Pondering Meaningful Ministry on International Women's Day

 

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well. 

Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but also all the churches of the gentiles.  Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert in Asia for Christ. Greet Mary, who has worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Israelites who were in prison with me; they are prominent among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was... Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa.

                                         Romans 7:17 NRSVue

The Google Doodle for today shows women in various roles, of different colours, and backgrounds. This is International Women's Day so of course this is the theme.

When I first saw the person on the left I thought preacher or pastor before I realized that she is probably meant to be a politician. The United Church has ordained women for a long tim. I've written before about Lydia Gruchy, the first woman to be ordained in the United Church in 1936, although she graduated from seminary in 1923. Not only did she face barriers to ordination, even though she served congregations, when she was ordained she waited seven years before she was called to congregational ministry. I've also noted that from what I can gather my graduation year from seminary, 1980, was the last year at Emmanuel College where men outnumbered women in training for the ministry. 

Through the decades I served alongside a host of capable, faithful women in ministry, although too often they faced barriers, silly assumptions, and prejudices because of their gender. On the last Sunday before I left St. Andrew's United Church in Sudbury after eleven years in that pastorate I let people know that there was a carved inscription in the pulpit which said "Sir, we would see Jesus", a quote from the gospel of John. The implication of this reminder was that a man would be entrusted with sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ from that pulpit. I suggested that it would be good if the congregation had the imagination to call its first woman to the role of lead minister (there were excellent women staff members in positions of ministry) and I was pleased when my successor was a woman. 

Recently the Southern Baptist Church in the United States kicked out five congregations which have chosen to ordain women, which is the congregational prerogative in that denomination. One of them, the Saddleback megachurch in California has  ordained three women as associate pastors, and named Stacie Wood, wife of the church’s senior pastor, a teaching pastor. 

The Southern Baptist denomination is still dealing with the scandal of widespread cover-up of sexual abuse by pastors -- all male "men of God" of course -- for decades. It took investigative journalism to bring this wrongdoing to light, and it's apparent that misogyny is still deeply ingrained in Southern Baptist structure. 

I included some of the opening verses of the New Testament book called Romans to point out that the apostle Paul valued the faith and ministry of women. 

It might be worthwhile for us to acknowledge and express gratitude for women in ministry today, in our thoughts and even our contact. I remember my late mother who served as a Salvation Army officer in her early life and even though she became a minister's wife always had her own strong ministry in congregations where my father served.