Do You Have a Female Minister?

[WishboneDawn]

And if so, what do you appreciate about them and/or do you notice a difference in the way you respond to them compared to male ministers?

 

Yes, of course this was inspired by the other thread. :) I've been enjoying that one and I thought it might be nice for the people involved in that thread to see what those of us with female ministers thinks.

 

I'm Anglican (recently came back to the fold - Agnosticism makes me look fat. :D) and I have two ministers in my church, one male and one female. This isn't done because of gender, more because Anglican ministers tend to come from outside a community and tend to move on in time so there's a newish program that draws people out of the local community to become ministers. Anyhow, it's been wonderful.

 

D, the male minister is very much the one who likes to challenge us intellectually. He's a the father figure in the sense of the father who sits at the dinner table and talks about current events. In fact, aside from homeschooling he's probably been the biggest reason for me waking up to the world, exploring my interests and working on my intelilect. P, the female minister is more the emotional center. She's the one that was drawn from the community so she has very deep family roots here and you can feel it. She's more of the ever-present and strong mother figure (God as mother is an interesting though), not sappy or emotional, sort of the strong farm wife who runs a tight but warm house.

 

D actually speaks to me more because I just tend to be drawn to the more intellectual side of faith but then, that's also where I get into trouble with doubt so it's nice to have P as a counterbalance.

 

I was also at a service a few weeks ago where a minister I know casually was part of the service. I've always known her as loud and witty but was pleasantly shocked with her role. She has the most wonderful voice and manner of speaking. It was slow and quiet and almost seductive but in the way a mother talks to a cooing baby or sings it to sleep. Definitely a reflection of the divine I'd never experienced before and one that was key in making me certain I was right to step back into faith. Apparently her homilies are a rival to D's so I'm thinking of attending her church a few times this summer.

 

I have a friend who a minister as well who is a blazing feminist. I've never been to one of her services but I think it would be an experience!

 

Anyhow, hope I'm not the only one!

[patchfire]

We don't attend church at present, but we had an excellent female minister about ten years ago.

 

She was well-read and very capable of communicating her knowledge to the congregation. She has a true gift for preaching and it showed. She was technically the assistant pastor, so she mainly preached on Sunday nights. I think Sunday night attendance increased because of that. :)

 

This was in a So. Baptist church. She can't find a ministerial job in a church now, so she works as a hospital chaplain.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

No, I'm Catholic so no such thing. However, I did interpret for one a couple of times. I was filling in for the regular terp so I didn't see this pastor regularly and have no idea how she is all the time. I just got a two Sunday snapshot.

 

A couple of nthings should be noted. 1) perhaps part of my finding it so strange was that I am Catholic and had never seen/heard/experienced a woman pastor before. 2) I don't really believe in having women pastors so thay may have played into it.

 

My reaction/feeling : It seemed very much more like a performance than a religious service.

 

If I hadn't been paid to be there, I would have left.

 

So, I can't say my experience has been positive but then, it's been so limited.

[Matryoshka]

We have a female minister, and the two interims before her were also, and her fill-in when she went on sabbatical last year. Our church is affiliated both the UCC and UUA, and both denominations I'd say have perhaps a majority of female pastors. At this point I'd probably find it odd to have a male pastor :tongue_smilie:. It's all what you're used to.

[Joanne]

I've had female pastors several times.

 

Their strenghts/weaknesses were personality - not gender - specific.

 

I've observed no relationship or pattern regarding the Pastorship of my clergy based on their gender.

 

I've had only one Pastor that I had issues with; he happened to be male. Actually, I have issues with my childhood church but that is related to the information and culture of the times (70's).

 

There are few professions that I believe should be gender specific (OB/gyn is one). I don't interpret the "men only in leadership" scriptures conservatively. I've found that churches that do are usually a step down the too literal/conservative path for me and my understanding of God and the Bible.

[Heather in Neverland]

I was married by a female pastor. :D I think some women make great pastors and would have no problem having one as my pastor.

[KingM]

We had a fantastic woman as minister of our church when we lived in Rhode Island. She gave great sermons and brought order to a congregation that had been floundering before her arrival.

