The Call

Like many women, Catherine Gilliard came to the ministry through a side door. After receiving an undergraduate degree in architecture, she spent 15 years working for an air purification company. Simultaneously, she was also very active in ministry at a number of congregations. Gilliard eventually joined Christian Evangelical Fellowship Covenant Church and found herself on the board of ministry; with three men and three women who were appointed to preach, counsel, and lead small group ministries.

Six months into the new leadership system, the founding pastor resigned and moved to another church. When the decision was made to hire a senior pastor, Gilliard threw her hat in the ring. Her announcement was met with everything but wild enthusiasm, "It's hard to forget the looks on their faces...I was doing everything that a pastor would do, preaching, teaching, counseling, the whole thing without the title...yet half of the board was convinced that the next pastor should be a man."

A New Chapter

Trying to minister amidst rising congregational discontent, Gilliard chose to leave the church. She felt lost; she felt called, but had no place to serve. After several months of leading a Bible study in her home, Gilliard learned of the Covenant Church's "church planting initiative"; a denomination-level program that could potentially help her launch her own church. After talking to the superintendent, attending the assessment school and training, and moving toward ordination, Commissioned Disciples Covenant Church was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia. "We just celebrated our fourth year," she announces proudly. "It was a process of rejection, a process of not having a place to exercise your gifts...You go through that whole thing, and you just faithfully stand and wait on God. Eventually he makes room for your gifts."

Her small, racially diverse congregation has made a powerful impact on the surrounding community. Their mission is to become justice advocates for those who are victimized and marginalized. In addition, they aim to be active participants in engaging society for change. They work hand-in-hand with the least of these, just like Jesus did a millennia before; serving the homeless, battered women, addicts, and convicts—and treating them all with dignity.

"A lot of these people are guilty of whatever they've been incarcerated for, so you have to deal with areas of mercy, and then you have to deal with the injustices that are ever-present in our society. [We give] people who know that they're being targeted, [and] know that they're the object of injustice a belief that there is a God. When they actively engage in a biblical community that is not judging [and] not questioning...their hope is developed. I've watched over and over again people who've entered into our community say to us, 'I've read about this kind of love in Guideposts, but I never would have believed that there was a place where I could personally experience it myself.'"

Small Wonders

Although Gilliard has served in leadership roles at churches with membership bases as large as 4,000, she's happiest in her intimate congregation. "You can't talk to anybody [for more than] two minutes before they ask you "how large is your church?" What difference does that make? The question is, 'Is my church doing anything to impact lives, change communities, dismantle systems of injustice?' But nobody ever gets around to asking those questions about ministry." Gilliard offers some advice to those pastors who are struggling with the "bigger is better" mentality. "I often ask people who are struggling to stay faithful to calls in small ministry, 'What if this is all God has for you? What if these 20 people are all He wants you to mentor for the rest of your life? Will it be enough for you?'"

While her preaching may only be heard by a rather select group on Sunday mornings, her voice has a much broader audience. Gilliard is the first woman in the history of Evangelical Covenant Church to serve as chair of the Executive Board and is the first woman president of the African American Ministers Association. She is also the first African American to serve as president of the Association for Covenant Clergy Women.

All of this has happened because she answered the call. "I can't swim. But I find in my journey that God wants me way out in deep water... so far out in deep water that I can't see the land. Now, if I can't swim, and I'm way out in deep water, I'm totally dependant on Him for every breath that I take. As long as I can see land, I'm focused on the land, [and] I'm trying to get to the land because I know if I don't, I'm going to die out here in the middle of this water. But if I can't see anything except for God, and all I can do is be dependant on Him for every breath that I take, then He has my full attention."