In 1984 Prescott ordained a woman to the Gospel ministry, and in 1987 the church called Nancy Hastings Sehested as senior pastor, another first for area Southern Baptists. The Shelby County Baptist Association voted to "disfellowship" the church for its decision, one that Prescott's members voted 100% to reaffirm prior to the Association's vote. The controversy generated widespread media attention, local, national, and international, including The Washington Post, the BBC, and a Designing Women sitcom episode. All of this gave Prescott an unexpected opportunity to bear public witness for the truth that God calls men and women equally to Christian service.

In 1983, unhappy with the increasingly fundamentalist direction of the SBC, the congregation voted to align dually with American Baptist Churches U.S.A.

In 1987, the Shelby County
Baptist Association
"disfellowshipped" the church
for its decision to install
a female pastor.

• Introduction
• The Sixties
• The Seventies
• The Nineties
• The New Century
• Pastors 1962–Present

Prescott Memorial Baptist Church
961 Getwell Road
Memphis TN 38111