Murmurs filled one of Gary’s oldest churches this week as members attended Bible study, tidied up, and completed their daily tasks.
Pastor Nicole Guns walked around the area with a smile as clergy members asked questions and prepared for upcoming services.
“I didn’t know much about Gary, Indiana, before coming, outside of Michael Jackson’s house and where he’s from,” she said, laughing as she looked around her office in the First Baptist Church, located a few blocks from the Jackson home.
A native of Norfolk, Virginia, Guns, 44, never thought her journey would lead her to the Steel City. While attending the National Baptist Convention, she met consultant Charity Ware, who was helping First Baptist Church search for its next senior pastor.
“Have you ever thought about Gary, Indiana?” Ware asked her. “There’s a church there that’s looking for a pastor.”
At the time, Guns was a college and young adult pastor. She hadn’t considered moving beyond the East Coast because she didn’t know much about the Midwest. On the fence about applying, she said a prayer and decided to go through the process during that week at the conference.
But soon, she heard the doubt.
“First Baptist will never pick a woman,” she remembered being told. “Don’t even waste your time.”
That sentiment is still felt throughout the religious community, as women pastors, especially Black women pastors, remain a rarity. According to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Values-Based Leadership, women make up 50% to 75% of Black church members but hold only 10% of leadership roles in the church — and less than 1% of senior pastor roles.
A 2019 National Congregational Study report showed that women lead 13.5% of congregations in the U.S.
When she received this news, Guns had already been known in the Baptist community as someone to watch out for. A sixth-generation ordained pastor and a nurse by trade from Hampton University, she has served in several ministerial roles throughout her home state of Virginia, participated in international missions to Kenya and Nigeria, and now serves as the assistant general secretary of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., which is one of the highest-ranking roles held by a woman in the organization.
Guns, who received her Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Union University, had applied to over 30 churches without success. For some, she was considered for the position until they went with another pastoral candidate. Others blatantly said that they were looking for a man, not a woman.
“Don’t let any door open that’s not supposed to open,” she said.
While she had the experience and legacy, no doors opened until Ware called.
“She basically didn’t take no for an answer,” Guns said, laughing. “You may think that you know exactly the path you’re supposed to take, and then God leads you in a completely different direction. I am grateful for the no’s, because I think that all of those closed doors led me to the right open door.”
As a finalist, Guns had to submit videos of her preaching, education, and background before being presented to a committee that narrowed the candidates. She taught a Bible study session and preached to the congregation the following day. From there, it came down to her and a few other candidates. She stood in front of her future church members as more than 90% of them voted for her to become the next senior pastor.
“It’s very significant for a candidate, let alone a woman candidate, in the Midwest, at a First Baptist Church, [to be selected]” she said. “First Baptist Churches tend to be very traditional and conservative. So it’s really unprecedented.”
At the start of this year, she didn’t know much about the church and city that would become her future. By July, with the help of her family, she moved across the country to step into her new role.
While Guns saw women preachers where she grew up, she said, “The patriarchy in the church is a terrible thing, and it does exist.” As one of the first women to preach at the National Baptist Convention, breaking those kinds of barriers is nothing new to her.
“I think God uniquely prepared me to come to a place and be one of the first woman pastors in the area,” she said. “But to go to a place where it’s not common and really be a part of changing the culture? I know that’s part of my assignment coming here. I know that for a fact.”
Having watched her father, uncle, and grandfather be involved in the ministry, Guns said she knew that transitioning from nursing was just another part of the plan she didn’t know about.
The Rev. Geoffrey Guns walked around First Baptist as his daughter interacted with congregation members and sat in on a Bible study as he learned more about the city.
“I’m not surprised,” he said about his daughter stepping into her new role. “It’s a great joy that the Lord has called her, and that she has responded. I’m excited about her being in Gary at an old, established Black Baptist church in the city.”
Since 1983, the elder Guns has served as senior pastor of Second Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk, where his daughter joined him briefly as a young adult and college pastor.
“I think her legacy will be of being a trailblazer, because she has been that,” he said proudly. “Someone who is not afraid to step into spaces where women have been denied.”
Now, as Guns begin her chapter, she said she hopes to add to the legacy of First Baptist Church.
“I want First Baptist to be better because I’ve been here,” she said. “I recognize my role and assignment in opening doors for women. I really take that to heart, and I want to help tear down those walls.”
It’s a belief she underscored with a quote from former Vice President Kamala Harris: “I may be the first, but I won’t be the last.”