{"id":33420,"date":"2026-03-27T10:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=33420"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:18:11","slug":"fowler-searcy-board-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/fowler-searcy-board-chair\/","title":{"rendered":"Called to Preach, Called to Lead\u2014Ministering For Such a Time as This"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rev. Dr. Patrice Fowler-Searcy \u201913\/\u201924 is the first Black woman to chair Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\u2019s Board of Directors. Prior to assuming this role, Patrice served the Board for 12 years in a number of capacities, including vice chair during Sandy Lamb\u2019s leadership, chair of the governance committee, and member of the Executive and Student Life and Enrollment Management committees. Patrice was confirmed as chair of PTS’s Board in May 2025. She is an ordained minister in both the Baptist tradition and in the Presbyterian Church (USA).<\/em><\/p>\n

Born Into Faith<\/h2>\n

Born in Indianapolis, Ind., Patrice was formed in the faith from her earliest years as a part of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, where she dedicated her life to Christ and became involved in ministry from childhood onward. \u201cOur church\u2019s ministry went out into our community,\u201d she says. \u201cI remember helping out on Saturdays, when we would offer free food and clothing. By the time I was a teen, I was answering phones, doing intake at our mobile medical clinic and taking down orders for the Rev. Dr. Sanders\u2019 Thanksgiving dinner ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"While the tradition that nurtured Patrice\u2019s early faith life encouraged her participation in many forms of ministry, it did not affirm that women could be called to preach. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Patrice says, \u201cand I served the church in a number of capacities into adulthood.\u201d She was hired as director of outreach at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, where she brought enrichment programs to families living in poverty and, when the needs of the community shifted away from the church\u2019s ministry offerings at that time, partnered with other organizations doing community development in the church\u2019s neighborhood. Patrice thrived in this position and served on boards of the Pittsburgh Clergy Consortium, Pittsburgh Unites, the East End Growth Fund, the Western Pennsylvania Support Association of Oikocredit and Oikocredit USA, the Community Theater Project Corporation Inc. (Kelly-Strayhorn Theater), Open Hand Ministries (as a charter board member at its inception), and East Liberty Development Inc. (where she served as board president until July 2025), in part relaying to those organizations the realities of what was happening on the street. While she held this position at ELPC, Patrice continued to worship and minister in the Baptist tradition.<\/p>\n

Called to Preach<\/h2>\n

While working at ELPC, things began to shift in Patrice\u2019s life. One year after being elected to the board of East Liberty Development Inc., Patrice was chosen as one of 50 individuals nationwide to participate in the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute for Church-based Community Development. During this program, Patrice received a word from a fellow participant that God was going to call her to preach, and especially to ministry reaching women. She shared what had happened with a trusted spiritual mentor she had met at ELPC on a retreat at Ghost Ranch, who encouraged her to pray about it. She did, and the word she received was, \u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, tragedy struck. \u201cI was alone in a bed in a three-story house,\u201d Patrice says, \u201cclutching a Bible to my chest. I asked, \u2018God, are you trying to kill me?\u2019 God said \u2018It\u2019s time.\u2019\u201d Patrice reflects that life-altering situations are often when God speaks such a word. \u201cIt still took me a year,\u201d she says. \u201cI talked with a female pastor friend about stepping into ministry according to the words I had received, and she said, \u2018Yes, I see it.\u2019 So I took a \u2018ministers in training\u2019 class at the Baptist church where I was active. Eventually, I was licensed and ordained there. ELPC supported me the whole way; the staff came to my licensure and ordination service. They recognized my ordination in the Baptist tradition and extended opportunities for me to teach and preach at ELPC as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It was at this point in her life\u2014ordained and serving in the Baptist tradition and teaching and preaching in the PC(USA)\u2014that Patrice felt a call to seminary. \u201cMy pastor did not affirm or support the idea of me going to seminary, as the tradition does not believe in women being called to preach,\u201d she says. \u201cBut the church where I was working said, \u2018Great, go!\u2019 I had tagged along to an open house at PTS with my son, who was also discerning a call. He discerned a different path, but I enrolled.\u201d After graduation, Patrice pursued ordination with the PC(USA). \u201cI took my time,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause I was already operating pastorally at ELPC with my Baptist ordination.\u201d Eventually, she became ELPC\u2019s acting pastor and head of staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeaving my denomination was painful, because that\u2019s where I had been formed and nurtured as a person of faith. But God said, \u2018Grow where I\u2019ve planted you,\u2019\u201d Patrice says, \u201cso I made the conscious decision to leave\u2014kicking and screaming. ELPC had wrapped their arms around me in ways I could never have imagined. And now, in retirement, while I retain my Presbyterian ordination, I\u2019ve returned to my Baptist roots in worship, which has been a deep joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Called to Lead<\/h2>\n

