Religion and Values

We knew her first

Posted January 12, 2009 by Carla Hinton Comment on this article Leave a comment
Many Oklahomans, particulary Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) members,  are proud that former Bartlesville pastor Sharon Watkins is poised to become the first woman to preach at the National Prayer Service at the National Cathedral come Jan. 21.

The service will be attended by the new president, vice president and a host of other clergy, dignitaries and lay people.

I interviewed Watkins in July 2005, right after she was elected to lead the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. She was the first woman to lead that 700,000-member group.

Watkins, 54, was still pastor of Disciples Christian Church in Bartlesville when I talked to her.

I learned that she has diverse background.

She is an Indianapolis native (which is where the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) headquarters are located) and daughter of an ordained Disciples pastor. She graduated from college with a degree in French and a degree in economics.

After college she took a volunteer position as a Disciples adult literacy missionary to Zaire (now Congo).

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BY CARLA HINTON
RELIGION EDITOR
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Carla Hinton, an Oklahoma City native, joined The Oklahoman in 1986 as a National Society of Newspaper Editors minority intern. She began...

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