Gender and leadership in the theology and practice of three Pentecostal women pioneers (Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate, Aimee Semple McPherson, Ida Robinson)

As the early, limited openness to women's ministerial leadership in the classical Pentecostal movement gave way to tighter restrictions and more traditional ideas about gender and place, three women—Mary Magdalena Lewis Tate, Aimee Semple McPherson, and Ida Robinson—found ways to challenge what they saw as encroachment on their God-given freedom to preach and defend the Christian gospel without impediment. They not only sought freedom to preach, but also “full clergy rights”—freedom to set up congregations as they saw fit, oversee these congregations, and direct the work of ministers whom they had nurtured in faith.; Among the factors that set the stage for their unfolding sagas was their Pentecostal understanding of Holy Spirit empowerment and endowment with spiritual giftedness as the primary criteria for fitness for ministry, regardless of gender; and a strong commitment to answering their personal call from God. They were also emboldened by their Pentecostal belief in the imminent return of Christ and the need to save as many souls as possible.; Armed with these understandings, each woman launched her own religious movement within the fledgling Pentecostal movement. In gaining her vocational freedom, each also left standing a denomination that continues to provide greater levels of opportunity for women's ministry and leadership than in the broader Pentecostal movement. Yet, their individual and collective contributions to furthering the ministry and leadership of classical Pentecostal women clergy remain largely untold.; Though Aimee McPherson's name garners some recognition, she is known primarily for her dramatic pulpit antics and the questionable circumstances of her disappearance. Mary Magdalena Tate and Ida Robinson are largely unknown, even within African American Pentecostalism, of which they are a part.; The details of their lives and ministries provide a portrait of three extraordinary women with a wealth of spiritual accomplishments and a legacy of women's ministry and leadership. When these legacies and their autocratic leadership styles are critically examined, however, they provide an example both of what women can accomplish, and of some pitfalls to be avoided by contemporary Pentecostal women clergy who face many of the same exigencies.