Baptist Church Embraces Its First Female Minister

Carol Seeley knelt before the maroon altar in the slightly darkened chapel as members of the congregation lined up behind her. One by one, they embraced her and offered quiet congratulations. They wished her luck. The children told her she was awesome.

But it wasn't until her father, a deacon in Seeley's family church in Richmond, approached and told her that he was proud of her that she lost it. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed. She wiped her eyes to stop the tears.

A few years ago, Seeley, 42, could not have imagined this moment. After years of pondering and then acting on her dream, she finally had become a minister, the first woman to be ordained in the 100-year history of Heritage Baptist Church in Annapolis.

"I don't think of myself as a woman doing this job," said Seeley. "I just think that I'm here to continue doing the good work that I have been doing."

Youth Ministry

On a Wednesday afternoon after her April ordination, Seeley entered the stately brick church on Forest Drive. In her mind, she carried a to-do list: Get the carpet replaced and walls painted in the youth room; replace the worn furniture with updated and comfortable pieces.

Seeley is in charge of Heritage Baptist's youth program. She works with the church's pastor of education, Dub Pool, to develop Bible programs for children and teenagers. She also organizes Bible study, recreational activities, outreach programs and fundraisers, and summer Bible camps.

The children respect her, said a parent, Kara Maddox of Cape St. Claire, because she respects them.

"She has a lot of creative ideas," said Pool, adding that she uses different methods to engage the church's young people and get them involved in Bible activities.

A bubbly and optimistic woman, Seeley loves her work and the path she's chosen. But the road to becoming a minister, she says, was not easy. Nor was it the path she initially had chosen, but she has always had a strong sense of faith.

"I can remember her declaring her personal confession of faith at 8 years old," said her father, Harry Seeley. "But she was also a very successful businesswoman. I never thought she would be a minister."

Neither did Seeley, until five years ago.

A Friend's Encouragement

While she was having lunch in 1999 with a close friend who was a theology student, they began talking about ministering. Seeley started thinking about going into the ministry. She had just returned from a trip to Bolivia, where she and members of her church had taught the scriptures to children.

"I had done something that I considered so significant," Seeley said. "It was sort of a letdown to return to my life as it was. I needed something more. And I needed someone to tell me to go for it."

A year later Seeley, who was living in Manassas, left her job as a project manager for a data systems firm to enroll in the theological seminary at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina.