement while working at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
“I learned through my service in the church and through seven different career opportunities to be ready to be in service wherever you’re needed,” Jackson said. “I ask all of you to ask what is going on in your community and how you can be of service. You can do things small or big.”
The breakfast closed with a stirring rendition of the hymn “Guide My Feet” — including a special verse for the occasion, “Let me advocate while I run this race” — and a charge and blessing by the Rev. Dr. Bridgett A. Green, president and publisher of Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
By Emily Enders Odom, Presbyterian News Service
