I never expected to find myself featured in a video arguing that women shouldn’t be ordained or lead in the church. And yet here we are:
You might think that I’d be upset with my likeness being used for something that I disagree with but I find myself a bit giddy. You see…the United Methodist Church has been “wonky” for 70 years. Long before I was born, our denomination heard the call of God in women and saw that we added value to leadership and to the Table.
My earliest memories of the church included examples of female leadership and female clergy.
If you dig into the institutional memory of the movement of Christianity, you’ll see that women were among the first to proclaim the gospel (John 20:17-18), witness to the resurrection (Luke 24:10), and lead churches (Acts 16:14). It didn’t really change until the Church became institutionalized and power pushed women out of certain roles.
My call to ministry was undeniable to me and was affirmed by many others along the way.
So yes…the UMC is wonky…but you know what else is?
- Loving everyone…including people of different races, nationalities, genders, and sexuality.
- Loving people enough to advocate for justice
- Loving people so much that you work to eradicate poverty
- Loving people so much that you build diverse teams so that we may learn from each other
- Loving people so much that we don’t proof text the Bible.
- Loving people so much that we read the whole scope and tenor of the Bible
- Loving people so much that we don’t become Biblical literalists and do admit that the Bible is errant but that the Word of God who is Jesus is the one who is inerrant
- Loving others so much that we don’t call others names
- Loving others so much that we hold others who are believers accountable to the Gospel and not dogma.
- Maybe this list has too many words. I should’ve just stopped with “Loving everyone.” But sometimes a bit of clarity is needed in the details.
Stay wonky friends.
May we never weary of doing what is right and kind and just so that the abundant love of Christ prevails in all hearts.
Until Everyone Hears,
Dr. K
P.S. – Photos were submitted to me by both my gay, male clergy colleague and gay, male staff employee, who were both relieved that it was women who made the church wonky and not homosexuals.
