Live Anointed: How the Holy Spirit Sanctifies Men and Women to Lead Together
Enjoy this excerpt from the newly released book, Live Anointed: How the Holy Spirit Sanctifies Men and Women to Lead Together, written by Rev. Katie Lance:
When I sensed the Holy Spirit calling me to minister as a lead pastor, I was willing to obey and follow God–but it took a leap of faith, because I had a problem. Unlike the Apostle Paul, in my denomination, I had never personally known a deacon, house church co-pastor, or apostle who was a woman. I couldn’t imagine how it would look. When you study to be a nurse, you start to learn many essential skills by watching an experienced health care worker perform them first. Then, you practice. Then, you make adjustments. No patient wants a nursing student who’s never even seen an IV inserted trying to insert an IV into you!
From my experience in other ministerial roles, I knew being a lead pastor would bring challenges specifically related to being a woman. I wanted to be obedient to every next step God was opening. But it felt like trying to insert an IV without ever having seen it done before.
At the same time, as deeply as I felt the need for a model of a lead pastor who was a woman, I discovered I also simply felt the need for any model of a lead pastor. Every area of ministry is beautiful; God equips people from all different kinds of backgrounds for a unique purpose in the body of Christ. We need youth specialists and outreach coordinators, lead pastors and hospital chaplains, translators and teachers, co-vocational ministers and administrative pastors, and many more roles.
After I entered a lead pastor role, I needed to fulfill a supervised ministry requirement by finding a professional mentor. Instead of being paired with another lead pastor, I was paired with a (wonderful) counseling pastor, solely because she was a woman. She was fantastic; she just didn’t have experience as a lead pastor of a church, which was relevant to the purpose of the mentor partnering initiative. When I asked respectfully about getting a mentor with lead pastor experience given the direction my vocation was unfolding, the response was, “well, you’ll understand a woman better. You can talk about anything.” But what I needed was to be equipped in my role as a lead pastor.
I also needed someone internal to assess and critique my ministerial work. Again, I was encouraged to find a woman for that requirement as well. When I responded that there were no women in a position of leadership to provide that, it was suggested I find a female layperson to provide what’s usually professional-level ministerial assessment and critique.
I love my church family; my dismay wasn’t from a lack of trust in my church members. It was because the purpose of critique and assessment from seasoned pastors was to sharpen me as a minister of the Gospel with feedback from brothers or sisters with pastoral experience. Most church members haven’t preached sermons or officiated funerals. But the conclusion was that any woman without pastoral experience would still be more suitable to assess me than any man with that experience.
Many resources on discerning calling or vocation are written with male readers in mind; few resources address the challenge of discerning vocation, giftedness, and voice in a system that has forgotten how to picture you in certain roles or how to champion God’s calling on your life.
These kinds of growing pains are a sign that vital parts of the body of Christ are out of balance; or in medical terminology, they are signs of “failure to thrive.” Despite a strong historical background of ordaining women for pastoral ministry, there are atrophied areas in Wesleyan/holiness denominations, muscles grown weak after long decades unused. This atrophy shows up in areas ranging from “pastors and wives” language, to uncertainty about pairing lead pastors who are women with lead pastor mentors, to navigating how work is perceived or valued. These dynamics become powerful
hurdles to discernment. If anyone starting to discern a call is perceived as a novelty, hassle, liability, or source of minimally compensated volunteer work, there’s room for the enemy to whisper doubt as we try to discern the Holy Spirit’s guidance. A “closed door” isn’t always a sign God is saying “no.” Sometimes, a human is saying “no.”
To read more of Katie’s book and take a deep dive into how you can live anointed, check out her book Live Anointed: How the Holy Spirit Sanctifies Men and Women to Lead Together. It is available on Amazon.
Rev. Katie E. Lance is the Director of Discipleship for The Wesleyan Church. An ordained minister, Katie is passionate about coaching, equipping, and mobilizing lay leaders and pastors to multiply disciple-making movements. She gained valuable experience throughout fifteen years in church planting. She and her husband, Pastor Randy Lance, co-planted Thrive Church, where she ministered as lead pastor. Katie coaches pastors and leaders in multiple denominations and is a sought-after keynote speaker and workshop facilitator.
Katie came to the Christian faith as an adult. Before stepping into full-time ministry, she worked as a registered nurse in cardiac and intensive care units and still maintains her license as a registered nurse (RN). Her personal and professional background provides her with unique insight into kingdom challenges and opportunities in the church today.
Katie’s grea
test source of joy is spending time with her husband of twenty years and their teen boys, Simon and Levi. As a family they enjoy traveling, music and the arts, and anything that brings laughter together.
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From Rev. Robbie Cansler E2026 Conference Director:
Save the date for WHWC’s E2026 conference, February 23rd- 25th, 2026! We are excited to announce that we will be going north this year, to downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota!
We will be at the beautiful Hyatt Regency, which is connected to the city’s skyway system, a pedestrian walkway connecting the entire downtown! The hotel is also located along Nicollet Mall, and has easy access to the mall’s free bus line. There is a lot of easy access to dining, shopping, coffee shops, historic churches, art, and more!
The hotel has ample space for all 900+ of us to eat, fellowship, and worship in the same spaces! It also boasts a state of the art fitness center, including an indoor pool and gym, a beautiful fireplace, and lots of natural light to embrace the hygge of the north!
There will be ample cozy spaces to meet up with friends, new and old, and have deep conversations with warm drinks in hand!
Our conference will begin at 7pm on Monday February the 23rd and end around 9pm on Wednesday February the 25th! You can travel to the area by plane, train, or receive a discount on parking in the parking garage if you drive!
So, pack your warm socks, your favorite scarf and hat, and get excited as we prepare to join together to worship, to connect, and to engage, equip, and empower one another!
For more information about the Wesleyan Holiness Women Clergy Conference: https://www.whwomenclergy.org/
