I often wonder during every Advent season what “expecting” must have been like for Mary and Joseph after the annunciation of the angel Gabriel. In that dark, quiet, livestock stable that they found being the only available refuge in the days before the birth of Jesus - and while Mary already must have already started feeling some intermittent labor pains - in those moments, the authentic Christian root of the season of Advent was laid.

The actual biblical narrative of the birth of Jesus is nestled deep in obscurity. But what is clear is that this coming of God’s son, in a dark, forgotten corner of the world, was good news to those who also find themselves in life’s dark, forgotten corners.

The Black Church must let go of the fear that an increase in Black women’s leadership will lead to the demise and erasure of Black men’s leadership in the church. God’s Church needs all the Spirit-filled leaders that it can get working to fulfill the purpose that God has called them to. Holding Black women back from fulfilling their God-given purpose is an act of faithlessness and a denial of God’s power. Because God has called us – men and women – to serve, there is more than enough serving to do.