Anderson retires after 28 years of faithfully serving women’s ministry

By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist

“Today, we want Tammy to feel what she so often makes others feel: seen, valued, loved, and celebrated,” said Terrie Harwood, President of the Mississippi Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). 

On March 7, at Garaywa Camp and Conference Center, a team of WMU and Women’s Ministry partners and Garaywa staff hosted a decorative, creative retirement celebration for Dr. Tammy Anderson, Executive Director-Treasurer of the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s Board Women’s Ministries/Woman’s Missionary Union. 

Around the full room, familiar faces shared an extraordinary connection: everybody loved Anderson. Stories of how she personally encouraged, served, and inspired people buzzed in the air. 

“What I love most about Tammy,” Harwood reflected, “is that her leadership has never been about recognition; it’s always been about faithfulness. Tammy has pointed others to Jesus. With a steady life, she has reminded us what it looks like to serve with excellence and love people well, and she has believed in women. She has believed in missions, lifted up churches, and strengthened leaders, and has done it with grace.”

God placed missions on Anderson’s heart when she was 13 years old, and her passion has never wavered. When she was offered a position as Acteens Consultant with the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, she had been serving on a church staff full-time for two years, hesitant to move to something new. Marjean Patterson, former Executive Director-Treasurer of Mississippi WMU, asked Anderson to prayerfully write out her dream for a ministry career. To Anderson’s amazement, the consultant job description matched her mission-minded dream perfectly.

Rebecca Williams, former president of the Mississippi WMU and WM/WMU interim Executive Director-Treasurer, as well as longtime mentor and mother-figure of Anderson’s, led the reception in an opening prayer. Williams was president when Anderson was first hired, and she recounted Anderson’s exceptional responses to seemingly impossible demands. 

“She is a really, really special person,” said Williams, “and MS WMU, you recognize that. I’ve been glad to be right here watching her. I’m so proud to stand here and say: Tammy, we love you, we’re so happy for you, and we kind of feel sorry for ourselves,” she laughed.

Donna Swarts, former Mississippi WMU president, commended, “Together, we have enjoyed the ups and downs of WMU life and we’ve experienced a lot of challenges and a lot of victories. To ‘let go and let God’ is filled with risk and adventure, but I think Tammy would agree with me and say that her life and her career have been shaped and formed by the people she met along the way. 

“Tammy, you’ve been a great inspiration to me and others. Your service in WMU and women’s ministries can be said as a memorial unto the women and children forever, ‘for you have turned their hearts to God, their eyes to the need, their hands to the gift, and themselves to the government.’ That statement was taken from ‘Covered Foundations: A History of Mississippi Woman’s Missionary Union’ written by Marjean Patterson. I am so thankful, Tammy, to say that you are a valuable part of that heritage and that legacy of MS Woman’s Missionary Union.”

Paula Smith, MBCB Director of Multicultural Ministries and former missionary, reflected on many moments of ministry with Anderson, serving under strenuous conditions those affected by Hurricane Katrina, praying “with tears” for missionaries, and hosting retreats for missionary kids returning to the U.S. for college, among many other nuances of missional ministry. 

From watching Anderson, Smith praised her creative ability to involve others in ministry, host banquets, provide delicious meals, produce training sessions for every age group, and “juggle it all into one event.” “I thank the Lord to you for your example,” said Smith, “because you earned your doctorate and encouraged your wonderful women at the same time.”

Pastor of First Baptist Church, Oxford, and former MBCB Men’s Ministry director, Don Gann, encouraged Anderson to embrace “that there is life after the Baptist Building” and to take time to pursue what she could not do when ministry was a job title and a busy schedule. 

“Over the years, you have worn more hats than most of us can count,” said Gann. “WMU has a million different nuances of programs. Some of the hats were your official job description, and you did them very faithfully. But others, only you and the person to whom you ministered know about. You didn’t just step in as a leader. You earned that leadership through the ministry you did for people all through the years. Ministries don’t just continue on momentum for 28 years. They continue because someone is watching the details, guarding the mission, and refusing to let things drift.” 

Dr. Jon Martin, MBCB Chief Strategy Officer, honored Anderson with a gift from her “Baptist Building” family. “Your service to the Lord has been a gift to the Lord, and as a result of that work, you now have a gift to yourself. So we hope that you enjoy your time in whatever retirement might look like.”

“If it had not been for strong female leadership, the global impact of Southern Baptists would not be what it is today, and the impact in Mississippi would not be what it is,” Dr. Shawn Parker, MBCB Executive Director-Treasurer, acclaimed. 

“You have kept pace with the most faithful in that parade of leaders through the course of history… At the table, (Anderson) is a spokesman for those of you who are invested in WMU, and I’m proud to report to you that she has never let us not keep in mind what was best for Woman’s Missionary Union. I appreciate the dogged, determined leadership that you have demonstrated in conversations, in meetings, and in presentations… Leadership makes a difference, and Tammy has been an advocate, a promoter, and a faithful, godly leader.”

During the pandemic, Anderson fell in love with homesteading, especially gardening and raising chickens. She frequently blessed friends and coworkers with fresh eggs and vegetables. Sharing her plans for retirement, she identified three words which describe her goals for the next season: renew, reconnect, and rediscover. 

“I want to be renewed mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually,” Anderson affirmed. “I hate to say it, but ministry is not always fun when it’s a job. I want to get back to ministry where nobody is paying me to do it… I want to reconnect. I have friends and family everywhere that are always on my heart and mind but I really couldn’t dig in deep in those relationships because I didn’t have time. Then, I want to rediscover who I am without a title. First and foremost, I know I am a child of God, but I want to know what this new retirement life is going to be like.”

Most of all, she expressed she will miss getting to see her many friends across the state, when work had her traveling regularly.

Seeking to use her gardening as a ministry itself, Anderson plans to share her surplus amount of freshly grown food with single women and single mothers she can bless. “I’m really excited to see how the Lord may lay that out before me in the days to come.”

At the closing of the reception, Maria Teel, Literacy Missions Consultant for MS WM/WMU and MBCB Administrative Assistant to the Executive Administration, offered a thankful and encouraging prayer for Anderson. Twenty-eight years ago, Teel was an Acteen when Anderson started as the brand-new Acteens Consultant. Like countless others, Anderson’s passion and service to Christ and His mission made an impact on her life.