"Celebrating Women Pastors"

May 22, 2006

Spiritually Speaking
"Women Pastors"

"At the 1956 General Conference of the Methodist Church,
held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, an action was taken that
would change forever" the faces the world would see leading
the United Methodist Church through the 20th century, and
now into the 21st. As a denomination, United Methodists
are celebrating the 50th anniversary of this decision to grant
women clergy the same rights as male clergy.

There have always been women leading and preaching in
our denomination, starting with our founder John Wesley's
own mother, Susanna. But women could not be ordained
or serve a congregation in and of their own right. There were
many women who served as Circuit Riders in England when
John Wesley used traveling preachers to bring about a
spiritual revival in the Church of England. The rugged
conditions of colonial life, the many nights spent sleeping
under the stars and an allowance which only fed the horse
meant that men continued the Circuit Rider revival here in
America. Still, there were women like Amanda Berry Smith,
who was born a slave, but spent her adult life traveling the
country as a singing evangelist. Barbara Heck, known
affectionately as the "Mother of American Methodism" is
given credit for lighting a fire under her preacher cousin,
Philip Embury. Together they built and opened the first
Methodist chapel in New York City.

Though women have always held positions of leadership
and inspired much of the mission work in many congregations,
they were not allowed voice or vote at General Conference.
Frances Willard, who suffered public ridicule when she first
spoke in public about the evils of alcohol, was shouted down
at the first General Conference she attended. She went
on to be one of the founding organizers of the Women's Christian
Temperance Union. In it's day it was the largest organization of
women of the nineteenth century. Frances' desire to ban
alcohol had to do with preserving the family and making men
take care of their families responsibly. She also wished to
educate and train women to take responsibility for their own
lives as well.

Frances Willard was born in Churchville, NY. It was one of
the first churches I served as a pastor. Her portrait hangs
in the front foyer. There is also an old Temperance Union
water fountain reminding those who know what WCTU stands
for of Frances' campaign to rid the world of alcoholic beverages
and replace it with the purely healthy alternative of water.

Georgia Harkness was ordained in 1938. She had a degree in
Theology from Boston University and wished to make the
gospel readily accessible to people of all ages. She wrote and
worked tirelessly for years to make the good news of the Bible
something that was on the lips of all her flock. She also
struggled to gain full clergy rights for women. Her battle
lasted over 30 years and was a major reason that General
Conference finally made that momentous decision in 1956.

There is now a scholarship in her name through the national
higher education branch of the United Methodist Church.
I was awarded that scholarship during my second year of
seminary.

In every congregation I have served, someone has come up to
me to say, "I don't believe in women pastors, you know." I
do my best to smile, be polite and move on to another topic.
I am always tempted to say, "You'll have to take that up with
God because God called me to be a pastor." Accepting the
call to be a pastor was not easy – nor has the path of life in the
parish been peaceful.

It is, however, the path God put me on. I tried to go my own
way for years before giving in to God's call. When I finally
started looking for a seminary, I had already been preaching
as a Lay Speaker for five years. I would fill the pulpit while
a pastor was on vacation. One summer, I used the same sermon
in at least ten churches and got to cover a lot of miles in
central New York – often getting lost trying to find the little
United Methodist Church where I was supposed to be that
morning.

As God sent one miracle after another, I slowly accepted the
call was genuine and I was destined to be a pastor, no matter
how many folks did not believe that women should be pastors.
On Friday the thirteenth of June 1986, at the Northern New York
Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, three Bishops
placed their hands on my head and ordained me as a United
Methodist pastor. I was told "to take thou the authority to preach
the gospel and administer the Sacraments" which I have now been
doing for nearly twenty years.

There were three Bishops that year because two conferences were
merging to form one new one – the North Central New York
Annual Conference where I currently serve. Bishop Yeakel,
Bishop Ward and Bishop Stith all had sessions to preside over as
the details for the merger were worked out that year. Normally
only one Bishop presides at the Ordination service each year.

As a denomination, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of full
clergy rights for women. As a pastor, I celebrate the 20th
anniversary of my ordination as a Deacon. I remember with
gratitude the determination of Amanda Berry Smith who accepted
and lived out her call to serve God and save souls without being
formally ordained. I remember with an impish smile the pushiness
of Barbara Heck who called the men in her family away from the
card table and back out in the world to serve God, living out her
role as a doer, leader and organizer for God's work in the process
I remember with awe and admiration all that Frances Willard did
in her lifetime. She made the headlines as often as Queen Victoria
for her work with the WCTU, her part in the fight for women's right
to vote and her voice which was only temporarily drowned out
by the men of the church. I remember with affection and
affirmation the determination and perserverance of Georgia
of life for parishioners, is one I share.