There she is, pictured on the right, proudly showing her wedding ring.

The Rev. Tamara Bennett of Sacramento is one of five smiling women who appear on the cover of a national Christian magazine for a story about successful female pastors.

To Bennett, the story is an honor, a recognition of her ministry and her south area church, This is Pentecost Fellowship Ministries. To others, it is an affront.

The magazine, Gospel Today, has been pulled from the shelves of 151 LifeWay Stores across the country.

The reason?

The article, "Female Pastors … Poised and Powerful," contradicts the teachings of the Southern Baptist Convention, which owns the stores. The church does not allow female pastors.

"We believe the senior pastor role in a church is reserved for a man," said Chris Turner, spokesman for LifeWay Christian Resources. "The article takes a position that's opposite from what the church stands for."

The stores still sell the magazine. Clerks, however, have been instructed to keep the September issue behind the counter. Customers must ask for it.

"This is the first time in 19 years one of our magazines has been taken off the shelves," said Teresa Hairston, publisher of Gospel Today in Atlanta.

"They make it sound like it should be sold in a brown bag," she said. "The fact is these are all remarkable women with amazing stories."

She said Bennett was selected because "she's well respected in a number of circles."

"The women we chose, Pastor Bennett included, are not fly-by-night. These are people with good track records," Hairston said.

There are no LifeWay stores in the Sacramento area, but the magazine can be purchased at other stores, including Blockbuster and Target.

For Bennett, 42, the flap over the magazine is another bump on her spiritual journey. She has endured much worse.

The daughter of a Detroit pastor, Bennett grew up in the church. At 21, she married her first husband – also a pastor – and for 13 years she worked by his side.

In 2000, he died of complications from AIDS. For Bennett, who cared for her husband until his last days, it was a spiritual awakening. "The hand of God got me through that time," she said. Bennett did not become infected with HIV, which she calls "a miracle."

With her father's help, Bennett became a pastor. At the time, the church had 35 members. Now, nearly 400 people attend the Sunday morning worship services. The church has a wide range of ministries, including a prison and hospital outreach and a food and clothes closet. They also have a growing youth group.

In her weekly sermons, Bennett tries to make her messages relevant to her congregants' lives. "I talk about real life issues from a biblical perspective."

Bennett's church on 47th Street is nondenominational. She said she does not want to get into a theological debate with Southern Baptists over the role of women in the church.

"In heaven, we're not going to be Methodists, Baptists and Pentecostals," said Bennett. "I just care about the Kingdom. It's all about the Kingdom." In 2003, she married Quentin Bennett, a chef. Together, they have four children. She says her different roles – pastor, wife, working mother – help her as a spiritual leader. "Pastoring is a gift from God," said Bennett. "I've been blessed."

Several studies on religion have shown that more women than men attend church, particularly in the African American community. Bennett said about half of her congregation is male and so are all the elders on the church board.

She said her gender has been a non-issue, which is why the Southern Baptist response caught her off guard.

She has talked to the other women pastors featured in the article about the reaction.

"We all feel that God is doing things with us," Bennett said, "that lives are changing, and we don't think that should be shelved."

Call the Bee's Jennifer Garza, (916) 321-1133.