When God Whispered My Name

Stories of Journey Told by Baptist Women Called to Ministry

By: Kathy Findely, Kay Shurden

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

When God Whispered My Name: Stories of Journey Told by Baptist Women Called to Ministry—a book filled with holy whispers—is a tribute to the ministries of nineteen women with “Baptist-ness” as their heritage. In their own words, they tell their stories of life and sacred calling, describing hostile environments of rejection, home churches that dismissed their call, and, thankfully, some people and places that offered them the grace of acceptance and nurture. Dr. Bill J. Leonard, the writer of the foreword, places their stories into the larger historical context. The writer of the afterword, Rev. Suzii Paynter March, describes the world of “Baptist-ness” as the place that encircled, and sometimes restrained, these women. Still, they each heard some kind of holy whisper that summoned them to tell and re-tell the good news. The world has been richly blessed by their gracious and tenacious obedience, and their stories will inspire readers to go and do likewise with their own unique callings.

Kathy Manis Findley is an ordained minister who has lived out her forty-four years of ministry as a missionary in Uganda, pastor, hospital chaplain, trauma counselor, liberation theologian, victim advocate, child forensic interviewer, nonprofit executive, spiritual director, teacher, writer, author, artist, and activist.

Kay Wilson Shurden has been a teacher for most of her adult life. After earning a master’s degree in English, she taught high school and college classes, then earned her EdD from the University of Tennessee. Kay and her husband, Walter, have three grown children, six grandchildren, and a great-grandson.