WOMEN IN ORDAINED MINISTRY
The Moravian - September 2005
The Joys Of Being A Woman In Ministry
The Rev. Maggie Wellert
Moravian Church of Sister Bay, Wisconsin
I am honored to be part of a long line of women in ministry — ordained and lay. The church and the world have been blessed by the ministries of women such as Benigna Zinzendorf; St. Brigit of Ireland; Mary of Magdela; Mary and Martha of Bethany; Elda Brune of Easton, Pennsylvania, a Sunday School teacher and mentor; Phoebe Palmer; Deborah Appler, pastor, professor, and mentor.
One of the great joys in my service with the church as an ordained pastor comes in the responses I get from women of the church. They are delighted and amazed — and I sometimes think, slightly in awe — to hear stories of women lifted up as illustrative of the movement of the Spirit, or parables of the life of a disciple, as holy and sacred.
Take, for example, the miraculous feedings, the many stories of Jesus at a table, even the ultimate story of The Table. Each points out the need of taking in sustenance, of being nurtured by the community that gathers at the table. Gathering, preparing, and serving food have been the tasks of women for millennia. Within the context of hymns and sermons, those tasks take on sacred significance. As a mother feeds her baby, with the milk from her own breast, giving nourishment and nurture, loving touch and calming rest, so God feeds us through communion, holy presence, blessed food, loving touch of the Eternal; hope and wonder are renewed. (Moravian Book of Worship, Hymn 659, v. 2). These symbols and words remind the entire congregation that all life is a gift from God, that men’s and women’s lives connect in a web of sacred story as we live out the Gospel Story.
An unexpected joy came the first time I heard an eight-year-old girl announce, “When I grow up I either want to be a nurse or a pastor, like Pastor Maggie.” WOW! Before my ministry among her congregation, she had no role model for the vocation of ordained ministry. It’s awfully difficult for a little girl to envision herself in a particular role if she’s never seen a woman do it!
My life as a Christian began in a church in which women are still not ordained. It is inevitable, then, that my deepest joy is in being part of a Christian community that was willing to look at its own life, consider the possibility of change, and then enact that change. Preaching, teaching, studying Scripture, providing pastoral care, and presiding at the Sacraments are part of my soul. This work is my passion in life. Without the opportunity to share that passion, that soul-work, would mean a deep withering of that soul-life. I am filled with joy to be part of a church that recognizes the gifts that women bring to ordained ministry and honors those gifts with a Call to Ministry. I am filled with joy to be part of a circle of women who serve God with humility, grace, and wisdom. “…so God smiles on every person, so God takes such keen delight in the praises that we offer; we are precious in God’s sight.” (v. 4)
Living Out God’s Calling of Service
The Rev. Janel R. Rice
Central Moravian Church, Bethlehem Pennsylvania
As a newly ordained woman in the Moravian Church, I often ask myself, “What kind of impact will I have upon people?” “What will people see and remember after they meet me?” Of course, I hope I have the opportunity to lend an ear to their troubles or speak words that will strengthen their faith and inspire them to live a Christ-centered life. But if they don’t hear or remember my words, I believe that they will recall seeing a young woman, living out God’s calling of service as an ordained minister in the Moravian Church. And when people meet a woman minister such as myself, I believe they will better understand that gender is always a gift from God and never a limitation on vocational callings. By being a woman in the ordained ministry, I can bear witness to the limitless power of God’s love and calling which transcends race and class and gender. Although people may pay lip service to the equality of women, there is never any substitute for the actual representation of women, not only in ordained ministry, but also other vocations formerly closed to women. And when a little girl meets a woman minister, I believe that she will see how God calls everyone, some to ministry and some to other special roles, and regardless of society’s prejudices, God has a special call for her as well.
