Solving a problem like Maria
 

Little is known about Maria Living-Taylor, one of the earliest Baptist women ministers. Claire Nicholls delves into the Barking Archives – and discovers a difficult story  

Edith Gates, Violet Hedger, Maria Living-Taylor – three names that have become more well known in the Baptist world in the last few years, the first two more than the third….

Maria-Living Taylor – this Baptists Together article on her life lists a few facts – was initially called to minister alongside her husband John at Linton Road Baptist Tabernacle, Barking in East London. There is no photo, no detailed description of her life and her ministry, no books written about her.


Who was Maria?

I began to ask this question as I delved a little bit deeper into the history of Baptist women in ministry in London. She was a pioneer, it seems, but there must be more? I took a trip north of the river to the Barking Archives who hold an amazing selection of the history of Linton Road Baptist Tabernacle.

On 26 January 1920, the church meeting at the Tabernacle called the Revd John Living-Taylor to be their minister. He had, at the time been ministering in Nunhead, Lewisham, and he and his wife, Maria, felt God’s call to cross north back to East London, closer to where Maria was born and the couple had married (Plaistow, West Ham).

John duly went to meet with the deacons to discuss his terms of appointment at the beginning of February. The deacons meeting minutes from 2 February read as follows:


“Mr Taylor – ‘would your deacons allow Mrs Taylor to preach in the pulpit?’

Mr Reekie said that from information he had obtained from time to time, the history of our church was  a long one, its members were composed of brethren, seafaring men and a mixed congregation and ultimately had drifted into a Baptist church, the teaching no doubt was strict and there was undoubtedly still the undercurrent remaining, the idea of a lady preaching in the pulpit was a new innovation entirely and was to be taken gently, although it should not make to his (Mr Reekie’s) way of thinking one atom of difference whether it was a woman or man, service in ministry was first as acceptable in the sight of the God, and felt that in speaking he was voicing the opinion of a large number of our folk. Ladies have given us the gospel in the pulpit on several occasions, in song, why not in preaching of the word of God.”


And so it began, the ministry of the Revd John and his wife Mrs Maria Living-Taylor, on Easter Sunday 1920. Her ability to speak when John couldn’t be in the pulpit was celebrated at the recognition service…. But underneath it all, the undercurrent feelings of this new innovation of a lady preaching, it was there….. like a whisper….

Maria’s ministry continued – she assisted in chairing in church meetings, moving from “pastor’s wife” to being named as associate minister in the minutes on 24 May 1921. The 1921 census has both Maria and John’s listed occupations as “Gospel Ministry (Baptist Church)”. To all intents and purposes it looked like this was going well.

But that whisper…. ?

John was initially appointed for three years (on his request) and on 30 October 1922, the church meeting began discussing whether to extend that.


“The ballot was duly carried out. 337 papers were issued, 270 were returned. Result. For a new contract and a continuance of the Rev J L Taylor’s ministry here for 180 against 90. The Rev J L Taylor thanked the friends who had voted for him but stated that according to the rules a three fourths majority had not been obtained.
 
A long discussion ensued on the matter and brethren who took part as follows: Mr G Cooper – Asked that he might put a question. The chairman replied – Certainly. He would like to say in all seriousness the reason of the vote given was due to the co-pastorate he did not consider that the election of the Co Pastor was the mind of the church.”

 
The whisper becomes a voice…. and the meeting is adjourned.
 
On 7 November 1922 Maria Living-Taylor is added to the Probationers list. Later that month, on the 20th, the discussion over the pastorate of Linton Road Baptist Tabernacle continues. Another vote for John – not quite enough (although the members suggest it is just about there). On the matter of the Co-Pastor?

 
“The Pastor asked the church whether it was their wish to accept Mrs Living Taylor as an associate minister. Mr George Cooper stated that it is fundamentally wrong for a woman to take charge of any religious service. Mr Stanger remarked that notice should be given of such a motion on two Sundays previous to the church meeting. Mr Coates then gave notice that, at the next church meeting, he would propose that an invitation be extended to Mrs Taylor to continue her work as associate minister.”

