WOMEN CALLED TO LEAD
Indiana Wesleyan University and Impact of The Wesleyan Church
Rev. Angela Alvarado is the assistant editor for the Communication and Administration Division of The Wesleyan Church, an ordained elder and graduate of Wesley Seminary in Marion, Indiana.
From Ruth’s devotion (Ruth 1:16) and Esther’s courage (Esther 4:14) to Lydia’s restoration (Acts 16:15) and the Samaritan woman’s catalytic witness (John 4:28–29), Scripture highlights women who answered God’s call with bold faith. Their stories reveal a truth Indiana Wesleyan University embraces at its core: God calls women to lead — a conviction anchored in our theological heritage and shaped by the Wesleyan tradition, which has long affirmed the Spirit-empowered gifts of women.
For more than 170 years, The Wesleyan Church has raised up women like pastor and hymn writer Clara Tear Williams and global justice advocate Jo Anne Lyon, leaders whose faith-filled obedience shaped generations. That same Spirit is alive in women at IWU, students, faculty, staff, and administrators embody a legacy of leadership rooted in calling.
At Indiana Wesleyan University, we don’t just affirm women’s leadership — we prepare them for it. On a foundation laid by Wesleyan pioneers, we equip women to serve boldly in every sphere of ministry, leadership, marketplace and life.
Rooted in a Redemptive Story
From the beginning, Wesleyans have believed that God’s redemptive purposes include everyone. That conviction led them to stand for abolition, to educate both men and women in their schools, and to welcome women as full voting members in their churches.
In 1848, The Wesleyan Church opened its chapel in Seneca Falls, New York, for the first women’s rights convention in U.S. history. Several Wesleyans signed the “Declaration of Sentiments,” declaring their belief in women’s equality and leadership.
Five years later, when Antoinette Brown couldn’t find support from her denomination to be ordained, she called on Wesleyan minister Luther Lee. He stood beside her in that historic moment — the first woman ordained in the United States. And in 1861, Wesleyans formally ordained Mary A. Will, marking the beginning of a denominational legacy that has never stopped calling women to lead. These weren’t political statements. They were biblical convictions. They were responses to a God who has always called women to build His Church and carry His Gospel to the ends of the earth.
THEIR STORIES REVEAL A TRUTH INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY EMBRACES AT ITS CORE: GOD CALLS WOMEN TO LEAD — A CONVICTION ANCHORED IN OUR THEOLOGICAL HERITAGE AND SHAPED BY THE WESLEYAN TRADITION...
Devotion
“Where you go, I will go… your God will be my God.” Ruth’s devotion was a bold act of faith. It meant choosing love over security and trust over clarity.
Clara Tear Williams, a young woman called to ministry, embodied that same devotion. Her hymn “Satisfied” still resonates today, a reflection of a life rooted in Christ:
“Hallelujah! I have found Him, Whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings, Through His blood I now am saved.”
Williams preached, pastored, and poured herself out in service. Her devotion was an active, outward expression of love for God and others.
Another devoted leader, Hattie Crosby Manyon, followed God’s call to Africa as a young evangelist. She leaned into her God-given gift for language, using it to share the Gospel across cultures. Even when illness forced her return to the U.S., her devotion didn’t waver. She continued encouraging missionaries and planting churches through prayer, presence, and perseverance.
Courage
Esther stood before a king at great personal risk. Her story echoes in the lives of Wesleyan women like Laura Smith Haviland, who worked with her husband to establish Michigan’s first Underground Railroad station. The risks were real — threats, danger, and public scrutiny, but Laura remained steadfast. She believed God’s call to justice outweighed any cost.
Sisters Ethel and Nella True also understood the risks of courageous leadership. As missionaries to the Otomi people in Mexico, they endured persecution and physical danger. Their church was burned. Their lives were threatened. Still, they stayed. Because a calling had taken root in their hearts, deeper than fear.
This same spirit is cultivated at Indiana Wesleyan University. Students are shaped to lead with courage. Not only in pulpits or mission fields, but in the marketplace, classrooms, courtrooms, clinics, and communities where boldness is still needed.
Catalyst
The Samaritan woman at the well wasn’t invited to lead. She simply couldn’t stay quiet after encountering Jesus. Her testimony transformed her town. She became a catalyst.
That’s what Vera Pearl Carter Close became in her generation. She planted churches, preached revivals, sang the Gospel in public schools, and helped people find their place in community and in Christ. She didn’t wait for permission. She lived out her calling with contagious faith.
Catalytic leadership doesn’t demand attention. It invites participation. It creates space. IWU students learn how to lead and how to inspire and empower others to step into their own calling.
Restoration
Lydia’s leadership looked like hospitality and business savvy and it built the early Church. She opened her home and her life to others, creating a space where the Gospel could take root.
That same spirit marked Jo Anne Lyon, whose ministry as a pastor, nonprofit leader, and General Superintendent was grounded in restoration. Through World Hope International, she helped bring clean water, safety, education, and dignity to vulnerable communities around the globe.
At IWU, we believe leadership isn’t just about leading from the front — it’s about restoring what’s been broken, lifting up what’s been overlooked, and helping people flourish. Whether through ministry, counseling, community development, or advocacy, the footprints of restorative leadership continue to multiply through our students and alumni at our university today.
The Legacy Continues
The story of women called to lead is not new, but it is still unfolding. At Indiana Wesleyan University, we are honored to walk alongside women who are discerning God’s call, developing their gifts, and preparing to lead with purpose.
They are not waiting to be invited to the table, they are pulling up chairs for others. In doing so, they carry forward a legacy that began with Ruth, Esther, Lydia, and the Samaritan woman, and continued through Wesleyan women like Clara Tear Williams, Laura Smith Haviland, Vera Pearl Carter Close, and Jo Anne Lyon. Today, that same Spirit-led leadership lives on in IWU women like Esperance Mwiza, Chancellor Eileen Hulme, Madison Routledge Pettus, and Jenn Petersen.
As IWU continues to celebrate and equip women in every discipline, may we never forget: the same God who called women in Scripture still calls women today. And when women lead with devotion, courage, catalytic vision, and restoration, the Kingdom of God advances in ways we never imagined.