The second Wednesday I was serving as Interim Pastor, I made the mistake of asking how many people at the church had had a woman pastor before. Only two raised their hands. Honestly, it surprised me because the congregation was so willing to accept and support a woman pastor. Suddenly, the responsibility of being their …
Last week was pretty momentous in my life as a woman, a minister, and a wife. On Wednesday, Sam and I found we were pregnant and expecting a baby in November. The next morning dawned my 30th birthday. My twentys were filled with school and searching (in America and in Germany) for who I was …
My week this week has involved a couple of different hospital systems. Each time I find myself wandering aimlessly in the hospital halls, I inevitably run into hospital staff and doctors all of whom are extremely helpful. None of the people I encounter in the hospital doubt or question whether I am minister (although I …
I’ve recently gotten brave enough to ask some of my female baptist minister colleagues, who have been ministers much longer than I have, what the norm is for salaries and benefits and overall packages for female baptist ministers. Notice I said female baptist ministers, not baptist ministers because unfortunately the norms are not the same. …
I’m reading Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy and in the midst of WWI there is also the story of the Women’s Suffrage movement in England. As I listen to their stories and read of stories around the world of women who don’t have access to education or the choice in whom …
The familiar anxiety crept into my stomach. It always happened when I ran into someone from my home church. I knew the conversation that was about to happen, I had engaged in it many times before: How are you? I’m great! How are you? Great, what in the world are you up to? Well, I’m …
A week ago, I was privileged to attend Pam Durso’s ordination. As I sat there waiting in the silence for the service to begin, I realized this was the first ordination I had attended as an ordained minister, which brought my thoughts back to my ordination. Although I had read about the ordination process before I …
I had just finished my first cup of coffee when it dawned on me. Leo was going to have to go to Sunday School. Leonardo Speedy Harrelson is our 6 week old African Tortoise who joined the Harrelson Pack over Christmas. Leo is a great pet as his bobbing head, burrowing, and love of kale …
Although I have been safely nestled into a welcoming and affirming congregation for over a year now, there are still many times I encounter people and situations in which I feel like an outsider because I am a woman preacher. This past week I had a conversation with someone who explained to me that couple …
Huffington Post just released an article that gives a run down of religious denominations that ordain women or invite women to be religious leaders. The yes column is almost double the no column. And yet, they also report: About 11% of individuals in a 2012 National Congregations Study identified their head clergy member as a woman. It’s …
