Rev. Dr. Gail L. Rice is an anointed preacher, pastor, and psalmist. She extensively preaches and teaches for workshops, conferences, retreats, and worship services. In many instances, she has stood in pulpits as the first woman to preach, breaking glass ceilings in places that historically did not accept preaching women. Currently, she serves as Associate Pastor of Ministry Development at Freedom Baptist Church, Hillside, IL, where Rev. Dr. Craig Melvin Smith is Senior Pastor.
Her calling is to see lives transformed through the power of God. Her passion is to help people discover the joy and delight that comes in knowing and loving Jesus and serving others.
She is Founder of Fresh Fire Ministries and Curator of The PreacHer Collective, a ministry that gathers and equips preaching women to empower and strengthen their authentic preaching voice and to thrive in ministry. She has ministered in shelters and recovery homes, and served as a missionary in Ghana, West Africa.
Dr. Gail accepted God’s call to ministry at First Baptist Congregational Church on August 21, 2001, preached her initial sermon on February 8, 2002 when she was licensed to preach the Gospel by the late Rev. Dr. Arthur D. Griffin, Sr., and was ordained as a minister in the Lord’s Church on November 9, 2007.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts, in Organizational Management, Summa Cum Laude from Concordia University River Forest (2001), a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry (June, 2006), a Master of Divinity (2014) and was conferred the Doctor of Ministry degree with distinction on June 10, 2023, from Northern Theological Seminary.
Additionally, she is the Senior Director of Content & Programming for a healthcare information technology association conference, where she has been employed since 2001; Adjunct Professor of Preaching and Communication at Northern Theological Seminary since 2021, where she is also a member of the Board of Trustees since April 2024.
On May 18, 1996, Rev. Gail married Wendell C. Rice, Sr., the absolute love of her life whom God placed in her life “for such a time as this.” Together, they have three children, and a Shih Tzu named Lexi.