PTS News

The Rev. Stephanie York Arnold serves as the general secretary for The General Commission on the Status and Role of Women advocating for the full inclusion of women in the total life of The United Methodist Church. Previously, she led Birmingham First United Methodist Church in seeking to fulfill their mission to be an open place for all. Rev. York graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in communication studies and from Memphis Theological Seminary with a master of divinity.

The Rev. Dr. Emily Nelms Chastain is assistant professor of Christian history and Methodist studies at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. She earned her Ph.D. in theological studies from Boston University in August 2025. Her research interests include American Christian history, Methodist studies, women's ordination, and feminism and women's studies. Though currently in Dallas, she is a  proud native of Birmingham, Ala., and is a clergy member of the North Alabama Conference.

Lecture Descriptions

Lecture 1: She Preached Anyway: How Methodist Women Turned Print and Polity into Power (1919-1956)

Seventy years ago, The Methodist Church granted full clergy rights to women. That decision was not sudden; it was the cumulative outcome of decades in which Methodist women refused invisibility and steadily reshaped what the church believed was possible. This lecture follows women activists such as M. Madeline Southard, Georgia Harkness, and the wider circle of clergywomen and lay allies whose persistence in and through ecclesial patriarchy produced tangible results: broader representation in conferences, recognition of women’s calls, the admission of hundreds to full connection beginning in 1956, and a durable shift in the church’s theological imagination about authority and vocation. The story invites clergy and laity today to see these women’s work in polity as lived theology––a means by which the Spirit, through patient, practical work, makes room for gifts God has already given.

Lecturer: The Rev. Dr. Emily Nelms Chastain, Assistant Professor of Christian History and Methodist Studies, Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University

Lecture 2: Still Called, Still Climbing: Clergywomen Today

Seven decades after ordination was granted, women serve as pastors, bishops, theologians, and leaders at every level of The United Methodist connection. Yet their experiences remain complex—marked by both remarkable progress and persistent inequities. This lecture examines the current landscape of women’s ministry in The United Methodist Church: representation across appointments, barriers to advancement, intersectional realities of race and gender, and the evolving theology of call and leadership. Through data, stories, and reflection, we’ll explore what it means to be “called” in a church still growing into its promise of equality.

Lecturer: The Rev. Stephanie York Arnold, General Secretary for the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, The United Methodist Church

Lecture 3: The Next Itineration: Envisioning Women’s Leadership Together

As The United Methodist Church looks to its next 70 years, this session invites participants into a collaborative exploration of what faithful leadership looks like in a rapidly changing world. Rather than a traditional lecture, the session will engage attendees in dialogue, small-group discussion, and collective brainstorming about the future of women’s ministry. Questions will include: How can women’s leadership transform congregational life, governance, and theological formation? What new models of pastoral collaboration, inclusivity, and justice-centered ministry are emerging? Drawing on Wesleyan theology, global perspectives, and contemporary challenges, this session aims to imagine a church where leadership is shared, gifts are recognized, and the voices of women continue to shape the Spirit-led mission of the church.

Lecturers: The Rev. Dr. Emily Nelms Chastain and The Rev. Stephanie York Arnold

Please contact Click to view e-mail or call 412-924-1345.

The Albright-Deering Lectures in Methodist Studies were established in 1999 through individual contributions and a generous gift from Joseph and Gail Deering of Dayton, Ohio, to celebrate Joseph’s career accomplishments and to honor their former pastor, the Rev. Dr. H. Pat Albright. The lectureship is intended to bring outstanding scholars in the Wesleyan tradition to the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary community.

Joseph W. Deering was a graduate of Harvard University (B.A.) and Stanford University (M.B.A.). He came to Pittsburgh in 1980 as the president of Eljer Plumbingware. The following year his family became active in Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church and began a lifelong friendship with the Albrights.

The Rev. Dr. H. Pat Albright was an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, serving three churches in his 38 years of active ministry: Wesley United Methodist in New Castle, Pa., from 1956 to 1964; First United Methodist in Erie, Pa., from 1964 to 1978; and Mt. Lebanon United Methodist from 1978 until his retirement in active ministry in 1994.

During his life, Pat also served Pittsburgh Theological Seminary as adjunct faculty in homiletics, and served on the PTS Board of Directors from 1989 to 1998 and then as an emeritus member of the Board until his death in 2014. By all accounts he was a true Methodist, passionate about education and scholarship—not for the sake of acquiring knowledge only, but for the strengthening of ministry in local churches.