My story echoes other women who have shared their summons to ministry. Our calling is real, and we have no doubt God authorizes it for us.
Giving my life to Jesus
I gave my life to Christ one night during a spring revival. My family sat on the back pew with my baby sister and me. As a fidgeting 6-year-old, I don’t recall the sermon, but I remember singing the hymn “Almost Persuaded” during the altar call.
“Almost persuaded, now to believe / Almost persuaded Christ to receive” (Broadman Hymnal, 1940).
As we sang, I scooted past my dad and walked to the pastor. Through tears, I whispered to him, “I want Jesus in my heart.”
After praying with me, he seated me in the first pew. My feet didn’t reach the floor. So, I sat there, swinging my legs.
When the hymn finished, he said to the congregation, “Gay Nell has asked Jesus into her heart.” Then he looked at my dad and said, “Is this OK with you?”
I wondered why the pastor asked my dad for his permission. The decision was mine to make, and I understood my decision. At the age of 6, I hadn’t read the Book of Romans, but I knew I was a sinner and wanted Jesus to forgive me.
I stood on several bricks in the baptistry as the pastor baptized me.
Called to special service
While in the primary department, the pastor often invited me to speak to the congregation. I felt comfortable telling stories with my flannel graph board and cut-out figures.
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At home, I wrote plays and invited neighborhood kids to see my biblical productions. I played church. I sang and preached to kids who would listen.
At age 8, I knew God wanted me for special service. During an invitation, I went forward and told this news to the same pastor. He seated me in the front pew again and then addressed the audience: “Gay Nell is surrendering for special service today.” He smiled at me and continued, “I knew God was calling her before she did.”
Wow! How did he know that?
I asked the preacher at lunch how he knew God wanted me for special service. He replied, “God made it obvious.”
Call takes shape
My salvation and surrender to service occurred during the 1950s. I realized women didn’t preach. So, I assumed I’d be a missionary. Southern Baptists didn’t mind sending women to mission fields. As I studied with the Girls in Action, I thought maybe God would station me in Africa. I studied Spanish, but then it dawned on me this language wouldn’t help much in Africa.
In high school, I continued speaking in assemblies and writing plays for the youth groups. God gifted me with communication ability, but I knew Baptist churches didn’t accept women pastors. God soon placed on my heart the desire to become a minister’s wife, but I didn’t know any available preachers.
One Sunday, friends invited me to a new church. I didn’t want to go, but I went. An exceedingly handsome young man, Paul Lewis, led the music. After the service, he walked me to my car and told me he planned to be a minister.
Uh oh. Did I just meet the one God planned for me?
The following Saturday night, we enjoyed our first date. This bold and quick-deciding young man told me that evening he loved me and planned to marry me. Really?
I responded, “We just met!”
He grinned. “You’ll see.”
Five months later, he preached in view of a call at a small church in Oklahoma. The congregation inquired, “Are you married?” He responded, “No, but I will be.”
He returned to Texas and popped the question. I accepted and happily responded, “I’m going to be Mrs. Paul Lewis.”
“Yep. In three weeks, we’ll be married,” Paul said in his matter-of-fact tone.
“What?” My eyes must have grown to the size of salad plates at this revelation. “I can’t marry you in three weeks. My mother is in the hospital.”
“Gay, you have to marry me. I told the church in Oklahoma I would be there in three weeks with a wife.”
So, our wedding ceremony took place in the Methodist Hospital in Dallas.
God ordained me
That’s the way I began my special service. Since year one in Oklahoma, I’ve been in front of men, doing whatever God wanted me to do. I currently teach an adult Bible study class. Men attend. I fill in for my husband and preach when he is unavailable. I speak wherever I’m invited. I write books, and men read them.
We live in a strange world. A few citizens cannot define what a woman is. Others do not object to a biological male competing in women’s sports. Yet, others believe it is acceptable for a trans woman to use a girls’ locker room or restroom.
Meanwhile, Southern Baptists argue over Scriptures they can interpret in different ways. Some wish to deny women the use of our God-given talents. Why did God gift us if he didn’t want to use us?
It seems to me gifted women are facing increasing challenges in sports, politics, and religion.
God, not man, ordained me for service, and I’ll continue to serve as long as it pleases him.
Gay N. Lewis is an author of historical and contemporary women’s fiction novels, as well as a humorous series about a dyslexic angel, writing under Gay N. Lewis and G.N. Lewis. You can learn more about her at http://gaynlewis.blogspot.com/ or www.youtube.com/@AuthorGayNLewis. The views expressed in this opinion article are those of the author.
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