July 1, 2020
On The Ordination of Women
On Monday June 29th the ELCA celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of women’s ordination. this is an amazing milestone, we have come such a long way, and yet still having a female pastor isn’t normal.
Have you ever told someone that I was your pastor and they looked at you kind of funny or maybe said, “Oh I didn’t know women could be pastors.” or maybe even, “The Bible says women can’t be pastors.”
It’s okay, it happens to me all the time, at the gas station when I’m wearing my collar, at hospitals when I’m trying to visit you all, and even with some of my friends. However the most painful time this happened was actually this spring during quarantine after being interviewed by Fox 8. I went to get the link to their interview with me to email it to someone and I looked at the comments on the post. They hurt. Things like:
“She can’t be a pastor”
“Although she is knowledgeable of God’s word which is great . She knows God’s word never changes only people’s personal Interpretation who change God’s word to fit their lives 
“
These words were different than usually, they hurt more than the weird glances or head shakes that I am used to. I don’t know if it was because I was already feeling insecure about leading our congregation during this pandemic or what but when I read these comments I cried, I felt discouraged, and maybe even thought they might be right.
But then something amazing happened. The Church, you all the body of Christ showed up. Confirmation students, colleagues, and parishioners in this church took over the bad stuff and wrote glowing words of affirmation, taught people how to read scripture in a way that values womens leadership, and spread love.
It was beautiful, I’m still so grateful for that response.
There are lots of reasons that 50 years of women’s ordination should be celebrated and that women are faithfully called to lead the church. My favorite piece of evidence to support the ordination of women is this: In all four of the Gospels, the first to witness and proclaim the good news of Christ’s resurrection were women. According to a Lutheran understanding, proclaiming the gospel and presiding over the Lord’s Supper the central tasks for which some are ordained for the church’s public ministry. If women were the first to proclaim the Gospel- the good news of the risen Christ in all four accounts, why can’t they continue to do what they have done from the very beginning of the Jesus story.
You can see the post referenced here: https://www.facebook.com/fox8news/posts/10157001495297623
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