Lent 2025 Day 31

Jarena Lee, Preacher and Writer
Acts 2:17-18 | Isaiah 43:8-15  

Jarena Lee (1783–1855) was the first authorized female preacher in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and one of the earliest published African American women to document her religious life in print. Born a free Black woman in New Jersey, she came of age in a country that denied both her gender and her race the right to lead. But she did not let the restrictions of society or church define her calling. Instead, she listened to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking within her.

Lee felt called to preach from a young age, but her initial request to preach was denied by Richard Allen, the founder and bishop of the AME Church. Years later, after she stood up during a worship service and preached with such power that Allen changed his mind, she was finally permitted to take her place in the pulpit. Her ministry would take her thousands of miles across the northeastern United States, where she preached in churches, homes, and open fields. Her 1836 Religious Experience and Journal became a foundational text for Black women in ministry.

Her life and ministry embody the promise of Acts 2:17-18—that God’s Spirit will be poured out on all flesh, regardless of gender, status, or race. In a world and a church that tried to silence her, Lee prophesied with clarity and power. She bore witness to the liberating work of the Spirit, not just in her own life but in the lives of those who heard her. She believed that obedience to God must come before obedience to human systems of power, especially when those systems contradicted the Gospel’s inclusive vision.

Isaiah 43:8-15 speaks to a people chosen to be witnesses—chosen not because of their perfection, but because of their experience of God’s redeeming work. Jarena Lee took this role seriously. She stood as a witness to God's ability to call and use anyone, regardless of what the world says. Her sermons often focused on repentance, divine love, and the necessity of sanctification—rooted not in theory but in personal and communal transformation.

Lee’s legacy invites us to reflect on the ways we limit the Spirit’s movement in our own time. Lent is a season of repentance and renewal, but it is also a time to open our hearts to the unexpected voices God raises up—especially those the church has long overlooked. Like Lee, we are called to witness boldly, to testify to the truth of God’s redemptive love, and to make space for the Spirit to speak through us.

Reflection:

• What voices are being silenced today, and how can you help create space for them? 
• Where do you see the Spirit being poured out in surprising or prophetic ways? 
• How can Jarena Lee’s courage inspire you to step into your own call to witness and proclaim? 

Breath Prayer: Inhale: The Spirit is poured out… Exhale: …I will testify.

May this Lenten season embolden us to speak, to listen, and to believe that the Spirit still moves in power.

Amen.