Kathy Manis Findley

Rev. Kathy Manis Findley was one of two ordained women in Arkansas and the first woman to serve as pastor of an Arkansas Baptist church. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama, and received an M.Div. from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

She did post graduate study on violence and victim studies at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, and received certification in child forensic interviewing from the National Child Protection Training Center. She is a certified trauma specialist with the Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists.

She served as a missionary to Uganda, East Africa, as a hospital chaplain and was founder and executive director of Safe Places, a nonprofit organization that provided care to child and adult victims of violence and abuse. She also served as founder and executive director of the Pulaski County (Arkansas) Children’s Justice and Protection Center. She enjoyed nine years as pastor of Providence Baptist Church of Little Rock and four years as pastor of Mt Ida Presbyterian Church.

Prior to moving to Macon, Georgia, she served as minister of worship at New Millennium Church in Little Rock. Though retired, her ministry continues through teaching, writing, spiritual direction, racial justice advocacy, trauma counseling, patient mentoring, and both secular and religious art.

She is a member of First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon and is active in the Alliance of Baptists, serving on the Alliance of Baptists’ Racial Justice Task Group. She served two terms as president of Baptist Women in Ministry.

She is a hymn text writer and is the author of four books and numerous publications. She is married to her husband of fifty-two years and is the mother of one son and grandmother of five grandchildren.