Women in Ministry: Then & Now

A minister is much more than a preacher in the pulpit on Sunday mornings. Some of the other responsibilities range from teaching, to counseling, to administrative duties; jobs that both men and women are capable of performing. Congregations are made up of both sexes, so why have there been only male ministers in the Moravian Church until 1975, when men and women ministers would better serve the needs of the congregation?

In the August 1957 issue of The Moravian, Mrs. George Maish wrote a response for an article titled, “Should Women Be Ordained?” Her portion of the article, titled “Yes, Why Not?,” stated:

“It has often been said that a man does not choose the ministry of the church; it chooses him. Is it not possible that women might also be chosen? I cannot believe God shows any discrimination in his calling. In the past several years the Christian Education office has received inquiries from a number of young women candidates who because of church policy had to be given a negative answer. These requests express some active interest of women in becoming ministers of the Moravian Church.”

While women have shown interest in entering the ministry prior to 1957, it wasn’t until 1957 at the Unity Synod that women were approved to enter the ministry. In the October 1957 issue of The Moravian, George G. Higgins wrote, “One of the issues which was debated by the delegates with lively interest was the question of granting the provinces the right to ordain women to the ministry. The decision of Synod was that ‘in principle such ordination is permissible’ and that each province is at liberty to ‘take such steps as seem essential for the maintenance of the ministry of the Word and Sacraments.’” While it was approved by the Unity Synod in 1957, the Northern Province did not approve women for ordination until 1970 at the Provincial Synod. In 1975, the Rev. Mary Matz became the first female minister within the Moravian Church.

Even after women became ministers they met a lot of resistance. Many women initially served in the Moravian Church as Youth Ministers or Assistant Pastors; even though they were capable of pastoring their own congregation. In an article that was printed in the 1984 June/July issue of The Moravian, the Rev. Dr. Howard H. Cox, who has taught at Moravian Theological Seminary, stated, “One year I taught biblical Hebrew. This is a very demanding discipline. There were ten students in the class: five men and five women. Four of the students were really on top of the subject; their grades were always in the 90s. How many of these were women? All four of them.” The Rev. Dr. Cox’s statement shows that women are equally suited. Four years later women continued to face resistance. In the February 1988 issue of The Moravian, the Rev. Charles Eichman wrote: “Female pastors seem to fit comfortably into dual and multi-pastoral situations, but they are seldom if ever seriously considered as the sole or senior pastor. As an associate or a co-pastor they experience some early coolness, especially from other women, but find parishioners warming up to them as they see their performance, and even preferring them in some counseling or other pastoral situations! Female pastors, like women in other executive positions, have to perform much better than men in order to receive the same recognition!” Fortunately, times seem to be changing and females are beginning to experience more equal treatment.

Ten years after the Rev. Eichman wrote his article, women in the Northern Province of the Moravian Church took another step toward equality. In 1998, Kay Ward was elected to the position of Bishop. The Rt. Rev. Dr. Ward was the first female Bishop in the worldwide Moravian Church. Four years later M. Blair Couch was also elected to the role of Bishop. Bishops Couch and Ward are the only two female Bishops in the worldwide Moravian Church.

Next year will mark 50 years since the 1957 Unity Synod voted to allow women to enter the ministry. Over the span of those 50 years women have faced resistance and today, as a result of their struggle, the Moravian Church is blessed with many talented female ministers. In the September 2005 issue of The Moravian, the Rev. Janel Rice expressed an excellent reason why women have fought for equality in regard to the ministry. The Rev. Rice stated, “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.”

Kay Ward

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Kay Ward, who is currently retired and living in the Western District of the Northern Province of the Moravian Church, is the first female Bishop in the worldwide Moravian Church. Kay was consecrated a Bishop in 1998 by her friend and mentor, the Rt. Rev. Milo Loppnow. Bishop Ward is a caring and optimistic woman who looks upon her work within the Moravian Church as a privilege.

At a consecration service at Camp Chetek, when she was fifteen, Bishop Ward devoted her life to full-time Christian service. The Western District was always supportive of her decision to enter the ministry but, Kay does think that the candidacy process was awkward. The awkwardness existed because the church was still getting used to having female candidates. Therefore not all questions were applicable to females, making some questions seem sexist.

After her ordination, Bishop Ward and her husband did team ministry in several churches. The two of them would preach alternate weeks and in the early days Kay noticed certain families wouldn’t show up when it was her week to preach. In addition to preaching, some people were uncomfortable with her giving communion, presiding over weddings and funerals, and other more priestly roles, but others felt very comfortable having a female minister to whom to turn. Kay feels that being a woman gave her access to some situations that men didn’t have access to. Kay doesn’t believe she would have achieved such high status within the church without the support of her husband, the Rev. Aden Ward. When her husband used to read from the red Hymnal Book he would change the pronouns so that they were nonsexist. The congregation was much more accepting and understanding when a male was standing up for the rights of women in the church.

Becoming the first female Bishop in the Moravian Church, Bishop Ward felt both honored and terrified. She knew that women would be Bishops one day because that is the natural process of ordination; she just didn’t necessarily think she would be the first. Kay enjoys being a Bishop because she feels that the position provides more access to people whom she can serve.

Blair Couch

The second female Bishop of the worldwide Moravian Church, the Rt. Rev. M. Blair Couch, was consecrated a Bishop in 2002 by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Kay Ward. Bishop Couch is a caring and compassionate leader. After attending the ordination service of the Rev. Mary Matz, Bishop Couch understood how to fulfill the call that she had felt since she was in the 5th grade.

Blair did receive some negative feedback after deciding to attend seminary. Her father, the Rev. Paul Couch, gave one of the most negative responses. He asked Blair if she was planning on retiring and settling down to have a family after marriage. Blair’s mother then asked him if he had planned on retiring at the same point in his career. Blair wasn’t treated as negatively as she might have been because of her family connection to the Moravian Church.

Seminary was a wonderful experience for Blair. She was part of a neat group and there was an open curriculum, which enabled room for electives. Following her ordination in 1978, Blair became the first woman to serve in the Canadian District when she was called to be the Assistant Pastor of Rio Terrace Moravian Church in Edmonton, Alberta, and part-time District Youth Minister. She feels she touched the most lives as a Youth Minister because at the time she was single and she was putting her life into her work. Many of her kids have grown to be youth leaders and active church participants.

In 1995 she was called to Calvary Moravian Church, Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she continues to serve today. She feels that there are barriers that were once in place that are being broken down, but obviously, as one of the first women, she felt a lot of resistance. Because people didn’t agree with having a female minister Blair has had people switch churches, quote the Bible and argue that women shouldn’t be ministers, and, when Blair was a part of the Edmonton Evangelical Ministerial Executive Board, she saw men stop coming to the meetings because of her part on the board.

Blair enjoys her role as a Bishop of the Moravian Church. She is thankful to Bishop Ward for her leadership and for going through the transition to Bishop first. Blair wants to always work to be worthy of the position of Bishop as well as honor the position for future Bishops. Blair feels that there are some situations where the person makes the office and others where the office makes the person and she feels that every day she is growing more and more into the role of Bishop.

Andrew David graduated with a degree in professional writing from Kutztown University. During the first part of 2006 he served as a student intern with the Interprovincial Board of Communication of the Moravian Church in North America researching and writing articles for The Moravian.