Pastor Dave's Blog

21 out of 25

As I often proclaim, I am bad at math. But sometimes the numbers are so easy to figure, even I can see it: 25-4=21. 

For 21 out of the last 25 years -- in other words, from July 1994 until now, July 2019 -- Woodridge UMC has had a female Lead Pastor. We recently celebrated Pastor Danita's official reappointment, meaning that number will continue to grow. The United Methodist Church has ordained women for more than 50 years-- and the earliest known woman ordained to preach came in 1866! So our little statistic really shouldn't be that big of a deal. But I'm convinced that it is. 

Here at WUMC, with that 21 out of 25 number, we're so used to having women as Lead Pastor we may be fooled into thinking women are doing fine in churches everywhere -- or at least all over the UMC.

Yet, even in the UMC, women make up only about 25% of our clergy. Further, women of color make up only about 4% of our clergy. Male pastors are more likely than female pastors to be appointed to biggest congregation and the wage gap is especially egregious with female clergy paid 76 cents for every dollar a male colleague makes. As followers of Jesus, seeking justice is our calling. Having an unjust and unequal pay system for our clergy makes for a horrendous witness. That is wrong and needs to change.

Simultaneously, we have to continue to change hearts regarding female clergy. This is obviously true in the larger Christian landscape where the two biggest denominations (Southern Baptists and Roman Catholics) refuse to ordain women at all; and very, very few nondenominational evangelical churches do. But hearts and attitudes need to change in the UMC as well.

Here's a video the North Carolina Conference of the UMC recently released. The Conference emailed its female clergy asking for comments they have received about being a woman in ministry. For the video, male clergy colleagues were asked to read the responses*.

(I really wanted to embed the video here so you wouldn't have to follow a link to view it. But, alas, the tech isn't cooperating. Please click the link and watch the video from the NC Conference.)

We as a church and as a society need to do better and be better. As we strive toward that goal, let's give thanks to God for those 21  years and counting -- and give thanks for the ministry of The Reverend Linda Foster-Momsen, The Reverend Linda Misewicz-Perconte, and The Reverend Danita Anderson. 

*This reminds me so much of the award-winning video Chicago-based sports journalists, Julie DiCaro and Sarah Spain, released a couple years ago. It's much more graphic, but very much worth your time and revulsion to watch. 

Time for #GC2019

And then there was one. 

One day, that is, (as I write this) until the Special Session of the General Conference (aka #GC2019) begins. 

Will it be (with apologies to Les Miserables) "one day more to revolution"...will the streets run with (metaphorical) blood?

Or will we find a way to emulate God's unity within diversity -- which we name and celebrate every time we use Trinitarian language?

Truthfully, I don't know and neither does anyone else.

Quick reminder of the basics: 

• This is the seventh in a multi-week series to help us be informed about -- and prepared for -- the General Conference #GC2019 to be held February 23-26, 2019 in Saint Louis, MO.
• Read previous entries in this series here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
• Those initial installments have (or at least link to) all the background information about how the United Methodist Church found itself in the position of needing both the Commission on a Way Forward and #GC2019.

Here are a few things that I do know:

1) Our own Pastor Danita is there at #GC2019 serving as a Marshal. Meaning, she will "be part of the team that assists delegates, guests, and staff, checking credentials, and providing information."

2) Pastor Danita is more serene about this General Conference than anyone else I have spoken to or read. She's been part of the United Methodist Church for it's entire existence (and then some). She knows our denomination. I trust her wisdom, instincts, and intuition about this. I'm doing my best to follow her example.

3) This prayer will be part of worship at General Conference, and our Northern Illinois Conference asks us to pray with them. We will do so together Sunday morning. 

4) Our Bishop, the Rev. Sally Dyck, recorded this message of hope for the church earlier this month. It's under ten minutes -- pretty good for a preacher!

5) We can livestream #GC2019 by clicking here.

6) For updates and news from #GC2019 click here.

7) Bishop Dyck invites you to join one of three General Conference Debriefings:

8) I know that no matter what happens (or doesn't happen) at #GC2019, millions of us will continue to pray, to preach, to teach, and to work until all of God's children are welcomed, affirmed, and blessed in the UMC.

Let me leave you with some wise words from Bishop Dyck's video message:

I hope for a church that can disagree about many things — including human sexuality — but can still recognize our connection and our relationships one with another. 

 

Unity in the midst of diversity means there is room — plenty of good room — for all of us and for others in the body of Christ.