Narrative Summary
Interview with Mollie Duddleston by Melissa Taylor
Mollie Duddleston was born and raised in Texas. She grew up in a Southern Baptist
home and her grandfather on her mother’s side was a Southern Baptist pastor. She describes her
upbringing as “a very rich spiritual heritage.” She says she was very blessed to have sound,
Godly adults around her not only in student ministry but in her family as well. Mollie never
stopped being involved in ministry or in church. As a high school student, she had a very
influential student pastor who she was privileged to get to choose to join the staff. She accredits
her high involvement in church to the small town she lived in as well as the fact that it was the
“cool” thing to do. As Mollie went to college at Texas Tech University, she remained very active
in the church and in student ministry at the First Baptist Church of Lubbock. Mollie chose to
remain active because that is where she was taught and raised to find relationships though she
realized there are other places and things to get involved in while in college. She said being
involved in the church is something that has always felt natural to her.
When asked who her greatest influence in her religious life, she said she could not just
pick one person but she said, “clearly, obviously, the person of Jesus Christ” is the greatest
influence of her life. But when she began discussing people who have also influenced her she
described having a hero’s of the faith, which consisted of only two people: her grandfather, and
Kathy Ferguson Litton. Both these people influenced how she did ministry through challenges
but through different perspectives. Mollie believes that they both have taught her that, “if you
don’t show up for the significant things in life, who they are important to you and you’re
important to them- you can’t expect them to show up for you ministerially.”
This discussion on vocational ministry lead directly to a conversation about how Mollie
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became involved in vocational ministry, as that was not her original plan. Mollie Graduated with
a B.A. in Accounting and received her C.P.A. and she worked for five years as an accountant and
then moved onto California to work for a technical company. Mollie said fifteen years ago at a
Beth Moore Living Proof Live Conference she felt God call her to ministry. She describes the
call as sounding like, “ you will never return to what you have known, you will only walk
through the doors that I open for you.” Mollie described this as a nebulous call, she says that this
call is still something she uses daily as a guide to how to live her live and make decisions. She
joked with me that she never thought that she would do vocational ministry, she just did as God
asked which began with leading small groups in the church or having backyard Bible clubs for
children in her home, she became the Sunday School director at a church in Connecticut. She
describes these experiences as walking through the open doors which is how she describes
getting her job at Cross Church five years ago. Her job began as being the women’s minister but
now she is the women’s minister and the director of small groups.
Mollie identifies that it is difficult to be a woman in vocational ministry, that there are
real challenges but also great rewards. She said that in her current work environment, the
blessings are greater than the challenges. This she accredits to having the favor of her senior
pastor who truly believes in her. She said that having his favor is so beneficial because it
empowers her and she knows that other women do not have this privilege to be so supported by
her senior pastor in doing something other than women’s or children’s ministry. She the
described some of the challenges of being a women in her job, such as being invited to the
admistrative assistant’s lunch for the first three years of her job. Surprisingly she has never had
resistance from anyone in the church as far as staff goes but the most resistance comes from
people in the congregation, specifically other women.
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I asked Mollie what she thinks the role of women in churches will be in the future and if
she thinks it will change and grow. Mollie said she would never want a church to go against their
doctrinal beliefs but that women should not be only allowed to do what is expected. She said she
already sees a change in churches like Cross Church allowing women to do more. She then
discussed how excited she is to see how younger women and the younger generation influence
the church as they continue to grow. Mollie is very passionate with equipping younger women to
make a difference not only in the church but also in the world. She is very much looking forward
to watching the women she has worked with or mentored make an influence in other women’s
lives. Mollie Duddleston has a deep passion for the younger generation and cannot wait to see
how women influence and change the church. She is a lady with true passion and a hear for The
Lord as well as a heart for others, it was such a privilege to get to interview Mollie Duddleston
and to hear in detail about her life and ministry.
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