PASTOR AS MIDWIFE: BRINGING A NECESSARY VOICE & VISION

Lutheran, The, Sep 2005 by Meyer, Emily

As I held firmly to the leg of a female parishioner, the Spirit revealed to me one thing: As a woman, I could contribute something in the role of ordained clergy that most men could and probably should not. I could be here, holding this woman's leg as she gave birth.

Weeks later I held God's leg, as it were, as the same baby was birthed from the Spirit's baptismal womb amid Christ's people. It was a remarkable, unforgettable, beautiful gift. As a woman, I was uniquely able to share in this family's experiences. In these events, I received a glimpse of why God called me to be a pastor.

Pastor as midwife: This has been a theme for me throughout my ministry. God is always bringing something new to birth.

This year God and the pioneers and forerunners of women's ordination will be thanked and applauded. But the fact that we still regard these ordinations as remarkable after 35 years means the Spirit's work isn't complete. It seems God's work in the church and in our culture isn't yet fulfilled. And it may be that women-including me -are to be the midwives of what God will bring to birth next.

The 25th anniversary of women's ordination happened while I was in seminary. It was then that I began to fully appreciate the challenges faced by the women who had gone before me. My female classmates and I endured sexual harassment from some male seminarians and encountered challenges in candidacy committees, internships and first-call interviews that our male counterparts didn't.

Through these experiences, I became aware of how daunting it must have been for those first women who didn't have female mentors, the full support of home congregations and seminary faculties, and precedence to back them.

Thirty-five years after Elizabeth Platz became the first woman ordained in the former Lutheran Church in America, female clergy continue to face discrimination. During a first-call interview, a seminary classmate heard this from a Ford owner: "After having a man for a pastor, hiring a woman would be like going from a Ford to a Chevy." I've heard too many stories of both public and private comments to deny that systemic discrimination against women is alive and well in the ELCA.

Always possible

Born Nov. 22, 1970 -the day the first woman was ordained in the LCAI've always known I could be a pastor. I'm grateful to those who made ' that first ordination possible and for all that has happened since: ELCA reports show that women make up half of seminary student bodies, female professors teach in our seminaries and we have seven women serving as bishops (not enough, but better than none).

My maternal grandpa (a pastor) used to say, "It's better to get on the inside and bite than to stand outside and bark." The time for barking is over. My generation is called to give thanks for the efforts of our predecessors by working as only those who : have access to the "inside" are able.

The responses of my grandmothers to my announcement about ; entering seminary illustrate the importance of my generation continuing the work of those who led the way.

My paternal grandma was a tough Wisconsin Synod Lutheran. She admitted that it would take her some time to get used to the idea of me being a pastor since she was raised to believe this sort of thing ought not happen. I asked her if four years would be long enough. She thought it might. Holding onto my dad's arm, she listened to me preach in our home congregation three years later. She said, "I think you'll do just fine." I consider this the greatest vote of confidence I have received in this calling.

Grandma was a faithful, strong woman who knew what she believed and stuck to it-until she experienced her granddaughter preaching. At 83 she was able to change.

It's in loving and respecting her that I grew determined that no woman should be second-classedespecially by her faith community. No woman should live never hearing her voice, never having a say in matters of faith, never having her person and faith affirmed by seeing and hearing one of her gender presiding at table and font and preaching the / gospel from a feminine perspective.

My maternal grandma, Même, was married to a pastor for more than 65 years, raised a son who became a pastor, and had countless brothersin-law and nephews and cousins who were pastors. When I told her I was going to be a pastor she jumped up from the dining room table and exclaimed: "Finally, a woman in the ministry!" and gave me a big hug.

Meme, surrounded nearly her whole life by male pastors, was ecstatic to find that one of her granddaughters would break the gender barrier in a family replete with clergy. Not that she didn't like the men who were pastors, she just knew women are uniquely called and gifted to the ministry of word and sacrament. Women bring a distinct and necessary voice and vision. She knew that having women in the ministry would mean that the word of God would become more accessible to more people and that an inimitably feminine grace would flow from the church.