Northway Christian Appoints First Woman, Black Minister
The Northway Christian Church has announced the calling of the Rev. Virzola Jo-Nan Law as its new senior minister. Virzola is the first woman and the first black minister to serve in this capacity.
Rev. Law will be only the fourth senior minister since 1934 for the 112-year-old congregation, which has a significant history of long pastorates. She succeeds the Rev. Dr. Douglas B. Skinner who retired in April after serving Northway for 20 years.
Law will begin her ministry at Northway by preaching Oct. 28.
Northway’s Senior Minister Search & Call committee submitted Rev. Law’s name for a congregational vote in August after a nation-wide search. The chair of the committee, Samantha Durst, commented, “Rev. Virzola Law is friendly, funny, spiritual, Christ-centered, positive and inspiring. Her love of Jesus Christ and her commitment to growing and strengthening the faith of people with whom she comes into contact are unmistakable.”
Law comes to Dallas from Memphis, Tenn., where she served for three years as senior minister at Lindenwood Christian Church and for 12 years in various ministerial roles at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, a congregation with as many as 5,000 worshippers on Sundays.
Prior to moving to Memphis, Rev. Law was senior minister of Woodland Christian Church in Houston, her hometown. While in seminary, she served as associate pastor of First Christian Church in Carrollton.
Rev. Law received her bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Jarvis Christian College in Hawkins, Texas, and her master of divinity degree from Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Okla. She also studied at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a service sorority founded in 1913.
Throughout her 22 years in ministry, Rev. Law has been involved in interfaith groups and organizations that serve the homeless and disadvantaged, as well as camps and conferences for children and teenagers. She acts as a mission specialist consultant for the National Benevolent Association and is actively involved at the national, regional and area levels of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
