Dr. Kristen Welch, Director of Archives and Research, Rev. Keisha Gordon, Department Chair for Religious Studies at Southwestern Christian University, and Rev. Kristen Sanders, Pastor of Small Groups Ministries for Living Hope Church, have been collecting sermons and texts by women preachers in IPHC for a new anthology called Women Who Preach.
Dr. Welch began archival research on women preachers as she worked toward her 2007 dissertation and the publication of her first book, Women With the Good News, with the invaluable help of Dr. Hunter, former Director of Archives and Research for the IPHC. Also, Reverend Larry Jones, Director of Archives for the IPHC in Lake City, South Carolina, arranged for the interviews with IPHC women preachers that resulted in Dr. Welch’s second book, Deep Roots, published in 2013.
As Director of Archives and Research since July of 2023, Dr. Welch has had the unique opportunity to scour the IPHC vaults for more of these priceless artifacts, and Bishop Talmadge Gardner, Executive Director of World Missions, was instrumental in contacting several women preachers who made treasured contributions. Dr. Welch, Rev. Gordon, and Rev. Sanders have amassed over a hundred texts but would like to collect more.
This new anthology aims to include sermons, essays, and creative works by IPHC women preachers from 1898 through 2025 and to contextualize their lives by drawing upon key milestones in the history of Pentecostalism and women’s history in the United States. Dr. Welch, Reverend Sanders, and Reverend Gordon all believe that it is imperative for readers to understand how these women were called by God, how they served God in spite of hardships, how they challenged societal norms in the pursuit of their calling, and how they built their sermons out of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and submission to God’s direction. This essential anthology has an anticipated publication date for late 2026 or early 2027.
If you are a current IPHC woman preacher or missionary and would like to be included in this anthology, please fill out this form and include a sermon using this link: https://forms.gle/HqeRQ7QPsv9qW9CD6
If you know of a deceased IPHC woman preacher or missionary, please send the information to Dr. Welch. Include a copy of a sermon, if you can.
The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2025. Please feel free to email Dr. Welch directly with any questions. Her email is kwelch@iphc.org.
Dr. Welch shared: “This anthology will capture over a hundred years of our history and become a valuable tool for experiencing the style and impact of IPHC women. It will highlight some contrasts between a secular idea of ambition and a God-ordained idea of servant leadership. We hope that our readers will gain a deeper understanding of how God calls women and works through them in the U.S. and internationally.”
