Online Archives

By Melissa Lauber

As the clergywomen of the Baltimore-Washington Conference prepare to observe the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women in The United Methodist Church, some of them are growing reflective.

The Rev. Peg Click, who along with the Revs. Charlotte Hendee and Andrea Middleton King are compiling a book of these reflections, was startled recently when a young clergywoman thanked her for 'paving the way, and fighting the battle,' so that she could now stand on equal footing with male counterparts in ministry.

'Really?' Click wondered. 'The path is paved? The battle is over? Does everyone share that opinion?'

Coincidently, Sheila George, the wife of the Rev. Erik Alsgaard, the editor of this newspaper, was in London that same day conducting a global news conference announcing a viewpoint that directly contradicted the young clergywoman?s.

George was working as a consultant for the World Association of Christian Communication, which maps, on an ongoing basis, the representation of men and women in the news media worldwide.

On Feb. 16, 2005, hundreds of men and women in 76 countries (including United Methodist Women in the United States) monitored 12,893 news stories.

Click would probably not be surprised by their findings, which included:

• Women constitute 52 percent of the world?s population yet make up only 21 percent of the people featured in the news; 
• Eighty-six percent of all people featured in news stories as spokespeople are men. Men also make up 83 percent of all experts;
•  Women are twice as likely to be portrayed as victims than men;
• Only 10 percent of the new stories worldwide have women as a central focus. Only three percent of stories on economics and 8 percent of stories on politics and government have woman as a central focus.

More information on this study and ways for you to share your thoughts are available at www.whomakesthenews.org.

But why does it matter?

As George would tell you: 'News is the major source of information, facts, ideas and opinion for people throughout the world. In today?s 24-hour new environment, it matters profoundly who and what is selected to appear in news coverage, and how individuals and events are portrayed. Equally, it matters who is left out and what is not covered.'

This same sentiment feels true for the church. Gender bias can never be neutral. It always harms.

That said, I was surprised when I looked through the last issue of the UMConnection. In our news and feature stories we quoted 20 men and only 11 women. Our commentaries did better with two women and three men as authors.

However, I wonder if giving voice to men almost 50 percent more often is a reflection of the church?s bias or my own. I realize one issue of a paper can not be isolated to draw such conclusions. But it can be used as a pin to prick a feminist conscience.

There are times when I find myself wanting to agree with that young clergywoman, thankful the difficult work of the gender wars was won. But one doesn?t have to look far to find the folly in that.

The United Nations, it seems, struggles with a similar tension. In a recent statement they called for a celebration of the fact that the gender gap in education was more than halved in developing countries between 1970 and 1990, but expressed grave concern that women still represent 70 percent of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty today.

That feels hard to believe.

It?s also hard to believe that in 1981, this conference still did not have 50 clergy women serving in its pulpits. Today, 25 years later, there are 226, including retirees.

Perhaps they should all gather and make a pact now. Nobody should be able to say, 'You?ve come a long way, baby.' It trivializes the journey.

Instead, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women, every clergywoman is being encouraged to write a 300 to 400 word reflection to be included in the booklet 'A Bridge to Now.'

Click has a list of writing prompts for those uncertain about what they want to write about. However, she encourages each woman to write about her own story, 'from the heart.'

The reflections, which are due March 15, can be e-mailed to Click at

I can?t wait to read them.