The Rev. Helen Hollingsworth, my beloved mother, is a Black woman pastor who has served with great love, patience, and dedication in Christian communities all over the United States – and now she needs of our help. Despite years of loyal service to the ELCA, she is without health insurance and in need if important cataract surgery. Can you help me to raise $9,500.00 to help pay for this important procedure? She has given so much to so many of us and, as the body of Christ, it is time for us to show my mother how much she is loved. Please give $30, $60, $100 so my mother can rest assured that her needs will be met.

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE

Venmo: @helenholling

PayPal: @helenhollingsworth53

CashApp: $helenholling

Please give and give generously!

Raeven King

A FULLER STORY

Descended from one of the first Black families to settle in Nebraska, Rev. Helen Hollingsworth was raised in Omaha and moved to New York, City in the 1970s to study theatre. It was while in New York, at the age of 19, that her faith came to her, her love and passion for serving God’s people, especially “the least of these,” became firmly grounded in her life. After returning to Omaha in the 1990s, within her few years her leadership abilities were recognized by ELCA pastors in the area, leading to an offer to start an African American mission plant in the late 1990s – becoming the first Black woman to be ordained in the ELCA in the Nebraska Synod. Centered in one of the most underserved neighborhoods in Omaha, her church – the Fontenelle Community Lutheran Church – she took to the job of pastoring and healing the neighborhood with alacrity and despite limited synodical support.

She worked in the community tirelessly, loving thousands of people, including many neglected, abused, and traumatized children, for nearly a decade. However, unlike her white colleagues, Pastor Helen was never made aware of the kinds of rights and perks of being an ordained pastor in the ELCA – she never received continuing education funds, never received a raise even once, nor given funds for a housing allowance. Sadly, such neglect, coupled with consistent underfunding the stresses of doing ministry in such difficult circumstances required her to leave the community in 2008, taking a call in Decatur, GA, and the ministry soon folded.

However, the community in Decatur also had its challenges. The exigencies of being a Black woman in ministry never ceased, and despite her clear gifts, passion for worship and community outreach, she eventually had to resign the position in 2012, after only four years. Worse, when she left the congregation still owed her $11,000.00, withholding payment from her until the bishop’s office of the Southeastern Synod eventually intervened several months after her departure. She would never serve another call in an ELCA congregation ever again – her career with the ELCA lasting only 13 years.

Yet despite this, she never ceased to be an active presence in her synod. She has continued to teach, preach, and lead, often taking part in activism, special projects and continuing to be a presence in the broader church despite the way our denomination has treated her in the past. It is important for us, then, to help and make sure that Rev. Hollingsworth has the funds that she needs for her surgery, all the more so since she does not have health insurance.

So please, give and give generously and ask your friends to share as well!