Women in the pulpit are celebrating a new acceptance.
Not only are congregations warming up to them, but those who have experienced female pastors are now increasingly requesting women when ministerial positions open up.
”There is a growing acceptance of women in the ordained ministry of the church,” agreed Rev. Herbert Chilstrom, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, headquartered in Chicago.
”Congregations often need some encouragement to consider a woman (the first time),” he said, ”but when they do have a woman, it`s almost always a good experience, and then they say, `Send along a woman`s name` the next time.”
For example, Tamela Burkman, now director of pastoral care at Linden Oaks Hospital in Naperville, was the first woman minister at the First Presbyterian Church of Du Page in Bolingbrook.
”It`s a very traditional country church, and the initial reaction to me was tentative, but I was really able to build some bridges with that congregation about women in ministry,” said Burkman.
And after that, she said, the next minister at that church was again a woman.
In fact, women are becoming so accepted that there are even some churches that lament the fact that not enough women apply for new positions, said Rabbi Ellen Dreyfus of Congregation Beth Sholom in Park Forest.
”There have been a few congregations where there was an opening and they were eager to interview a woman but were disappointed because no one applied,” said Dreyfus. ”That`s a phenomenon we`re beginning to notice here.”
On the other hand, women have long been accepted in the pulpit in the Unitarian Universalist churches, where they have been ordained in the ministry since the 1830s, said the Rev. Linda Bunyard of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet.
Women in this church have been the leaders in women`s causes over history, she said, and in portraying God with feminine as well as masculine characteristics.
”It`s not an issue for us,” agreed Helen Bishop, district administrator of the Central Midwest District for the Unitarian Universalist Association.
”Unitarians and Universalists were both involved in the suffrage movement and have always been people who are open to equality in gender, race and ethnicity.”
Quite the opposite has happened in the Episcopal churches, where accepting women into the priesthood has been a struggle that has even caused a split in the denomination on the East Coast.
”We`re relatively a latecomer into the ordination of women,” said Rev. Chilton Knudsen, director of pastoral care for the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. ”There has been severe dissension in the church because of this issue, more so than in any other denomination in the Midwest.”
Still, she said, women are being ordained in the Episcopal church and sent into the ministry, albeit many of them find their first calling in a less desirable rural or inner-city location.
And, although the first line of women paved the way for their sisters to follow, some who had viewpoints some might call militant may have
unintentionally made the road a little rockier, said some of the women.
For example, Rev. Joyce Gulliford, now associate pastor at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Downers Grove, had to smooth some ruffled feathers at her first appointment at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Lockport after the previous woman pastor there had caused some rifts in the church.
”There was a lot of healing to be done. I`m a more conservative woman, much more aware of what women`s liberation has done for me, but not in a militant way,” she said.
That congregation ended up welcoming her with open arms, she said.
Rev. Wendy Peluso, pastor of Ottawa Street United Methodist Church in Joliet, said she discovered the same cautiousness in a congregation that previously had a more militantly feminist pastor.
”In another church I was in, that was the situation. The memory was still there. They were very hesitant,” she said.
But Rabbi Dreyfus decries the stereotype attached to a preacher who is also a so-called militant feminist.
”I don`t accept the term militant feminist. I`m feminist and I rarely wear army boots,” she said. ”I think there`s a lot of different styles. We`re all individuals and we`re as different as men are. There`s the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Men, according to the pastors, seem to be very comfortable with women pastors, sometimes more so than the women in the congregation.
”I got along very well with the men in the congregation,” said Burkman. ”Women sometimes are more threatened, while men are more accepting. I thought women would be more supportive, but they eventually came around.”
Dreyfus says whatever the obstacles, diversity in the pulpit accomplishes the goal of bringing the church closer to people.
”If we are interested in empowering our congregants and making religion more accessible, then it`s a good thing,” she said.
Within the clerical fold, however, there is some tension between men and women as competition for jobs escalates.
”My husband is also a Methodist minister,” said Peluso, ”and our experience is that it is the white men who are not even being considered for some of those positions that used to go to them, and we have been concerned about the way the men have been treated.”
Her husband is not angry with the changes in the system, just frustrated, she said.
”He can`t be mad at women clergy because he`s married to one,” she said.
Despite current strides, discrimination against women pastors still exists, some very obvious, said Dreyfus.
”Several years ago, when I was seeking placement, there were a couple of congregations that declined the honor of interviewing me and made sort of ridiculous excuses of why they were not interested,” she said. ”In one case, they wanted someone with more youth experience, and I had had so much I couldn`t imagine who they wanted with more. In another case, they wanted someone older with more experience. I had five years at the time, and they ended up hiring someone right out of college.”
Acceptance by women has been won by pushing themselves to perform beyond expectations of men ministers, said Rev. Ermalou Roller, superintendent of the Elgin District of the Northern Illinois Conference of the Methodist Church.
”Women many times have to perform on a higher level, and what that means is the local church experiences someone who is very dedicated and hard working, and they have a good experience,” she said.
Just what sort of gifts do women bring to the ministry that have won them a secure place in the religious hierarchy?
”Women bring a nurturing presence to people when they are in a time of crisis,” said Peluso. ”We have an intuitive sense about people that helps us pick up on their personal concerns and issues before they become too big. We tend to work on relationships, plus our preaching style is different although equally powerful.”
Women are particularly gifted in working with other women, said Burkman.
”Since I work in an interfaith environment, the Catholic women are always really excited and positive about meeting a woman in ministry,” she said. ”I know that I`ve felt very significant for women in times of miscarriage, birth of a child, hysterectomy, those uniquely feminine experiences. Also, women tend to see the whole person, integrating all parts of life because we`re always balancing, children and work, for instance, where men are more compartmentalized in their approach. Women see the big picture.” ”A lot of what we learn,” added Dreyfus, ”isn`t from professional training, but from being mommies.”