Yet if people see me as a woman in ordained ministry, they will most likely also see my husband as a supportive and loving spouse of a minister. Seeing the pair of us, both pursuing our different callings from God, is not only an example of teamwork in marriage, but also in ordained ministry. As I grow in experience, I have come to appreciate the necessity of team-building in ministry, not only among staff members, but in one’s family, congregation, denomination, and wider community. My ministry is constantly strengthened by my husband’s wisdom and caring, my congregation’s support and helping hands, and my denomination’s vision.
Of course, I believe it is crucial to see a fair representation of women in ministry. More importantly, however, we need to see women and men, team-building and working together in ordained and lay ministry roles, in order to build the beloved and inclusive kingdom of Christ.
Feeling a Call to Ministry
The Rev. Margaret Leinbach
Intentional Interim Pastor Southern Province
My younger brother Charlie and I were playing “church” with two playmates from our parochial school. Even as young Roman Catholics we knew the most important part of worship was consecrating the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and then putting the small round communion hosts on the tongues of worshippers. We had a new cylinder of assorted “Neco Wafers” still wrapped in wax paper. We loved eating one of our favorite candies in conjunction with something both holy and important. And we liked the challenge of trying to place the wafer on each other’s tongues without touching them! But one day, when I moved to take my turn at being the priest, Charlie proclaimed: “No! Girls can’t be priests. Only boys can be priests.” The reality of the world intruded upon our playtime, and soon afterwards we stopped playing “church.”
From an early age I felt a call to the ordained ministry, but growing up Roman Catholic I doubted my call was real, and received no encouragement for it. When I married Ted Leinbach, I joined the Moravian church because my husband in good conscience could not become a Roman Catholic, and I in good conscience could become a Moravian. Our parents taught us, and we believe, active church involvement is important for families. As a Moravian I came to realize that on my spiritual journey, I was overly concerned with some of the doctrinal “baggage” of Roman Catholicism and had lost focus on the essential of the journey, my relationship with Jesus Christ. The Moravian motto of: “In essentials unity; in nonessentials liberty; and in all things love” resonated with me as a profound truth in living out the Great Commandment — to love God with my whole heart, mind, and soul, and to love my neighbor as myself.
Even though the Moravian church officially welcomes women into the ordained ministry, I continued to have a tough time believing the inner voice calling me to it. When the voice became more insistent in my early forties, I still doubted. It was too much to ask my husband and daughters to give up job, friends, and lives they loved for the pilgrim life of a Moravian pastor’s family. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” is one of those wise family sayings! Also, as I observed pastors, I did not feel at all drawn to the ministry they were called to. I kept asking that inner voice: how can I really be called to the ordained ministry if it involves giving up so much good stuff in my family’s lives, and if what I observe pastors doing and being doesn’t feel right for me?
As I look back over the last 12 years, there were a series of baby steps taken and new friendships formed, which brought me into the second class of the new Divinity School at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the fall of 2000. I became a full time student intuitively knowing that it was “the next right step” for me and doable from a family perspective. Still I did not feel called to regular parish ministry. I asked the Provincial Elders’ Conference for help in discerning what kind of vocation God was calling me to — where (to paraphrase Fredrick Beuchner) “my deepest joy met the Moravian church’s great need.” One of the many needs mentioned by the PEC was for an intentional interim pastor.
Through the Divinity school’s relationship with The Center for Congregational Health at Baptist Hospital, and with financial help from the Southern Provincial Women’s Board, I received special training to be certified as an Intentional Interim Pastor. My student intern placement with a congregation engaged in an intentional interim under the leadership of an experienced intentional interim woman pastor, confirmed my gifts, my passion, and my energy for intentional interim ministry. Also having been a vice chair of elders leading a Moravian congregation through a call process, and experiencing a “maintenance” interim pastor, I knew first hand that congregations were missing opportunities having an intentional interim pastor gives.
