Baptist Women in Ministry seeks award nominations

Baptist Women in Ministry is accepting nominations for the 2022 Frankie Huff Granger Distinguished Mentor and Church of Excellence awards.

Established in 2013, the Distinguished Mentor Award honors the legacy and ministry of Frankie Huff Granger, who served at First Baptist Church in Berea, S.C., more than 20 years.

Granger served as a mentor to young women who were discerning their callings from God, and as an example and role model when few women ministers to fill that role could be found.

The Frankie Huff Granger Distinguished Mentor Award will recognize someone who:

• Demonstrates a commitment to nurturing the callings and giftedness of Baptist women called to ministry through their time, energy and personal investment.
• Displays dedication to advocacy for the affirmation and elevation of women in ministry and leadership among Baptists.
• Is a seasoned minister or layperson who has several decades of participation and service in Baptist life, and is an active member of a congregation affiliated with Baptists.
• Exhibits integrity and spiritual maturity in their personal and professional life.

Also established in 2013, the Baptist Women in Ministry Church of Excellence Award honors churches that have taken intentional and consistent actions toward affirming, empowering, and providing opportunities for women ministers and leaders.

The award recognizes congregations that have nurtured the faith of women of all ages, affirmed women’s callings and giftedness, blessed and ordained women as ministers, called women to serve in their midst, commissioned and sent women out to serve in the world, and have stood alongside Baptist Women in Ministry and encouraged its work with their prayers and contributions.

The Church of Excellence will be a congregation that:

• Affirms and ordains women for all expressions of ministry and leadership.
• Demonstrates support of women in ministry by taking action to eliminate barriers for women in ministry and leadership in their congregation.
• Nurtures and cultivates the callings of women of all ages, calls women to leadership positions, and intentionally creates a supportive environment for women ministers in their midst.
• Advocates for women beyond its own congregational community.
• Is affiliated with a Baptist denominational group.

Nominations are due March 31 and can be made by visiting BWIM’s webpages for The Frankie Huff Granger Distinguished Mentor Award and the Church of Excellence Award.