[ATBW] Episode 5 - She Refused to Take the Bed

The Bible For Normal People

The Bible for Normal People

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.7 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 April 2025

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the last episode of All the Buried Women, co-hosts Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke explore the story behind a confidential letter in the SBC’S archives that leads to a pastor’s wife named Maria. They also look at the Southern Baptist Convention's decision to expel churches that ordain women, critiquing the rhetoric of unity and biblical authority used to justify the exclusion of women from leadership roles Last, the episode draws on the lost portrait of Saint Fabiola as a symbol of women's enduring resistance, urging listeners to recognize the hidden stories of women who continue to challenge oppressive structures in the church. We reached out to the SBC, Paige Patterson, Darryl Gilyard, Tommy Gilmore, and the Council for National Policy for comment, and did not hear back. All the Buried Women is presented by The Bible for Normal People. Credits: Hosts: Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke Producer: Savannah Locke Writing and Editing: Beth Allison Barr and Savannah Locke Sound Editing and Music: Savannah Locke and Todd Locke Introduction and Closing Song: Jaded by Savannah Locke Special Thanks (in order of appearance): Leanne Friesen, CBOQ, and the many anonymous interviewees willing to share their memories of Maria Partner Organization: The Bible for Normal People Additional Thanks: Andy Clark, Systems Administrator within the University Libraries at Baylor University; Erin Smith, Marketing Manager at Baker Publishing Group; Jordan Corona; Dr. Taffey Hall, Director of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives; Brittany Prescott, Podcast Producer for The Bible for Normal People; Adam McCullough, Archivist of Canadian Baptist Archives at McMaster Divinity College; Gordon Heath, Director of Canadian Baptist Archives at McMaster Divinity College; Rev. Leanne Friesen, Executive Minister of Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) and CBOQ executive board; and Audrey and Alex from Lawyers for Reporters. Social Media Links: Follow us on Instagram: @alltheburiedwomen @bethallisonbarr @savannah_locke @thebiblefornormalpeople Subscribe to Beth's Substack: https://bethallisonbarr.substack.com Subscribe to Savannah's Substack: https://savannahlocke.substack.com Promo Code: Use code PODCAST40 to get 40% off Becoming the Pastor’s Wife until April 30th through Baker Publishing Group's Website: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/becoming-the-pastor-s-wife/414910 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Two notes for today's episode. First, Beth is the primary interviewee, so that means this episode will be narrated by me, Savannah.
0:09.0	Second, we want to make sure that you, the listener, have a trigger warning for this episode, as it does talk about sex abuse.
0:26.6	If you've ever spent time digging through the archives, you know how tedious it can be. If you haven't, you'll just have to take our word for it.
0:29.6	The archives are like a massive thrift store, where most items are accurately priced at a few dollars,
0:36.6	but on rare occasions, you might stumble
0:38.8	across a designer bag with a $15 price tag and wonder, wait, is this real?
0:45.6	The SBC's archives are overflowing with hundreds of thousands of documents, and most of them,
0:51.4	to be honest, are pretty dull to the naked eye.
0:59.4	We're talking thank you letters, vendor contracts, meeting minutes, copies of sermons,
1:02.5	newspaper clippings, and lots of pictures.
1:08.4	But every once in a while, something will catch your eye, like a burning bush flickering in your periphery.
1:10.0	That's how it felt when Beth Allison Barr
1:12.1	came across a letter in Jimmy Draper's files from a man named H.P. Wu. As a reminder,
1:18.7	Draper was a well-known pastor and president of the SBC from 1982 to 1984. He's the one who
1:25.1	limited the debate on the women's ordination resolution to a strict eight minutes.
1:30.1	While Beth was searching through his files for something entirely unrelated, she stumbled
1:34.6	upon a letter with the word confidential, bolded and underlined at the top.
1:40.1	Little did she know, she was about to uncover an untold story of sexual abuse, spousal abuse,
1:46.4	and an SBC cover-up that would come to focus on one woman, a pastor's wife, named Maria.
1:54.8	I told my pastor, listen, it would be easier to be a prostitute in this church than it is to be an ordained woman.
2:04.1	The spirit of the Lord is upon him.
2:07.0	Because God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 7 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Bible for Normal People, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Bible for Normal People and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.