Scripture is rich with examples of special transition times (interim times) for God’s people. Biblical stories of people and communities being in transitions were pivotal times, times of renewal, times when the Holy Spirit is particularly active. The interim time is perhaps a congregation’s greatest short-term opportunity to positively influence their future. My research within our southern province, and the research from other denominations, shows there are unique challenges and opportunities for congregations during this time, and having a trained intentional interim pastor greatly aids the congregation in capitalizing on the opportunities an interim time presents. My calling as an intentional interim pastor empowers me to work with congregations in a collaborative mode to first understand the congregational dynamics present, then facilitate the congregation moving to a place where it has a clear idea of its identity and mission. Once the congregation understands who they are as a community of faith and where the Chief Elder is leading them, then they can best determine what characteristics are needed in the next pastor to partner with us as God’s faithful people.
This past July, I completed my first intentional interim for a Moravian congregation, Fries Memorial in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The interim time went far better than many members and I ever dreamed! Outreach ministry, congregational energy level, worship attendance, financial solvency, and new members all went up significantly during the interim time. We “intentionally” tackled with grace, humor, and determination longstanding problems. But in the beginning, many members were hesitant or downright fearful about an intentional interim and having a woman pastor. Fearfulness and hesitancy are natural responses for us in new situations. However, once given the opportunity, members responded positively to my gifts and pastoral leadership as a woman. Their experience of me as their pastor in an interim time opened the Joint Board to having more choices and options of pastor candidates knowing that calling a woman as pastor was not the issue it once was.
I am grateful and blessed that I FINALLY accepted my call to the ordained ministry. I encourage anyone who hears that persistent inner voice to say yes!! Even if like me, you feel you can only begin with baby steps and take a decade or more to fully embrace it.
Women Pastors
Are Especially Joyful
Because…
My Top Ten
The Rev. Carol Dague
College Hill Moravian Church
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
As I contemplated writing this requested article about the “joys of being a woman in ministry,” I found I was having a difficult time singling out any particular joys I would have that any male pastor would not also share. I remember that I had been in my present call for about four months when a man, a long-time member, came to me and said, “I’m finally getting used to how a woman prays. And it’s okay. I kind of like it.” I was surprised because I didn’t think my prayers had a “woman’s slant,” but it did make me realize that perhaps others had a different perception! Nevertheless, even though men may be “from Mars” and women “from Venus,” neither gender is excluded from any of the joys (or the struggles) of serving Christ as an ordained minister. So, what joys would be unique to women?
Immediately (being a joyfully-minded person) I thought of a fun way to roughly characterize some joys that might be particular to women. Recognizing that there are kernels of truth mixed with generalizations and maybe even insensitive sexism (I apologize for any offenses) in what follows, here is my top-ten list: “Women pastors are especially joyful because they get to…”
10. Wear (and shop for) a bright array of clothes rather than being stuck with the monotony of always wearing a dark suit on Sunday mornings (a bright tie just doesn’t do it)
9. Share recipes at church suppers and bake sales without raising eyebrows
8. Attend Moravian Women events (as participants, not guests)
7. Hug men, women, and children without fear of misinterpretation
6. Help women see ordained and lay ministry as a valid, unique, challenging, and fulfilling response to God’s call
5. Nurture other women (and male) pastors in open, compassionate, and non-competitive ways
4. Encourage lay women to take on roles of church leadership according to their gifts and skills
3. Assure lay men that their leadership and participation in the life of the church is as vital as ever as they partner with women to serve Christ
2. Communicate and encourage emotional expression of empathy and comfort
1. Model the nurturing and mothering qualities of God
Of course, even as I offer this list, I realize that anyone could just as easily compose one from the male viewpoint! And perhaps that is the point after all; we are all in this together. For too long women’s unique gifts and talents for ordained ministry were not given an equal opportunity to flourish, which means, unfortunately, that the Church did not make the most of its ability to offer all-embracing ministry to a very needy world — a world that can only benefit from viewing life more from a feminine perspective. I believe that “joy of being a woman in ministry” comes from knowing that what we have to offer as ordained women is not only valid, but sorely needed, as we all — women and men — work together to build God’s Kingdom.
