Biography
The Rev. Dr. Ella P. Mitchell is a teacher, preacher, and outstanding church woman from Atlanta, Georgia. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Dr. Mitchell graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she met her husband Dr. Henry H. Mitchell, with whom she has ministered for over fifty years. Together, they are co-mentors in the Doctor of Ministry Program at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, and were founders of the Ecumenical Center for Black Church Studies in Los Angeles. Dr. Ella was the first woman Dean of Sisters Chapel at Spelman College and also taught at the American Baptist Seminary of the West and the School of Theology at Claremont. Dr. Mitchell is the editor of three volumes of the series, Those Preaching Women, and, with her husband, has completed the first draft of their joint autobiography, Together for Good.

All Flesh is Eligible!

As a woman, I have greatly enjoyed the prophet Joel's famous words about God pouring out the spirit on all flesh. Recently, however, I have sensed a scope of meaning here that is startling to say the least. So I entered into a kind of prayerful meditation/conversation with God about this "all flesh." I invite you to turn up your spiritual imagination and listen in on the flow, as it were:

Ella: "O gracious, almighty Creator, I am humbly seeking to know what you meant when you told Brother Joel that you would pour out your blessed, powerful Holy Spirit on all flesh. That was a broad and sweeping promise. Please pardon me for being so presumptuous as to ask."

The Lord made it plain that questions are always welcome and in order. Indeed we should never be so fearful or presumptuous as to wonder if our questions ever threaten God. Questions are a way of loving our Lord with our minds, as well as our hearts. Then came an answer that stretched my mind.

God: "Now, dear Ella, that ‘all flesh' is the hope of all the people of the world, though first delivered, of course, to Israel. It goes far beyond the ‘daughters' that I call to prophecy. That word all includes everybody you can think of in every possible human category: genders and social classes that Joel mentioned. I mean levels of education, and even ethnic groupings and all religious affiliations."

Ella: It sounded impressive but I still wondered. Surely not "all," when you consider all the people we would normally exclude from the prophesying role—the pulpit. So I just asked God point blank, "Will you actually pour out your Spirit without regard to formal training—folk whose backgrounds are very limited? I ask this especially since there are so many printed Bibles and other resources. No excuse for ignorance."

God: "My beloved Ella, I delight in the way my Word is circulated in print. But have you ever considered the fact that the disciples who launched the worldwide church were likely all non-readers, except for Matthew the tax collector? Are you aware that, as recently as the 1700's and early 1800's, these United States were amazingly revived in two Great Awakenings, most of whose preachers did not have nearly the level of the training you have? If the Western USA had had to wait for everybody to go to college and seminary, it might never have been won to Christ.

Listen carefully as I list some of the people on whom I poured out my Spirit. Remember that famous overseer, Francis Asbury, whom Wesley sent over, and who was later consecrated bishop? He came originally as a layman! And don't you know that I poured out my Spirit on his coachman, known as Black Harry, said to be the better preacher of the two. Since neither was trained as a preacher, did you ever wonder why Harry was the better preacher?"

Ella: I didn't have a clue. "No, Lord. I never really dug into that."

God: "Well, you see, I pour out my spirit on all flesh, and both Asbury and Black Harry received it. But Black Harry had cultural gifts that Asbury didn't have. Asbury no doubt had gifts in administration from England, and the Spirit used those. But Harry had story-telling gifts from Africa, and with those you can make the Bible really come alive. The Spirit needs educational and cultural equipment to kindle the flame."

Ella: "Are you suggesting that you give no particular recognition to the fact that some preachers go to the very best of schools? Like Yale and Princeton, Howard and Virginia Union and ITC?"

God: "No, dear, but remember that I pour out my Spirit on all flesh. Schools do not make good preachers, automatically. It's like it is with a piano. It does not matter how much training and practice the preacher has if the cultural system of communication is poor. But when a well trained preacher with cultural gifts is used by the Spirit, I have the best of both worlds with which to communicate.

Look at Priscilla. She studied theology by oral tradition, with no books or scrolls whatever. She learned while she and her husband mended tents with the Apostle Paul. When the fledgling Apollos came up short on theology, she was used by My Spirit to correct his deficiencies. Then Apollos could really preach.

And no preacher dare ask Me to reveal things to him or her that are easily available at the seminary. all flesh is given the gift of my Spirit only after they have done their best with what is already available. For young men and women today, that means striving step by step until they have at least finished basic theological training."

Ella: "Thank you, Lord for clearing that up. Please tell me about family backgrounds. It is a brutal fact that "all flesh" does not have "proper" parentage. Lord, we have a lot of broken homes, single-parent families, and teenage mothers with no marriage even considered. The children from these homes cause a lot of problems. How could offspring from such dysfunctional families be capable of being really used by an outpouring of your Spirit?"

