Black Pentecostal Women: Intersectionality, Identity and Embodied Public Theology

Pentecostalism has historically thrived among those considered to be lower class, African and African Caribbean communities and especially women. Progressive Pentecostals have sought ways to address the issues which impact these groups, alongside demonstrating concern for the individual’s religious life and spiritual needs. In this chapter I argue that black Pentecostal women, who are located in this progressive stream, embody a womanist ethic as public theology in practice. While existing at the intersections of class, race and gender inequity, they engage with those problems through their ministry for the sake of all. “Identity in Christ” functions as empowerment for these women as they come to terms with their own lived experiences. Drawing on the work of Eboni Marshall Turman, I highlight the womanist incarnational ethic inherent within black Pentecostal women’s social engagement and point towards broader public pneumatology which attends to bodies, hierarchies and oppression.