[Chris in VA]

In my denom, we have male and female priests. All my experience is anecdotal--I find most of the females to be too liberal for my taste. Our priest (in the assistant role, but fully a priest) is a woman, and she's pretty conservative in that she believes the statements of the Nicene Creed and that Jesus is fully human, fully God and the Way to salvation. I love her to death.

[Dirtroad]

No.

[Dana]

Both my parents are ministers. My mom completed her MDiv before my father.

She was a single parent the year she started seminary. My sister was 3, I was 5, and my father was stationed in Korea. She handled learning Greek by teaching my sister and me the alphabet so she could get study time.

[Janet in WA]

We have an female associate pastor. I appreciate her passion and tender heart. But she shouldn't be a pastor. As I mentioned in "the other thread", she brings too much personal baggage to her job.

Edited June 18, 2009 by Janet in WA

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Yes, I have had female priests in the Episcopal church and female pastors in the Unitarian Universalist Church. I originally came from a Roman Catholic background, but chose to leave for numerous reasons with one of them being the position of women in the church. So I felt elated to experience a women priests and pastors as I believe that that men and women are created equal even though we are definately different:) In the bible, the risen Jesus appeared to Mary first and many think of her as the Apostle to the Aposltles:) Many also believe that Jesus calls everyone to the table. However, these are my personal beliefs and I recognize that there are many different paths to God.

 

 

Just my 2 cents:)

[Carrie12345]

I grew up with a female pastor in a Lutheran (Evangelical) church. She was married to the pastor of another Lutheran church in the area.

 

I was just a child, so I couldn't really tell you what the pros and cons were. Most of the congregation who complained about her faulted her for being "too young". Not sure what she could have done about that! ;)

[Kathy in MD]

As an ardent women's liber as in women can do anything (or darn near anything) they want to, I found it extremely shocking to realize that I did have a feeling that it just wasn't right to have a female minister. The feeling wasn't Biblically based, or logically based, it just didn't feel "right". (Every now and then I do tend to be a traditionalist. :D) So I spoke sternly to myself and straightened myself out. :D:D

 

Since then my dm had a female assistant minister she much preferred to the senior minister. The female minister didn't have the baggage the senior minister had. I've also had a female hospital chaplain that was great in dealing with both the emotional and the intellectual sides of religion. She was Hispanic and raised in several countries as a Catholic. She later became a protestant. We had some great discussions while I was in the hospital -- which that summer was monthly.

 

But I agree with the other poster who said that ministerial differences is more a personality thing rather than a gender thing. I've seen massive differences between male ministers. My favorite minister took current events and then checked to see what the Bible had to say about how we should deal with them. My second favorite almost never spoke of current events, but he could teach the Bible and hymns as no other minister I've ever had. I just wish I could have both of them again. Our current minister typically isn't as good as either of my favorites in the pulpit, but he outshines both of them with kids.

 

And don't get my best friend started on certain Catholic priests. She found these priests had NO sympathy, empathy or tolerance for young mothers with young children. I think she would require that all priests be married with children so they would KNOW what half their parishiners are going through.

[Peek a Boo]

We have avoided any churches w/ women as pastors or "Mr.&Mrs. Pastor" roles.

I have known women that ARE pastors and appreciate their knowledge and hear great things about them.

I'm absolutely convinced that a woman could do as great a job [maybe even better] than a man; but scripture seems pretty clear, so I defer to that even tho every fiber of my being screams "but why not?!"

[BikeBookBread]

We have avoided any churches w/ women as pastors or "Mr.&Mrs. Pastor" roles.

I have known women that ARE pastors and appreciate their knowledge and hear great things about them.

I'm absolutely convinced that a woman could do as great a job [maybe even better] than a man; but scripture seems pretty clear, so I defer to that even tho every fiber of my being screams "but why not?!"

 

:iagree: I guess The Lord knows better than we, huh? "Able to..." and "What God wants..." are two different things.

[phathui5]

The two female pastors I had at the Methodist church I attended managed to work there for ten years without teaching the congregation about the actual content of the Bible. It was all about being a good person, doing nice things and feeling good.

[Josie]

There are few professions that I believe should be gender specific (OB/gyn is one).

 

Oh no....please, I pray all the male ob/gyn docs don't quit. I seek them out. I much prefer a male to deliver our children. Nothing against female docs, but I just prefer males to deliver our children. Of course, I usually get along better with men than women, so that may be why.

