Lisa Grabarek
{{short description|American educator and Baptist preacher}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lisa Grabarek
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Louise Norris Grabarek
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
| other_names = Lisa Grabarek Matthews
| known_for =
| alma_mater = Vassar College
Yale University
| occupation = educator, preacher
| spouse = Bill Matthews
| children =
| parents = Wense Grabarek
}}
Louise "Lisa" Norris Grabarek is an American educator and Baptist preacher. She taught at St. Catherine's School in Richmond, Virginia and at St. Mary's School in Raleigh, North Carolina. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, Grabarek was the fourth woman to be ordained as a preacher with the approval of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Early life and education
Grabarek is the daughter of Marion Pritchard Norris Grabarek,{{Cite web |title=Marion Norris Grabarek Obituary 2018 |url=https://www.hallwynne.com/obituaries/marion-norris-grabarek |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Hall Wynne Funeral Home |language=en}} a member of the Junior League of Durham, and Wense Grabarek, a politician and civil rights activist who served as Mayor of Durham from 1963 to 1971.{{Cite web |url= https://indyweek.com/culture/recovering-debs-podcast/|title= In a New Podcast, North Carolina Debutantes Take Their Gloves Off|last= Richards|first= Andrea|date= August 20, 2024|website= Indy Week|publisher= |access-date= November 30, 2024}}{{Cite web |title=R. Wensell Grabarek Obituary 2019 |url=https://www.gnvfuneralhome.com/obituaries/r-wensell-grabarek |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Gentry-Newell & Vaughn Funeral Home |language=en}}
She graduated from Calvert Method School, a predecessor to Durham Academy, in 1967.
Grabarek was presented to society as a debutante at the Durham Debutante Cotillion and Christmas Ball at the Durham Armory in the 1960s. She was vehemently opposed to being a debutante due to the exclusive nature of the tradition, but ultimately decided to be presented to appease her parents.https://www.wunc.org/show/due-south/2024-10-16/recovering-debs-unearths-the-complexities-of-north-carolinas-debutante-societies{{Cite web |title=Recovering Debs {{!}} All Episodes |url=https://recoveringdebs.transistor.fm/episodes |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Recovering Debs |language=en}}
She studied at Vassar College. She obtained a masters degree in divinity from Yale Divinity School, graduating magna cum laude.{{Cite web |title=Lisa Grabarek, M.Div. {{!}} Yale Divinity School |url=https://divinity.yale.edu/alumni/class-notes/lisa-grabarek-mdiv |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=divinity.yale.edu}}
Career
She was ordained as a Baptist preacher, as the fourth woman to be ordained by the convention, at Watts Street Baptist Church in 1974.{{cite news |author= |date= |title= Ordination Rites For Woman Slated At Watts Baptist|url= https://wakespace.lib.wfu.edu/bitstream/handle/10339/63165/MS615_Matthews_Lisa_Grabarek_access.pdf|work= The Durham Herald|location= Durham, North Carolina|access-date= November 30, 2024}} Grabarek's ordination was approved by a council composed of clergy from both the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Association.
She worked as a humanities teacher at Saint Mary's School, an Episcopal boarding school for girls in Raleigh, North Carolina. She previously taught at St. Catherine's School, an all-girls Episcopal school in Richmond, Virginia.
Personal life
She married Rev. Bill Matthews, a lawyer and former pastor at the United Church of Christ in Milford, Connecticut.
Grabarek attends Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-25 |title=Exploring the Bible |url=https://www.pullen.org/calendar/exploring-the-bible-2-lsn3x-357ms-yrd2n-3plwy-38k37-z38pm-f8tge |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Pullen Memorial Baptist Church |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:21st-century American women educators
Category:21st-century American educators
Category:20th-century Baptist ministers from the United States
Category:Baptists from North Carolina
Category:People from Durham, North Carolina
Category:Schoolteachers from North Carolina
Category:Southern Baptist ministers
Category:Vassar College alumni