Narrative Summary
Interview with Janet Hill by Kayleigh Lambert
Janet Hill was born in Washington. Being that both Janet’s father and stepfather were in
the U.S. Air Force, Janet’s family moved around quite a bit during her youth. She also moved
around during and after her college years. After living in Washington, she lived in Colorado,
Montana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana, and Missouri, where she currently resides.
Janet was born in the 1950s, making her 54 years old at the time of the interview. She
graduated from William Jewell College, with Bachelor of Science degree in music and business,
and she also attended Midwestern Seminary in the 1980s.
Janet was raised as a Baptist, but she was really the one in her family who took the
greatest initiative to be involved in a religious, specifically Baptist, life. Her mother attended
church and her father, and later her stepfather, went along with her mother. When the family
moved to a new place, Janet picked the church she wished to become a part of, and her parents
followed suit, becoming members as well. Janet’s grandparents, who were very devout Baptists,
played a strong role in her early faith and Christian upbringing.
The Baptist tradition of Christianity is central to Janet’s beliefs about life and afterlife.
She accepted Christ as her personal savior at a Baptist church when she was in the third grade.
She was baptized within a Baptist church as well. She remembers being in children’s choir,
children’s Sunday school classes, and a Baptist youth group. Later, she also attended a Baptist
college. Janet was also avidly involved in an organization called Youth for Christ; this was the
peer group she identified herself with in her youth.
Janet remembers that, back in the 1960s and 70s, things were different within the
religious realm, especially things pertaining to women. During her time with Youth for Christ,
she was not permitted to wear slacks, just skirts, and they had to be of a certain length. She felt,
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as she was growing up, that she wasn’t entitled to as many rights as a man. She believes that it
affected her self-confidence and the way she related with men. She says she began to rebel
against this type of normative standard during her college years. College, she says, “tampered
[her] legalistic view of life.”
Janet married J. Hill, who she said came from “The First Baptist Family.” His
grandfather, his father, and three out of four of his brothers, all attended Midwestern Seminary.
Being involved with him led Janet to become more aware of the politics involved with Baptist
life. She believed then, and still believes, that God calls all of us—man and woman. Janet grew
up in churches where women weren’t allowed to be deacons or ministers, but she is now the
minister to families at the church where she works. She says there was a split within the Baptist
community based on doctrinal interpretations on issues pertaining to women in leadership roles,
as well as those relating to the inerrancy of the Scripture—that is, whether or not the Bible is
historically accurate, word-for-word.
Janet believes the Bible is an inspirational book meant to give spiritual guidance, rather
than being a textbook of sorts. For instance, she does not believe in a seven-day, 24-hour period
of creation because time itself was created by man, and the recorded period is likely inaccurate.
She believes that the point of the creation story is that God created, and because he did so, she
feels she should believe in him, follow him, and try to understand him. For Janet, to follow God
and his teachings means that she will live her life better. She feels that if she does this properly,
then she will be happier and treat people better. Over her lifetime, Janet has gone from seeing
God as a policeman to more of a father figure, something she feels has given her the confidence
she needs to be a religious leader.
Janet was greatly influenced by her in-laws and also by R., a fellow student in seminary.
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She said he was the first person she knew of that had, “surrendered to be a minister to children.”
She said after speaking with him, she knew she was being called to children’s ministry, and that
there was no turning back at that point. Prior to that encounter, Janet was entertaining the idea of
managing a music presenting organization, hence her degree in music and business.
The church where Janet currently works is a group of Baptists who are more liberal in
their religious views than some other Baptist churches. Women hold leadership positions and are
heard on the church boards. Janet’s social life revolves around this church as well. Her friends,
co-workers, and family can all be found within the social structure of University Heights Baptist
Church (UHBC). She is on the Advisory Board for the Baptist Women Administry for Missouri,
in addition to being the minister to families at UHBC.
Janet has three children of her own. Her oldest children are both married, while her
youngest is still in high school. They have participated in church worship, functions, groups, and
events, as well as in home prayers and practices with Janet and her husband since childhood.
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