Attendees at a Weekend Event, “Growing the Small Church in a Consumer Culture”
Dr. Debra White Smith is The Wesleyan Woman.
She is committed to championing small churches and educating small-church pastors and leaders as well as presenting biblical concepts from a Wesleyan Perspective, including scriptural holiness. While her ministry is not focused on women only, she also proclaims the value of women in ministry and is committed to inspiring women to recognize their worth and impact. The Wesleyan Woman is reflective of John Wesley’s theology and is not affiliated with the Wesleyan Church.
Educating Small-Church Pastors & Leaders
After completing her doctoral dissertation on the topic of the education of small-church pastors, Dr. Debra White Smith has accepted God’s call to minister to and educate small-church pastors and leaders. Debra and her husband, Daniel, co-pastored a small church for over thirteen years. Both her pastoral experience and her academic endeavors have fueled Debra’s desire to empower small-church pastors and leaders with the tools necessary to lead their churches to spiritual and organizational health. Small churches exist in the context of a consumer culture that poses a challenge but can be navigated with the right leadership tools, initiatives, and focus, resulting in small churches fulfilling the Great Commission. Debra’s dissertation findings were published in the reputable Pastoral Psychology journal. Click the following link to read her article: “Ministerial Training on Consumer Culture and Volunteer Management May Prevent Burnout for Small-Church Clergy.”
As part of her small-church initiative, Debra is also partnering with Rev. Rob Beckett, founder of The Revitalization Network, a grass-roots endeavor to engage, equip, and empower small-church pastors and leaders and the communities in which the churches exist.
Inspiring Women to Recognize their Value & Impact
The Wesleyan Woman also supports a lifetime initiative from Dr. Debra White Smith to proclaim a Wesleyan view of scripture that empowers women to be the spiritual powerhouses God has called them to be. Churches influenced by John Wesley’s teaching believe that scripture should interpret scripture; and Debra offers teaching that closely follows this mantra.
Debra’s heart is to inspire women to:
- Consecrate their lives to Christ (Romans 12:1);
- Accept the scriptural call to holiness (1 Peter 1:13-16);
- Become prayer warriors for their families and nation (Ephesians 6:10-18);
- Fully embrace a biblical view of women as joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:16-17; Philippians 2:12) and equally valuable and influential in the world, the church, and their homes (2 Timothy 1:5-6; Galatians 3:28; Acts 10:34-35);
- Answer God’s call to be a catalyst for spiritual renewal and revival (Acts 2:17-21).
In the spirit of Christ’s command, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12), Debra also encourages women to value and respect the men God has placed in their lives.