Being Girly and Pastor-like

Me at my Ordination in Dec 2012

I am a female pastor. Well, really, I'm a female AND I'm a pastor… but the two separate identities are so intertwined that when I discuss one, the other arises.

The topic of women in ministry is in many ways a very old debate and in others, still quite new. My church body, the ELCA, has been ordaining women since 1970. I had a female pastor in the church I was confirmed in. I knew that female pastors were rare, but there was never a time that option was closed to me as it was to women even a generation before me. 

I remember thinking, when I first considered being a pastor, that I didn't want to become a frumpy pastor. This is tragically judgmental commentary on how I felt about female pastors at the time. Most of the females I had met in ministry had short hair, dressed in pants and button up tops, and were not…. girly. 

From GirlsCantWhat.Com

It doesn't help that when I told non-churchy people that I was going to seminary, they often asked me why I wanted to be a nun and never get married….

The super churchy people (read: conservative southern christians) generally asked why I thought I could be a pastor since I was a women and "the bible says…." 

Let me tell you what the bible says about women! Who was the first person to preach that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead and that Christ had risen? That's right. A WOMAN. Behold:

Matthew 28 

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Anyone else catch that? The angel told them to go and tell. THEN JESUS TOLD THEM TO GO AND TELL. If that's not a call to ministry that is direct, I'm not really sure what else can be.

I digress.

Funny what you find when you
google image search "female pastor"

I love being able to be girly and be a pastor. BUT I can only do so because decades of women have gone before me who had to, essentially, become masculine. Wear clergy shirts and robes that took away their curves (and I mean all those curves). Stand behind pulpits built for tall men. Get called Sister (or Father, or Mother) instead of Pastor. Those women fought to be respected as pastors, as people, not just as women. I could not be who I am if it were not for them. (Thank you, thank you, thank you…)

This does not mean the struggle is over. But I will tell you that I get complimented every single time I wear a black dress with my clergy collar tucked in. I wear heels as well - wedges if it is going to be an outdoor wedding or a burial so I don't sink into the ground. I'm sure there are some disapproving glances, but many people are simply delighted with my style. I rarely, if ever, wear dress pants and a clergy shirt. Button up blouses don't work so well when you have breasts. Therefore, most clergy shirts don't work well if you have breasts. (I'm certain there are guys out there with this problem too??)

I can do my hair, wear makeup, throw on a nice bracelet or some earrings, strap on a pair of heels, and top it off with a collar. And I am glad deep down in my bones that I don't have to shut off some part of my identity to be able to be a pastor. I can be attractive and feminine and still preach the word of God. Those who know me know I have tattoos, that I swear and am slightly irreverent. And yet God finds ways to use me quite enough just the way I am - heels and ink and breasts and all.

Thanks God.