I knew that the wisdom of God is true and righteous altogether, but I was utterly amazed at how God's Spirit is distributed.

God: (a new variety of voice came forth, a tiny bit harsh): "Did it ever dawn on you that My own Son's earthly family tree included a number of women with less than supposedly "proper" histories? The first few verses of Matthew reveal Rahab, an ex-street-person, as David's great grandma. That didn't stop David from receiving the anointing. And all through the intervening years I have poured out my Spirit on saints, many of whom had an unfortunate family background. In your day and age, you may happen to find a number of preacher friends who have come out of one-parent homes. But did you notice these preachers are at the top of the list, not the bottom?"

Ella: It was true. One night my husband did a lecture-sermon, preceding the main revival sermon. He talked about manger babies, and Jesus' family tree. The main revival preacher rose to preach and said, "I'm one of those babies who never knew a father." This giant of a preacher had been born of an unwed mother, in an unheard of village, but God had poured out more of the Spirit on him than almost anybody. The same was true of other preachers. No matter who your parents were or were not, all are eligible to have the Spirit poured out on them. It's been decreed from God Almighty!

But I had one more wonderment about those on whom God pours out the Spirit. I said, "Lord, what about the wannabe preacher-prophets whose morality is open to serious question? What about the host of preacher-men who, as they say, harass women? Lord, they are not included in the all flesh, or are they?"

God's answer this time was really shocking.

God: "You know very well that I pour out my Spirit, at times, on those whom you call grand rascals. You've seen it countless times, but Ella, you keep forgetting that I said all flesh is eligible. If I were to wait to pour out my Spirit on perfect people only, I'd never give away a drop. I know you rightly assume that you yourself don't go to the extremes to which some may go, but could I give any of the Spirit to you, if I demanded perfect purity?"

Ella: I was wiped out. I wanted to cry, or hang up the phone, or do something. But my all-knowing Maker and Creator and Redeemer read my mind and saw one last question, even though I was scared to ask it out loud: "Lord, don't you even care about those grand rascals who are so popular on TV?"

God: "Be not deceived, my child. I am not mocked. Those grand rascals reap what they sow, and don't you ever forget it. But all flesh is still eligible, and I reserve the right to pour out my spirit on all grades of sinners."

Ella: The more I think about it, the more I realize that the eligibility of all flesh has been in effect ever since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. Scan three of the greatest biblical characters: Moses, David, and Paul. God's Spirit was poured out in abundance on all three, and yet all of them could be convicted of first degree murder, directly or by conspiracy.

All of us are sinners. But all of them and us are still in that sweeping category called all flesh. And all flesh is eligible!

Lord, I hear of showers of blessing;
Thou art scattering full and free;
Showers the thirsty soul refreshing;
Let some drops now fall on me.
Even me, Lord, even me!
Let some drops now;
Fall on me.

Interview with Ella Mitchell
Interviewed by Lydia Talbot

Lydia Talbot:  We thank you, Dr. Ella Mitchell, for that compelling message that reminds us of the inclusiveness of all humanity in God's eye. Ella, when did that reality and the words "even me" first strike you in your own life?

Ella Mitchell: I think it must have been about fifty years ago, but I never had really dealt with the "all flesh" aspect before. I was thinking in terms of sons and daughters, daughters especially, and it has always been more the women's issue. But now I realize it is all flesh, no matter who, where, or when. It's to all flesh that God pours out His spirit.

Talbot: The women's issue. Now you had a dialogue with God in your message but you also had a recent dialogue with your own daughter, Elizabeth, who is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ—The First Congregational Church of Atlanta, Georgia. Tell us about that dialogue and the sermon that you preached together.

Mitchell: It was Women's Week at Candler [School of Theology] and they were speaking about the widening ethic. Everything has to be much broader than our little simple world. In the lectionary dealing with the story of Nahum, I had written out an outline of a sermon that I thought was pretty good, but when Elizabeth got hold of it, she said, "Mom, this is all about Nahum. We've got to find a woman in this story." So we looked at the little maid who tells Mistress Nahum that her husband ought to go see the prophet Elijah and he would be healed of his leprosy. You know where the story went on from there, but we got the little maid in and it was so different from anything anybody had thought about.

Talbot: Did you have any idea that one day you would be a distinguished academic, a recognized preacher by Ebony magazine, when you were a little girl growing up in your father's pulpit?

Mitchell: No. I had no idea.

Talbot: Well, we are grateful. You are a gift to us all, Dr. Ella Mitchell. It's a joy to have you back.