Colleen D. Richmond examines the non-traditional preaching ministry of African American abolitionist Maria W. Stewart, who in the early 1830s used the Bible to challenge fellow citizens. Stewart’s public ministry was a response to God’s call to reform her world, yet she was not welcomed to the pulpit as a preacher. Therefore, her life became her sermon, and for almost fifty years, Stewart reached a wide audience through publication, public speaking, teaching, and advocacy for human rights. Using the religious rhetoric of her time, Stewart delivered a message of biblical justice still relevant today. Ms. Richmond is an Assistant Professor of Writing and Literature at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon.