In 1827, Harriet Livermore (1788-1868), the daughter and granddaughter of Congressmen, became the second woman to preach in the House of Representatives. The first woman to preach before the House (and probably the first woman to speak officially in congress under any circumstances) was the English evangelist, Dorothy Ripley (1767-1832), who conducted a service on January 12, 1806. President Jefferson and VP Aaron Burr were among those in the “crowded audience.”
Sizing up the congregation, Ripley concluded that “very few” had been born again and broke into an urgent, camp meeting style exhortation, insisting that “Christ’s Body was the Bread of Life and his blood the drink of the righteous.”
My hope in sharing this is not only to substantiate the leadership role in the Body of Christ that women play throughout church history, but also to reflect on this setting. We would be fortunate if our national leaders heard such a word today; to repent, be reconciled to God, and walk in purity while serving in humility. It is not too late for the United States to really be a light to the world in many ways, like we have it times past.
