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by Kay Barger

Perhaps my story will illustrate just how far clergywomen have come - the significant changes that have occurred for women in the ordained ministry.

In 1959, at the age of 12, I first experienced God's unmistakable call to the ordained ministry as I was attending a gathering of Methodist youth at what was then Western Maryland College.

I had no idea that just a few years before, the General Conference of The Methodist Church had made it possible (at least legislatively) for women to be ordained in our denomination. I had never met any clergywomen, nor did I know if any existed. I just knew that God had made it clear to me what I was to do with my life.

Would you believe that I never met a woman pastor until I was in my last year of seminary?

Most of the people around whom I grew up in Hagerstown had no idea that it was possible for a woman to serve as pastor of a local church. So most of them just humored me, certain that I would have to change my mind when I got a little older. I re-member the disappointment I felt when my pastor, upon hearing of God's call on my life, just patted me on the head saying, 'Honey, you'll change your mind.'

I remember another leader in my home church warning me, 'That's not what God wants a woman to do.'

Whereas many attempted to steer me away from the path of ordained ministry, there were a few who recognized the possibility that God may, in fact, be leading me toward ordained ministry. To this day, I thank God for those who supported and gbwc_superusered me in those years of my youth. If it hadn't been for Mary Jo Zimmerli's quiet, gentle counsel at that youth event, I may not have had the courage to even acknowledge God's call.

I thank God for Lil Marquart (the Christian education director of my home church), Atlee Kepler (my Sunday school teacher), and Dr. Norman Van Brunt (my pastor through high school and college years), all of whom provided encouragement, nurture and gbwc_superuserance. As my life took on a single focus, more people began to acknowledge the strength of my call and respect my determination to follow it.

When it came time to apply to a seminary, I wrote to every Methodist seminary in the United States and asked: 1) how receptive is the seminary to women students, and 2) what kind of housing is provided for them. Two seminaries wrote back and said, 'We feel that you will be more comfortable in selecting some other seminary...'

Two other seminaries responded that they were very open to having women students. At one, I would have been the only female student that year; at the other I would be one of three women students, but the only M. Div. degree candidate. At one I would be housed in an old, somewhat depressing attic space that had been converted into a dorm room for women students; at the other I would be housed in the married students' apartment building.

In 1970, at the conclusion of my first year of seminary, I was ordained a deacon in the Baltimore Conference along with Pearlena Woolridge and 16 men. I was ordained elder in 1973. Over the next several years, as one of the few ordained women in the conference, I had some unique opportunities for service to the General Church and the annual conference. I have often thought that, in that sense, it was a special blessing to be a 'token' clergywoman.

I have been serving local churches since 1971 ? six appointments in this annual conference and one as a student in Ohio. I thank God that, on the whole, the congregations to which I have been appointed have been very accepting of a woman pastor. Of course, there are the memorable exceptions: the people who let me know emphatically that they would 'rather have a man' and those who were determined to reject the leadership of a woman pastor and left the church. I pray for the day when no woman has to experience that kind of prejudice.

In looking back, I can certainly conclude that we have come a long way. How grateful I am to God for calling me to this incredible journey of ordained ministry. It continues to be a journey full of joy and blessing.

The Rev. R. Kay Barger is pastor in charge at Rockville UMC. In 1971, there were five female clergy in the conference. In 2004, there were 209 female elders in full connection plus 21 deacons in full connection and 58 probationary members, according to the 2004 Official Journal.