 
The voice became a shout – the deacons, though, tried to ignore it, wanting to bring a motion to a church meeting at the beginning of 1923 to ratify Maria as co-pastor. The members questioned whether Maria’s occupation of a “courtesy pulpit” was something the association knew about? The Essex Association gave her a role, recommended her, commended her.
 
The meeting to ratify her position never happened.
 
Meanwhile John accepted the call to continue, just for another year. Maria’s name as Co-Pastor is erased from the record – her co-pastorship removed at the Deacons meeting on 12 March 1923 because the church was divided and her health was not good. The members weren’t consulted.  
 
In January 1924, John and Maria Living-Taylor made the journey north and left London to minister as pastors in Sion Baptist Church, Bradford, where the stories I have read mean it sounds like she encountered the whispers, voices and shouts that she thought she had left behind in Barking.
 

What went wrong? Lessons for today
 
The experience of Maria Living-Taylor is one that is not dissimilar to stories that are heard in Baptist churches today. The deacons think they know the church well, and they have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring the new minister feels at home, and they assume they speak for everyone.
 
Maria goes on to be placed in a position of leadership because of who she is married to rather than because of the call to the church. This means that issues of difference and theology are not worked through and the church meeting feels disempowered. The deacons seem to have taken too much authority and made decisions they shouldn’t be making from assumptions that are personal rather than corporate. No discernment went into Maria taking the position with the church and no vote happened in the church meeting, as far as the minutes record.
 
In parallel to that, Maria was gaining status beyond the local church – she was on the committee of the Essex Baptist Association, was added to the Probationers list and she was the second woman ever to preach at Ealing Broadway Palladium, where her sermon on Hosea was very well received.
 
Women’s experiences in settling in churches today vary from smooth and easy, clear calls, to knock back after knock back. Where on this line you lie often depends not on gifting or ability or even call, but on context. The church has never had a woman minister before – maybe this one can be the test case? The church says that it is open to women on paper, but in reality, they’ve never had a conversation, and the deacons and the search committee have made assumptions about what the church really thinks. A number of female Baptist ministers have never been through settlement because they are home grown – women anecdotally are more accepted when the church knows them already…. And those women are enabled to grow and thrive – but “better the one you know”, although it can lead to strong calling and effective ministry, is not the way most of us enter ministry.
 
The Project Violet request to ask churches to make their position on women in ministry in settlement clear is not to divide off the ones who only want male ministers, but is to make sure that women are treated fairly and well, and an encouragement to churches to speak about this before they get too far down the road. In response to this request, with a lot of help from others, I have put together a guide to help the conversations to happen. This can be found on the London Baptists website here.
 
And Maria and John? While Bradford seems as hard for Maria as it was in Barking, they ended up ministering for a while in Newport, Wales, where local newspapers show records of Maria preaching most weeks here and there. And their names are remembered there, displayed, unlike in Barking, where Maria does not appear by name in the church history along with the male pastors, and whose time was fraught with non-acceptance - that loud voice, so it seems.
 
After one more pastorate together in Clayton-le-Moors, Lancashire, and one just John flying solo, in Fallowfields, Manchester, John and Maria eventually left ministry and co-led a private school in Cambridgeshire. Determined to work together, valuing one another. I do wonder if Maria had ever really been accepted in Barking, their story might have kept them closer to London where their co-ministry first began, their lives would have ended differently - and we’d know more about the elusive Maria where the bare bones of the story of her ministry are the only ones widely known.  
 
 

The Revd Claire Nicholls, London Baptists Regional Minister.

Claire features in season 3 of the Project Violet podcast, episode 2, which asks: How do churches ensure they act fairly and in line with their beliefs when recruiting ministers? 

The resources for churches in settlement and those considering their position on women in ministry, prepared by Claire, can be found on the London Baptists website here. There are three:

1. Calling a Female Minister: A guide for churches in settlement

2. Women in Ministry Sermon Series

3. Calling a Female Minister: Church Meetings

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