Women in Public Ministry & the Pulpit

I'm an ENFP (shock), so one of my favorite things about Luther Seminary has been the opportunity for independent studies. I love to dream them up, design them, plan them and track down a faculty member who has the resources and passion to say YES as an advisor.

Of 30 total credits in the MDiv program, 4.5 are electives (I think). Most of my independent studies have been for .5 each and have counted for some kind of core credit I have needed for graduation. This little ditty is no different.

Earlier this fall, two of my classmates and I decided to take some time to think about our future role as ordained women in public ministry. We knew that spring would move quickly and it was important to all three of us that we reflect and learn more about our own female and pastoral identities in this sacred time between internship and first call.

Melodi Hagen, Kari Casper and I designed this course with Dean of Students Patricia Lull and truly enjoyed it. Together we came up with a plan:

• We each chose 3 books to read that would engage our questions about this identity.
• We have been interviewing women in public and ordained ministry we admire and have questions for
• We have been journaling about our reflections about the books, interviews, and a scriptural passage that would guide and center us during this course, each unique to God's call in our lives right now.
• We planned an afternoon tea for several ordained female faculty that took place yesterday.

We were eager to share what we've been learning with them, but mostly curious about their stories and wisdom. For two hours we sat together, both in laughter and all seriousness, learning about their challenges and joys along the way. I confided that, until coming to Luther Seminary in 2004, I had only encountered two distinct styles of female clergy leadership and that I did not seem to fit into either category.

This campus blessed me with female professors, leaders, staff and mentors who had gone before me and found ways to be uniquely themselves. This surely guided me on internship, where I started on the journey of becoming myself pastorally and personally despite the absence of other women in or pursuing ordained ministry as local role models.

I remember the day my clergy shirts came in the mail last year (I blogged about it) and that I suddenly had a new awareness for the clash, blend and dynamic mystery of being both woman and pastor. I am grateful to this place for teaching me the things we are all supposed to know, but also for giving me the space and opportunity to learn the things I, Meta Herrick, am supposed to explore.

The finale for this independent study and our seminary career will be celebrated with a week that sounds like punishment to anyone less interested in preaching. Like kids in a candy store, we will walk among the preaching giants at the Festival of Homiletics during the week between classes and graduation, hosted by Minneapolis. While this might not sound like Disneyland to some, it is gold to those in awe of and humbled by the craft of preaching. We will soak it all in, five final days as little seedlings, before being sent into the world to be ourselves, both women and preachers.

How good it has been to grow in a place for four years that says YES to my independent ideas and needs. How good it has been to grow in a place where fabulous women take time to tell you about their pulpits and people, calls and wonderings. How good it has been to grow in a place where we are treated (rightly) both as little seedlings and as proclaimers with a powerful message of the Holy Spirit. How good it has been to grow in a place where you meet classmates who will spend a week at Preacher Disneyland with you, listening to and being changed by the truth.