Dorothy Keister Walker: Minister, Educator, & Elder

Dorothy Louise Keister was born on September 24, 1920 in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. She earned several degrees, including degrees in Church History and Religious Education at Butler University/Butler School of Religion (now Christian Theological Seminary). While at Butler, she studied under Dean Walker. Dorothy Keister was ordained in her home church and served on the Jones-Keister Evangelistic team during the early 1950s. She also led The Mission to Women specifically, traveling cross-country from 1959 on for many years. Dorothy received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from Milligan College in 1962, additionally marrying Dean Walker the same year, making her the first lady of Milligan College from 1962 to 1968. Dorothy is listed as one of many founders of Emmanuel School of Religion, along with her husband, Dean Walker.

In 1989, Dorothy became an elder at nearby Hopwood Memorial Christian Church, probably one of the first in the independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. Dorothy passed away in 1999 after a lifetime of ministry.

Ordination of women in the Stone-Campbell Movement has been fraught with controversy. Women had been ordained as far back as the 1800s, including Clara Hale Babcock. While Alexander Campbell was against women in ministry, the Stone-Campbell movement churches took differing stances. Many women found a place in missions and social justice work. The Disciples of Christ branch did begin to ordain women. The a capella Churches of Christ have allowed women to do some work in the churches, but leaders such as David Lipscomb opposed it. Within the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, ordination of women have sometimes only been for a specific ministry. Hopwood Memorial Christian Church has allowed women teaching roles and ordained many women since the mid-1900s, including Miriam Perkins and Katy (Drage) Lines.

Sources that informed this exhibit:

Carver, Fran. “Her-Story: Our Foremothers in the Faith,” Leaven 4, no. 2 (1996), 32-37. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol4/iss2/10

Daniel, Eleanor A. “Women in Ministry: Twentieth Century: Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.” In The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, edited by Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.

"Dorothy Keister Walker." https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/110520568/dorothy-walker

Griffith, Anna. “A Look at Women in Ministry Today,” Leaven4, no. 2 (Spring 1996). https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol4/iss2/13

Harrison, Ida Withers. History of the Christian Woman’s Board of Missions. [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], [1920].

Hartsfield, Elizabeth Ann. “ ‘Shall the Sisters Speak?’: Replies of Some Early Leaders of the Disciples of Christ,” The College of the Bible Quarterly 31, no. 1 (January 1954): 5-22.

Holloway, Clinton J., and Fierbaugh, Dr. A Lee. Scholarship, Community, Faith: Milligan Celebrates 150 Years. Milligan College, TN: Milligan College, 2015.

Hull, Debra B. “Women in Ministry: Nineteenth Century.” In The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, edited by Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.

Hull, Debra B. “Women in Ministry: Twentieth Century: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).” In The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, edited by Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.

Hull, Debra B. Christian Church Women: Shapers of a Movement. St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 1994.

LaRue, Mary Ellen. “Women Have Not Been Silent…,” Discipliana 22, no. 6 (January 1963), 85-89. https://milligan.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lsdar&AN=ATLAiA14210426000047&site=eds-live&scope=site

Pulley, Kathy J. “Women in Ministry: Twentieth Century: Churches of Christ.” In The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, edited by Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant, and D. Newell Williams. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.

Pulley, Kathy. “Change Factors Affecting Women in the Local Church,” Leaven 4, no. 2 (Spring 1996). https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol4/iss2/12

Shepherd, Leroy. “The Wi-Ne-Ma Christian Church,” Leaven22, no. 2 (2014). https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol22/iss2/10

Shields, Bruce and Rosemarie Shield. “Those Women of the Hopwood Church,” Leaven22, no. 2 (2014). https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol22/iss2/11

Short, Howard Elmo. “The Service and Status of Women among the Disciples of Christ: Report of the National Committee,” The College of the Bible Quarterly 31, no. 1 (January 1954): 23-32.