Joy E. A. Qualls - God Forgive Us for Being Women: Rhetoric, Theology, and the Pentecostal Tradition

M y scholarly journey began over years ago when I came to what was then Southern California College as a small-town girl who longed for the bright lights of the big city. It was here that all I thought I knew, all I believed and everything I had put my faith in was shattered into a million little pieces, then lovingly and with great care and thoughtful prodding was put back together again. Only this time, it was truly my own. Scholars, teachers, and God-fearing mentors who saw in me what I did not know surrounded me existed and slowly allowed a love of the art of scholarship to be birthed in me.

I am so grateful for the role that Dr. John and Mary Wilson played in giving me a North Dakota home away from home and instilled a love of history in me that taught me as much about the present as it does about the past. To Drs. Alison English, Elizabeth Leonard, Sheri Benvenuti, and Kelly Walter-Carney who encouraged me to seek out my heritage and embrace the study of women because our stories and voices need to be heard if the narrative of history is to be fully understood and completed. Mary, Elizabeth and Shari have both gone on from this life and their presence is missed in mine. I honor them with this book.

However, it would be an understatement if I did not give due honor to the man who provided the foundation for this work, Dr. Thomas J. Carmody, who invested more in my life that any amount of tuition could have paid for. Tom encouraged me to look beyond myself and learn to truly become a rhetorician. He taught me to become more thoughtful and to be one who engages in a hermeneutic of suspicion while putting on the full armor of God and honoring the Lord with my mind. The dream of a Ph.D. was birthed under his guidance, his constant encouragement and prayer. Today, that dream is a reality. Tom, thank you.

My scholarly journey moved to Regent University where I was again surrounded by a group of mentors who truly exemplified the commandment to love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, and minds. Drs. Robert Schihl, Michael Graves, William Brown, John Keeler, Benson Fraser, Norman Mintle, and Marc Newman all used their unique giftings to instill in me a broad spectrum of learning as worship. Dr. Mark Steiner, my fearless dissertation chairman, who believed in this project and saw its potential long before and beyond what I was able to envision on my own. Thank you for pushing me and leaving me with open ended questions that I was forced to answer even when I did not want to go there. Your passion for a faithful witness inspires me and challenges me. Thank you.

I am living my dream serving as a scholar and professor. I am grateful to colleagues and friends who have made this work possible. Presidents Robert Spence and Carol Taylor Carol Taylor and the community of Evangel University, you gave me a firm foundation for my work to thrive. Drs. Marty Mittelstadt, Bob Berg, and the entire Frameworks series team, thank you for creating space for me to publish this in your series. Dr. Diane Awbrey, I would not be where I am today either in my career or in my writing without your efforts and belief that I was meant to flourish. Your work on this project is priceless. Thank you for being my friend and my champion. President Barry Corey and the community of Biola University, most especially my department, Communication Studies, thank you for choosing me and for believing that I could lead and serve. I have come into my own because these two Universities gave me the opportunity to live out my call.

When you engage in research such as this, you are dependent upon those who have come before you and those who are the keepers of the history. I am eternally grateful to Dr. George O. Wood, former General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God for his time and transparency. Thank you for being intentional in your championing women and changing the face of the Assemblies of God. There used to be a quota system in the Assemblies of God: white and male. No more! This is your legacy and I am grateful. Darrin Rodgers and the entire staff of the Flower Pentecostal Heritage Center who spent hours pulling files, allowing me to hold frail and brittle documents and touch history with my own hands. Great discussion and a lot of good debate also contributed to this project. I am eternally grateful for your help and friendship.

Women who have remained constants have surrounded me. Wherever I am and no matter my state of mind, these women are my rock of equilibrium and a shelter from the storm. Cheryl, you have been this rock and shelter for the longest of any. You can look beyond me and straight into my soul. You speak with the voice of the Holy Spirit because you allow him to inhabit every fiber of your being and you take me for who I am broken and tattered and make me want to be that practical woman in impractical shoes. I love you.

I have not received any greater blessing in my life than the love of a family. I am doubly blessed because I was both born and later married into families that have a faith that can move mountains and a belief in the power of God that is unmatched. The entire Qualls family: thank you for embracing me as one of your own. The extended Anderson tribe, you are many and as such I know that I will never want for love or care. The men in my life: my brothers, Jeremiah and John, who know my deepest faults and love me in spite of it all. My grandparents, Leonard and Peggy Anderson who helped to raise me and brought me up to believe in the power of prayer and a steadfast belief that hard work and trust in the Lord is an unbeatable combination. Grandpa, I wish you could read this version cover to cover, too. I miss you and your unwavering belief in me.

Abraham Lincoln is credited with stating that all he was or ever hoped to be was owed to his mother. This is my story; this is my song. All I am or ever hope to be I owe to my mother, Marilyn Andrick, who taught me what it means to be a woman who is velvet covered steel: strong, yet beautiful and rich. Mom, we have walked together through the depths of despair, the streams in the desert and the mountaintops of bliss. You are the woman the writer of Proverbs had in mind when he penned the st chapter and I, your child, rise today to call you blessed.

Kevin, you are more than just my husband. You are my very best friend. You love me deeper and more fully than I ever thought was capable by another human being. Thank you for the adventure we have journeyed these last twelve years and I look forward to the adventures yet to come. I love you does not express fully what my heart sings for you. Blakeley Elisabeth, my beautiful daughter who is already so tuned to the voice of the Spirit. This work is all for you, Baby Girl. Soren Ray Anderson, you feel deeply and wear your heart on your sleeve. You are my kindred spirit and there is leadership in your bones. Your mama loves you both.