ABS awards at Synod honor clergy who create ‘ripples of transformation’

At General Synod 34, the Antoinette Brown Society honored two clergy whose ministry embodies — as the Rev. Tara Barber, UCC minister for ministerial support and accountability, stated — “ripples of transformation.”  

This year, the society honored the Rev. Lisa Goods with the Catalyst Award, and the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel with the Trailblazer Award. 

Since 1975, the United Church of Christ has taken time at the General Synod to honor and celebrate transformative leaders with the Antionette Brown Award, and this tradition has been continued by the Antionette Brown Society, formed in 2015.   

The Rev. Sheresa Simpson-Rice, Associate Conference Minister for the Central Atlantic Conference, described the society as “a sisterhood of women clergy that seeks to ensure that women are in all levels of ministry … and every woman has her opportunity to a pulpit.” 

Walking toward injustice

The Catalyst Award winner, Goods was ordained in the UCC and serves as the pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Cleveland. She summed up her ministry very simply: “I see injustice, and I walk towards it.”  
 
As she accepted her award, Goods reminded the audience that she “stands on the shoulders of the ancestors” and “on the shoulders of the women in this room.” She stated that she works to “affirm women whose calls have not been affirmed.” 

Voelkel, who received the Trailblazer Award, serves as the pastor for justice ministries and director of the Center for Sustainable Justice at Lyndale UCC in Minneapolis.  

When she accepted her award, Voelkel told the audience that she “looks over the past awardees with deep gratitude.”  

Voelkel noted that she works with congregations to establish a line item in their budget for reparations. 

She reminded attendees that “we are called not to be successful but faithful.”

The Rev. Jonathan Roach, a General Synod newsroom volunteer, currently serves as the Associate Conference Minister for the Hawai’i Conference. He lives in Kea’au, Hawai’i.

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