[Josie]

She has much better sermons than the last three male ministers we have had. She really knows the Bible and is able to teach it to the congregation.

[Garga]

Like others have said, it's more a matter of personality than gender.

 

I've seen many women minister--as pastors, teachers, preachers, etc. and there's not much difference from the men. The only differences are personality, not specific male vs female issues.

[WishboneDawn]

We have avoided any churches w/ women as pastors or "Mr.&Mrs. Pastor" roles.

I have known women that ARE pastors and appreciate their knowledge and hear great things about them.

I'm absolutely convinced that a woman could do as great a job [maybe even better] than a man; but scripture seems pretty clear, so I defer to that even tho every fiber of my being screams "but why not?!"

 

I find scripture conflicting on this. 1 Timothy isn't conflicted but outside of it there's not a lot said. In fact there's a good argument to be made that Paul recognized women in leadership roles in his epistles - he even refers to one, Junia, as an apostle (she had her gender switched about 1300 years later ;)). Here's a good list of quotes to consider.

 

This is one of those matters I think the Bible is less then helpful on. Or maybe not actually. I guess I'm not satisfied that there's a straight answer but there's certainly room for thoughtful debate and more questions - which is something I tend to think the Bible is better at then just straight answers.

[Peek a Boo]

I find scripture conflicting on this. 1 Timothy isn't conflicted but outside of it there's not a lot said. In fact there's a good argument to be made that Paul recognized women in leadership roles in his epistles - he even refers to one, Junia, as an apostle (she had her gender switched about 1300 years later ;)). Here's a good list of quotes to consider.

 

This is one of those matters I think the Bible is less then helpful on. Or maybe not actually. I guess I'm not satisfied that there's a straight answer but there's certainly room for thoughtful debate and more questions - which is something I tend to think the Bible is better at then just straight answers.

That's a pretty good list of scripture, but it reinforces pretty much what i was thinking:

women obviously have some leadership roles [which is why I see nothing wrong w/ women teaching men in a class, or even advising pastors] and gifts, and are NOT to be deemed inferior, but when considered w/in the whole context of scripture it seems obvious that there is a line that is not to be crossed : the public image and modeling of Christ and His Bride at the head of a congregation. Equal status does not necessarily mandate equal roles.

[WishboneDawn]

You know your problem Peek, it's that you don't look at things the way I do. Please work on that. :D

 

I don't take the same message from scripture but I can understand how you reached your POV.

[willowcreek]

Our female assistant is actually a much better administrator, preacher and pastoral care minister than our head male. It is personality. I hear the way people think Scripture demands male pastors, but there are easily enough references to equal or counter that. I think it takes reading the whole Bible. It is easy to come up with a list of verses to support almost anything. Proof-texting isn't the same as understanding Scripture.

 

I understand and respect that some people don't believe it is right to have women ministers, but I would then presume that those people, while not agreeing, could understand and respect that others read Scripture, believe it, have faith and come to a different conclusion. It is not as simple as "I believe the Bible" therefore...The Bible is pretty big, pretty complex and requires us to hold together many ideas about faith and God's work in the world.

 

I've seen women do great ministry and bring their gifts to God's service in many churches, hospitals, etc. I don't think it is a gender thing, but I have seen great gifts in women ministers--and men, too!

[Peek a Boo]

You know your problem Peek, it's that you don't look at things the way I do. Please work on that. :D

 

I don't take the same message from scripture but I can understand how you reached your POV.

 

LOL!

 

I was just thinking something similar ;)

 

 

I hear the way people think Scripture demands male pastors, but there are easily enough references to equal or counter that. I think it takes reading the whole Bible. It is easy to come up with a list of verses to support almost anything. Proof-texting isn't the same as understanding Scripture.

 

I understand and respect that some people don't believe it is right to have women ministers, but I would then presume that those people, while not agreeing, could understand and respect that others read Scripture, believe it, have faith and come to a different conclusion. It is not as simple as "I believe the Bible" therefore...The Bible is pretty big, pretty complex and requires us to hold together many ideas about faith and God's work in the world.

 

I do agree that one can have a wrong interpretation of scripture and still be a faithful, dedicated, loving Christian. even me. :)

 

But like i was telling Dawn, it's not the proof-texting but the whole of scripture that reinforces the male headship doctrine.