If God didn’t want women leaders He ‘wouldn’t anoint them,’ preacher who ordained 6 daughters says
A Pentecostal pastor in Michigan who ordained his six daughters as ministers earlier this month says if God didn’t want women to be leaders in the church, he “wouldn’t anoint them.”
Responding to questions from The Christian Post about his decision to ordain his daughters as ministers while some denominations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, oppose having women in leadership roles, apostle Keith Barr of Keith Barr Ministries, said he is not going to argue with the Holy Spirit on the issue.
“The Bible says in the last days, in Acts, it shall come to pass that ‘I’ll pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, old men shall dream dreams. Young men shall see visions,’” he said.
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“This is a time when we’re experiencing a massive outpouring around the world and God is using men and women. So the people that would argue, I would tell them, ‘if the Holy Spirit does not want women to be in leadership, then He shouldn’t anoint them,’” Barr said.
“If that was true [women should not be leaders in the church,] then He wouldn’t anoint them,” he reiterated, pointing to influential female evangelists such as Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of The Foursquare Church that has more than 8.8 million members in over 90,000 churches across 146 nations.
He also pointed to his own mother, Patricia Barr, who after giving her life to God in 1963 went on to start the Revival Center in Pontiac, Michigan, in March 1980 with pastor Barr, her eldest son. She led the independent Pentecostal ministry until she died in 2005, leaving her son at the helm.
“My mother was a powerful woman of God. God used her mightily and the spirit of God would come over her so strong in the service and sometimes the Spirit would make my mother shout and dance. And my mother could dance her way through a minefield,” Barr said.
Pastor Barr ordained all six of his daughters, Gina, Katrina, Christina, Sabrina, Angelina, and Tina, who range in age from 24 to 38, during a special service with his congregation earlier this month.
“They’ve been in ministry with me their whole lives. They started out with singing, working in our local church, evangelism, missionary work. They have been with me to many countries” such as Mexico, Barr told CP.
“They love ministry with all their hearts. I believe that a person should not just sign up for ministry, especially full time ministry. They should be called,” he added, noting that he initially “didn’t have any plans for them in the ministry.”
He said that while his daughters are not being ordained as pastors yet, he might ordain them later as missionaries and evangelists.
Barr’s four oldest daughters are known for their singing, while the three youngest have formed a gospel rap group called “BLT” MLive reported.
Some of the sisters began preaching as young as 9, while the others have been leaders in youth groups at school and led revivals in addition to participating in missionary work.
“I love that I’m able to do this with my sisters,” Christina told MLive. “We all encourage and inspire each other, and it’s my prayer that we can do the same for other women and men.”
Apostle Barr added: “Though they’re all sisters, they all minister uniquely, with perspectives that speak to a wide range of people. Their mother and I have encouraged them to think for themselves, challenge each other, and challenge the norm. I’m proud they’ve done that in the best possible ways.”
Apostle Barr’s only son, Keith Gino Barr Jr., has already been ordained and leads a congregation in Rochester Hills.
