Chicago's Fourth Presbyterian Church has called a woman as senior pastor for the first time in its storied 130-year history.
And not just any woman.
The Rev. Joanna Adams is a real pistol. Kind of a cross between Bette Midler and one of those quintessential Southern ladies in "Steel Magnolias."
Adams, 57, who will begin serving as Fourth Church's co-pastor with the Rev. John Buchanan on St. Patrick's Day, comes to the 4,700-member congregation on the Magnificent Mile from Trinity Church in Atlanta.
"I've never lived above the Mason-Dixon line," Adams quipped during a phone interview from her office in Atlanta. "I understand there are people in other parts of the country who don't know any better than to put sugar on their grits."
She says she plans to give Chicagoans "a cultural education," among other things.
Those who know her say Adams' Chicago congregation is in store for much more than that.
"She is one of the great preachers in this denomination and one of the great preachers, really, in the Christian world," said the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the general assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, its highest-ranking official.
Adams' reputation for preaching is well-deserved, Buchanan said, adding, "She's a sharp administrator. Her church is an outstanding congregation. She's a warmhearted human being and people instantly feel a rapport with her."
With more than 2,000 members, Trinity is the largest church in the Presbyterian Church USA to be pastored by a woman. Fourth Church now has four associate pastors who are women and has had women ministers serving the congregation for many years, said Buchanan, who has been senior pastor since 1985.
When Buchanan, 63, retires "sometime in the next few years," Adams is expected to take over as solo senior pastor. Many churches in the Presbyterian Church USA, particularly large churches, have co-pastors.
Adams, whose husband, Alfred, is a partner in the law firm Holland and Knight, said she was attracted to Fourth Church because of its commitment to social action and its relationship with the inter-religious community.
In Atlanta, the straight-talking mother of two grown children, who was ordained in 1979, made her reputation working tirelessly on behalf of that city's homeless, work she intends to continue here.
"I guess on the surface it seems sort of odd that a Southern woman would be coming to serve a church in the heart of Chicago, but for some reason it seems natural to me," Adams said.
"How her down-home preaching style will play in upscale Fourth Church Chicago will be real interesting," said the Rev. Jerry Van Marter, director of Presbyterian News Service. "She'll stand them on their ear."