Courage and Hope: The Stories of Ten Baptist Women Ministers.

Courage and Hope: The Stories of Ten Baptist Women Ministers. Edited by Pamela R. Durso and Keith E. Durso. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, and Brentwood, TN: Baptist History and Heritage Society, 2005. 171 pp.

It took a long time for historians to recognize that the stories they were telling ignored or omitted the involvement of half of the human population. Across the last century, scholars and others began the process of working to fill in the woman-shaped holes in the historical record. In some areas, this task has been particularly difficult due to the paucity of sources on which to build an account. This is most certainly the case with the history of Baptist women. Very little is known about Baptist women from the first century of Baptist life. Pamela and Keith Durso do not want the stories of twentieth-century pioneers to be lost in the way of those who walked before them. They have thus compiled these ten stories of Baptist women ministers to provide "encouragement, inspiration, and hope" (17) for other women today who feel called and for those women and men who will one day follow.

The ten women of Courage and Hope share several things in common. Almost all have southern roots. In addition, at the time of writing, all of the women had served as ministers for twenty-five years or more and continued to play an active role in ministry. The exact form of this ministry has varied. We hear the stories of pastors, denominational leaders, and educators from several Baptist denominations. Six of the women tell their own stories. The remaining accounts grow from interviews and previously published accounts. All of the stories remind us of the difficult struggle that accompanies those who blaze a trail. Even more, however, one can see the power of call and the resilience of the human spirit. These women have been doing what they know they were born to do, and in that they have found joy.

For those contemporary Baptist women in search of sustenance for what continues to be a difficult journey, there will be much of value in this collection. Others with a broad interest in women's history or Baptist history will appreciate the stories as well as the brief review of the history of Baptist women in ministry that introduces the ten stories and the bibliography that doses the account.--Reviewed by Lydia Huffman Hoyle, associate professor of church history and Baptist heritage, Campbell University Divinity School, Buies Creek, North Carolina.