Pentecostal Preacher Woman: The Faith and Feminism of Bernice Gerard - with Linda Ambrose

Linda Ambrose, author of Pentecostal Preacher Woman: The Faith and Feminism of Bernice Gerard (2024, UBC Press) presents at the British Columbia Historical Federation's annual conference on May 3, 2025 in Williams Lake. Ambrose provides a summary of her book, the winner of the 2025 Lieutenant Governor's prize for historical writing. Bernice Gerard (1923-2008) was an evangelical pastor, talk-show host, university chaplain, municipal politician, and a musician. The book explores her multifaceted life describing her as one of the most influential spiritual figures of twentieth-century British Columbia, whose complicated blend of social conservatism and social compassion has lessons for our polarized times. Based on Reverend Gerard’s personal archives and life writing, Pentecostal Preacher Woman foregrounds her own voice to trace the complex evolution of a conservative woman’s ideas about faith and society.