Betsy Ivey

The Right Reverend Betsy Ivey

Chapter Title: Church Leadership Development

Signature Scripture

Matthew 9: 37-38

“Then He said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers are few; therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

The Right Reverend Ivey Background: Betsy was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church after an accomplished secular career with State government during which she, initially, answered her vocation to serve people suffering in poverty. As Canon for Growth and Support on the Diocesan Bishop’s staff, she guides churches to envision and enact new models of ministry to address the pain of poverty in the world.

The Right Reverend Ivey’s Call into Ministry: realized she was Called to serve God when she I was around 14 years old. she was very involved in church and was able to easily discern her Call. Her father recognized it, but she pushed back. She did not heed her Call for 40 years for various reasons, but mostly she was in denial. She was angry with God, and did not have faith in His Call to her. When she avoided her Call, she thought she was not worthy to be as close to God as God obviously wanted to be with her.

The Right Reverend Ivey Reflections: When I look back at my journey, before and after receiving my Call to ministry; I should have answered sooner. I was afraid of who I was and if I could become the servant God needed. It’s almost laughable at how my fears seemed huge and insurmountable, but the reality was they were False Evidence Appearing Real = FEAR.

The Right Reverend Ivey’s Testimony: To date, the most significant accomplishment in my journey has been church leadership development. Empowering church leaders will enable our churches to become faithful missional ministries especially in impoverished communities. Empowering church leaders’ ministries to be enlightening to the rest of the Church as they learn to do ministry without focus on the buildings where they are currently located.

The Right Reverend Ivey’s Observations: Internalized oppression and sexism are two major issues impacting the Black Church today. We as clergy can help with these problems by understanding how people have embraced the lies purported about race and gender and how it limits their spiritual growth. We, also, need to cooperatively strategize to combat the eroding and damaging impact of classism (economic prejudice) on our congregations.

The Right Reverend Ivey’s Vision for the Church: The church can no longer get by with attitudes of us vs. them, but must evolve into a spirit of we and us. I continue to look for answers to the questions of life theologically and I think about how we can, collectively and continually, love God better.