Photographer Documents Female Pastors Changing the Face of the American Church

Matt Growcoot

Female pastors

Ask someone to imagine a pastor, they will likely conjure an image of a man. But more and more female pastors are leading churches and one photographer has explored this trend.

In a series of fascinating and powerful images, photographer Corrie Aune documents female pastors in New York City — most of whom are the first women to head their churches.

“I began this project with a question: ‘What does it look like when a faith community encourages and empowers women to lead’?” Aune tells PetaPixel.

Female pastor project
The desk of Reverend Kelsey Brown, pastor of Jehu’s Table Lutheran Church, a small church in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. Brown is the first woman and first queer person to pastor Jehu’s Table. At 30, she is also the youngest person to lead the church.
Female pastor project
Reverend Vicki Moss waits in a stairwell outside the sanctuary of Ridgewood Presbyterian Church in November, 2022. A decade ago, Moss was ostracized by her previous church community for questioning gender inequity and bringing attention to abuse she witnessed. Today, she is the pastor of her church in Queens, New York. Here, Moss leads initiatives to decrease gun violence, create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth, and empower women to pursue leadership roles.
Female pastor project
Pastor Tiffany Henkel-Triplett stands in her office at Metro Baptist Church in January, 2023. Located on the same block as the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen, the church serves large numbers of Central American migrants through their food distribution program, clothing closet, and life skills classes.

Aune is from Dallas, Texas where she didn’t see many women pastors growing up. However, times changed, and Aune wanted to challenge traditional beliefs about women’s role in the church via her photographs — which she took on a Sony A7 IV and wide lenses.

“I believe these pastors’ stories can offer a more inclusive path forward for the American Church and other faith communities,” she says.

“For the most part, it was not difficult to gain access to the pastors in this project. As a woman, and as a person raised in Christianity, it felt natural and comfortable to enter these conversations and spaces.”

Female pastors
Reverend Kelsey Brown stands in a doorway at Jehu’s Table Lutheran Church where a banner hangs over a small window.
female pastors
Reverend Danielle Miller, pastor of Advent Lutheran Church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side
female pastors
Seminary student Katie Crockford through a window at Union Theological Seminary.
female pastors
The door of Dr. Lisa Jenkins Brown’s office at St. Matthews Baptist Church.

“The pastors I photographed were all extremely kind, welcoming, and encouraging, which made it much easier to create the work I set out to make,” she adds.

Aune spent the past 12 months shooting the project, entitled For Such a Time as This. She captured various denominations of the Protestant church including Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ.

female pastors
A member of the Riverside Church arrives early on a Sunday morning to prepare for the church’s multiple worship services. Photographed in March, 2023.
female pastors
A beam of morning light enters Advent Lutheran Church before a Sunday Service in April, 2023.
female pastors
Reverend Kelsey Brown prepares the sanctuary of Jehu’s Table for a Lent service in February, 2023. Brown is the only full-time staff member of her church.
female pastors
Reverend Adriene Thorne, pastor of the Riverside Church, stands in front of a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preaching at Riverside in 1967. This historic church has welcomed other noteworthy speakers such as Cesar Chavez and Desmond Tutu. Since its beginning, the Riverside Church has worked on the forefront of social justice and faith.

The documentary photographer says that the long-term nature of the project allowed her to capture more nuance and detail than a typical assignment which only lasts an afternoon.

“One of the most surreal and fun moments was the Sunday I photographed a service at the Riverside Church, a large, historic church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side,” says Aune.

female pastors
Reverend Adriene Thorne in one of the Riverside Church’s libraries
female pastors
An elementary school student passes by Advent Lutheran Church in the late afternoon.
female pastors
Dr. Lisa Jenkins Brown, pastor of St. Matthew’s Baptist Church, in her home in Yonkers in April, 2023. Jenkins Brown was forced out of her church in her early twenties when she became pregnant. Her boyfriend, a leader in the same church and the father of her child, was not. Since then, Jenkins Brown has aimed to lead church communities that are inclusive and accepting to people in all walks of life. She also leads DEI courses for churches and organizations across the nation.
female pastors
A member of St. Matthew’s Baptist Church leaves the church’s annual Thanksgiving Celebration in November, 2022. The congregation prides itself on their history of social justice work and community outreach in their Harlem neighborhood.
female pastors
Reverend Vicki Moss, Pastor of Ridgewood Presbyterian Church in Queens, prepares for a service in November, 2022. This is the first image in my long-term documentary project, titled “For Such a Time as This,” about female pastors in New York City. In recent decades, the number of women in positions of leadership in the Protestant church has rapidly increased. The women in this project are groundbreaking, social-justice minded participants in this massive shift in the American Church.

“The church staff invited me to photograph the services from behind the medieval-style stone carvings that surrounded the stage and choir,” she continues.

“That morning, I found myself peeking out between stone saints and apostles, looking out at the audience and choir members without being seen. I love how photography can open doors to unique experiences and privileges like this!”

More of Aune’s work can be found on her Instagram and website.

Image credits: Photographs by Corrie Aune

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