Today I was doing some research for a conference paper I'm writing, so I was reading the chapter in the photo to learn more about early women Baptist ministers in Scotland.

As I read the stories, I was surprised at the emotions they raised - I'm someone who gets told off for being 'too stoic' but here I was, not sure whether to cry or rage at what I was reading, and the injustice of it all.  A story that could have been so very different, but never will be because of a context that made certain decisions at certain times.

It's not often I have to stop reading 'facts' to process my emotions, but today I did.

Today I want to honour Jane, Muriel, Marjorie and Beth, women whose stories are unknown to most Baptists in Scotland, and who courageously walked the path that led, eventually, to my own appointment in 2009.  If I encountered misogyny, prejudice and isolation - and I did - it was as nothing to these sisters or foremothers or whatever name we choose to give them.

I am not sure if I am made more sad or more angry by what I have read, but I am glad that I have read it, and will be sure these  names are heard in the story I choose to tell.