Meanwhile, Patrice was also called upon to represent her class as a member of the Seminary\u2019s Board of Directors. \u201cWalking into the PTS Board for the first time as a representative of the graduating class of 2013, I was intimidated,\u201d she says. \u201cMost people there were executives, white, and male, and there weren\u2019t a lot of people in ministry. I felt like a fish out of water.\u201d But when she was elected for another term, Patrice started to feel more at ease and became increasingly active on the Board. \u201cI convened a couple of groups to talk about race to address the concerns of students of color around acceptance and fair treatment, and I made spaces where students could voice their concerns,\u201d she says. \u201cI also worked on a statement about expectations around behavior in the Seminary that\u2019s still being used today.\u201d She was elected to third and fourth terms, serving on the Board for a total of 12 years, eventually becoming first vice chair, then chair.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cI\u2019ve always seen my life and my call as one, cohesive ministry,\u201d Patrice says. \u201cGod is calling us out to be who God created us to be. When I first came to East Liberty in 1996, the neighborhood had so many needs. The church has been out there since the \u201880s, pouring money into housing, investing in small businesses, and developing initiatives like Open Hand Ministries. My call is to continue that involvement, and that includes my call as a preacher\u2014speaking through the preached word what God requires of us as Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPTS is my ministry now,\u201d she continues. \u201cFor me, being chair is not just about serving the Board, but serving the community. President Lee has this idea that everyone needs a theological education, and I like that idea. I\u2019m excited about opening up our campus and offering more opportunities for people to receive and prepare for the mission God has for them\u2014whether that\u2019s as a preacher or nonprofit leader or starting a new ministry. I\u2019d love for PTS to be seen nationally as a place that prepares people to go out and lead their communities into change. Serving as chair is a tangible opportunity to give back to the Seminary, which has poured into me so much, and I believe God opened up this opportunity for a purpose. I see the Seminary becoming who God would have us to be for such a time as this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The Rev. Dr. Patrice Fowler-Searcy \u201913\/\u201924 is chair of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\u2019s Board of Directors. Previously, she served the Seminary’s Board for 12 years in a number of capacities. Patrice has ministered in the East Liberty community for 30 years, serving since 1996 as director of outreach then as acting pastor and head of staff at East Liberty Presbyterian Church and holding membership on the board of East Liberty Development Inc. since 1998, where she also served as board president. She is an ordained minister in both the Baptist tradition and in the PC(USA).<\/p>\n

Read Next<\/h2>\n
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Audaciously Demanding Compassion\u2014American History and the Syrophoenician Woman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Heroines of History\u2014Frances Willard and Florence Spearing Randolph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rev. Dr. Patrice Fowler-Searcy \u201913\/\u201924 is the first Black woman to chair Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\u2019s Board of Directors. Prior to assuming this role, Patrice served the Board for 12 years in a number of capacities, including vice chair during Sandy Lamb\u2019s leadership, chair of the governance committee, and member of the Executive and Student…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":33426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,398],"tags":[1080,1085,1084,1075,1072,1073,10,756,1089,1086,777,1077,1069,1078,1076,1091,1090,1083,1079,1087,1088,1071,1070,1068,841,1081,1082,1074,40,986],"series":[],"class_list":["post-33420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-planting","category-people-of-pts","tag-a-life-of-faith","tag-being-church","tag-being-the-church","tag-black-leadership","tag-black-women-in-leadership","tag-black-women-in-ministry","tag-call-to-ministry","tag-call-to-preach","tag-church-in-the-community","tag-church-outreach","tag-community-service","tag-discerning-a-call-to-ministry","tag-east-liberty-development-inc","tag-faith-in-action","tag-female-leadership-in-church","tag-following-the-spirit","tag-hearing-gods-call","tag-jesus-hands-and-feet","tag-living-out-christian-faith","tag-ministry-beyond-the-walls","tag-ministry-in-the-community","tag-ministry-on-the-streets","tag-neighborhood-ministry","tag-patrice-fowler-searcy","tag-vocational-discernment","tag-walk-with-god","tag-walk-with-jesus","tag-women-in-leadership","tag-women-in-ministry","tag-womens-ordination"],"yoast_head":"\r\nCalled to Preach, Called to Lead\u2014Ministering For Such a Time as This - Pittsburgh Theological Seminary<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Born into a tradition that did not affirm women's call to preach, the Rev. 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