| Its still not an easy road for clergywomen BY MARY E. KRAUS I gathered with more than 1,100 of my United Methodist clergywomen colleagues from around the world on Jan. 7. We were wonderfully rich in the diversity of ages, colors, languages, clothing styles, sizes and shapes, and the stories we brought with us. The theme for the Clergywomens Consultation was Creating A Womans Sabbath, which obviously struck a responsive cord in all of us, a commentary on the busy condition of our lives. As we lighted the Sabbath candles in the opening worship service, we all took some deep breaths and felt the quality of our time shift a bit. There was much about this gathering that made me realize that we have come a long way since that first Clergywomens Consultation in the mid-1970s when fewer than 100 women gathered in Nashville. That was close to the total number of women under appointment at the time. We thought we were such a large group and were so excited to meet women from other parts of the United States, to share stories and know there were others out there. Most of us had gone to seminaries where there were only one or two women in each program and few if any women professors. We were mostly white and young and were only beginning to realize that our growing presence was causing a stir in the institutional church. Thirty years later, 1,100 is only a representative number of the total number of United Methodist clergywomen worldwide. As simultaneous translations were done in several languages, our worship reflected many cultures through our singing, praying, preaching, dancing and theology. We had mothers and daughters there and even one grandmother and granddaughter clergy family. Among us all was the deep sense that each one of us had been called by God, some of us more than once, to be an ordained minister. Together, our understanding of the mystery of it all deepened and was enriched. Our Sabbath time graced us with story upon story that also made me realize we may have come a long way but we still have a long way to go. We had women from countries where they are still very much the minority in clergy circles. The cultural barriers for women still exist in many parts of the world. Many women feel the sting and oppression of institutional church patriarchy. Even here in the United States, one doesnt have to go very far from home to hear folks still quoting the Apostle Paul as the reason for not wanting a woman pastor. And if we were to name the number of female senior pastors in tall steeple churches, the list would be very short. Clearly the number of ordained women has increased dramatically beginning in the mid-1970s. It is not unusual to have more women than men in our United Methodist seminaries. Yet, we still have gender biases which contribute to many talented women leaving parish ministry because of a variety of discrimination that says you dont fit in here. I find that today women tend to fall into the pattern of many male colleagues and try to go it alone. Because we are no longer a minority getting together, it is not a matter of life and death. I hope my clergywomen colleagues will take time to gather with one another, not only for support but for the challenge to grow into being the best pastors we can be. With our growth in numbers, we have lost sight of the need to come together for the nourishment of our souls. A pastor from the Philippines said to me, Just because you have so many women pastors dont forget you need each other. I thank God each day for my few sister colleagues. I dont think we could be really alive without each other. I dont think we can either. The Rev. Mary E. Kraus is pastor of Dumbarton UMC, in Washington, D.C. | 
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