Name: Anna Howard Shaw
Era: 1847-1919
Known for: Becoming the first ordained woman in the Methodist church and being a women’s suffrage leader in the U.S.
Badassery: Anna knew her stuff and went before the Methodists to be ordained, only to be rejected because she was a woman. After appearing before several committees—the Methodists even had them back then-- Anna’s exam scores were the best out of everyone.
The ordination committee, not liking this, told her to get out of the church, but Anna refused. When she transferred to another branch of Methodism and went up for ordination again, Anna outwitted the committee when they misused Paul’s words to try to keep women out. She stayed in the Methodist Episcopal Church and refused to attend any of their annual meetings. In Anna’s words, “So that’s how I was ordained. It wasn’t very glorious…it was rather like sneaking into the ministry by the back door. But if they won’t open the front door to you, what else can you do?”

Name: Martin Luther
Era: 1483-1546
Known For: The Protestant Reformation
Badassery: Not only did Martin Luther exhibit a boldness only seen once in a generation, he was also quite earthy. In terms of boldness, he stood up to the oppression and greed of his day, nailed 95 grievances against The Church on the door of Wittenberg Chapel and stood firmly for his faith regardless of the personal cost.

He went against the common teachings of his day that salvation was by works and that sin could be removed through indulgences. He also translated the Scriptures into German, giving power to understand the Bible to laypeople. In terms of earthiness, Luther believed he could drive Satan away with his own flatulence. He also never mixed words and was known for saying exactly what he meant.

Name: John Wesley
Era: 1703-1791
Known For: Founding the Methodist Church
Badassery: Wesley dared to suggest that laypeople could spread the message of Christ as well as the ordained and practiced that belief by allowing the unordained to serve as itinerant preachers. He inspired his followers to have a love for social justice, particularly in the areas of the abolitionist movement and prison reform.

Wesley took the church out of the building and away from the pulpit and began open-air preaching to reach those who did not attend church. He stood in the gap between those the church was reaching and those whom the church of his day had failed.

Name: The Apostle Paul, also Saul of Tarsus
Era: First century, died in about 64 A.D.
Known For: Apostle to the Gentiles
Badassery: Paul pulled no punches to communicate the message of Christ. He wrote in common language to common people and used common terms. He refers to righteousness as “menstrual rags,” he counted his possessions and his own acts of righteousness as “dung” and said of legalists who wanted new converts to Christianity to be circumcised, that if circumcision was that important to them, they should just go all the way.

Following Christ and spreading His message was serious business to Paul, who eventually gave his life and his head for the cause.