DALLAS — As a female Baptist pastor in Texas, Rev. Victoria Robb Powers knows she’s a rarity.
The newly installed senior pastor is Royal Lane Baptist Church's first ever female senior pastor. Powers said she's the first in the DFW area, too.
"Yeah, there was pushback," Powers told WFAA.
"I mean, I grew up in a denomination that said women couldn’t be pastors," she said.
Raised Southern Baptist, Powers said she only saw men preach as a little girl.
But now, as a woman, Powers proudly stands behind the pulpit herself.
"I love that I get to talk about the hope of life in the face of death," Powers said.
"I love that I get to proclaim that God welcomes all people. I love to lead a church that not only tolerates difference but also celebrates difference."
Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas installed Powers the same week that the Southern Baptist Convention expelled its second largest church for having a female pastor.
She told WFAA there are only 39 female Baptist pastors in Texas, compared to thousands of men.
"If God is going to call someone to ministry, I just have to believe nobody is going to stand in the way of that, you know?" she said.
Powers prays sharing her story might inspire other women to preach.
"God calls all types of people, not just one kind of person. That’s my hope for this story. How many people will now learn women can do this, and do it well?" Powers said.