Lutheran Women Clergy Find Acceptance but Difficult, Incomplete

TECHNY, Ill. (ELCA) -- U.S. Lutheran churches have ordained women as clergy for 30 years. A conference for women "lead" pastors -- senior pastors of large ELCA congregations -- here April 25-27 illustrated that their acceptance has been difficult and not yet complete in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Much of the conference involved 55 participants in conversation about "leadership as a balancing act," said the Rev. Paula V. Mehmel, Martin's Lutheran Church, Casselton, N.D. There is a balance of "spiritual care and self care" -- a balance of "work, play and prayer," she said.
The Rev. Patricia Rome Robertson, rector for St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Seattle, led the participants through a series of plenary and small group discussions about leadership styles and roles.
"Women are thought of as nurturers but not always thought of as administrators," said the Rev. Judith Mattison, Trinity Lutheran Church, Evanston, Ill. "If you are a lead pastor, you'd better be an administrator."
"There is a substantial number of people who don't take us seriously, and so we are having still to prove ourselves," said Mattison. "Many of us build consensus," she said. "That's new to people so it's more work. It's more fun, because you involve people."
Women in leadership roles held traditionally by men are rarely trained for those positions in the same ways men have been trained for them, said Mattison. "I gained the most from those experiences as a young woman in the church, when I was part of the women's group," she said.
"You had a chance to work with people and to see the church -- see ideas develop and learn to be strategic," said Mattison. "Working with women and working with volunteers all the time, I learned a lot there."
"Ministry can be very isolating. It's not just a gender problem. That's true for all pastors, and so you have to have a support system outside your congregation," Mattison said. Women lead pastors "are a very little tiny group. So, just to talk together, laughing and sharing our stories, has been very good for us, good support. It sends us back with renewed energy."
"Just as you are changing the church, your lay sisters are changing the world," said Catherine I.H. Braasch, executive director of Women of the ELCA, the women's organization of the church. She reminded the participants that they are "leading servants" and serving a new generation of leaders.
Many people assume that a woman in a leadership role must sacrifice her family life, said the Rev. Melody B. Eastman, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Wheaton, Ill. "There are pressures, but there are also ways to deal with them," she said, adding that the conference provided "a lot of good advice."
"There is lamenting, but there's not a single whiner here," said the Rev. April Ulring Larson, bishop of the ELCA La Crosse (Wis.) Area Synod. "It is good that we have this kind of communication across the church," she said.
"We need to help people imagine," said Larson. Women will find more acceptance in leadership roles if people can visualize it, she said.
With her modest low-church upbringing, Larson said she finds it uncomfortable to wear a clerical collar. "It's hard for me, but I need to wear it more," she said. As a bishop she is expected sometimes to wear a pectoral cross and purple shirt.
"I quickly learned the power of symbols" when delivering a Bible study at a conference in Africa, where very few churches ordain women, Larson said. "They know it's impossible for a woman to be bishop."
The symbol of a woman bishop sparked their imaginations, she said.
With 5.2 million members, the ELCA is the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1988 from three church bodies which began ordaining women in the 1970s. Most other U.S. Lutheran churches ordain only men.
The ELCA's 11,000 congregations are organized into 65 synods, each headed by a bishop. Two bishops are women -- Larson and the Rev. Andrea F. DeGroot-Nesdahl, bishop of the ELCA's South Dakota Synod, Sioux Falls.
Bishops identified 105 lead pastors, at least one from each synod, who were invited to the conference.
Women make up about 18.7 percent of the ELCA's active or non-retired clergy -- 2,315 of 12,363. About 13.5 percent of all ELCA clergy were women -- 2,387 of 17,664 -- at the end of 1999. About 49 percent of Lutherans pursuing a master's of divinity in ELCA seminaries are women.
Conference participants watched a videotaped message from DeGroot-Nesdahl. She outlined several "things I wish I'd have known before I became a woman bishop ... a woman pastor."
"If you're going to be at the front of the march, enjoy the view," said DeGroot-Nesdahl, and remember that "view" when times are not so enjoyable. "Pioneer" is a charming title, she said, but it means "hard work, high visibility and high pressure."
The bishop told the women to use the "novelty" of their office to be a living witness to the Christian gospel, calling it "the power we have as women leaders." When asked, "What do women think?" she said, "witness to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ."
DeGroot-Nesdahl recommended that women pastors stay in constant communication with other women pastors and with God. "Call upon a sister. Call upon the Lord," she said. "I will continue to pray for you, women leaders."
In a closing sermon, Larson recalled biblical Easter accounts of Jesus' resurrection. Although women were the first witnesses of the resurrection, they were accused of telling "an idle tale," and only the men who came later were believed, she said.
"That idle tale continues to change the church daily," said Larson. "Sisters, keep preaching. You speak idle tales. Thank you."
"Daughters of the first witnesses of the Resurrection," she said, "preach for the sake of the church. Preach for the sake of the world."
The ELCA Commission for Women, Department for Synodical Relations and Division for Ministry sponsored the conference.

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