Churches vary on roles women can play

This is one in a series of stories examining the role of women in Columbus and society.

COLUMBUS - The Rev. Nancy Idenden could be seen as a leader and a beacon for women everywhere.

As a child in New Jersey, Idenden pushed the boundaries of the Episcopal church and became the first girl acolyte in her church. A few years later at the age of 16, Idenden said she received a call from God.

When seeking advice from church leaders, Idenden was told to forget everything. Because of her gender, she thought she would never be ordained as an Episcopalian.

However, Idenden refused to allow anything to get in the way of her call and her passion. After a lengthy process of talking to God and facing her peers, Idenden attended seminary and she has been ordained for 13 years. She is the pastor at Grace Episcopal Church and sits on the Commission of Ministry for the Episcopal Church.

She is one of about a dozen clergywomen in Columbus and surrounding areas.

“It's hard for women to become rectors. Every church I've been in, I've always been the first woman,” Idenden said.

But she said she believes progress is being made. The U.S. Episcopal Church elected a female leader - another first not only for the Episcopal Church, but for Christians the world over.

Katherine Jefferts Schori, whom many call a “progressive” woman, was elected as presiding bishop over the church.

“Personally, I think it's great. But I know that there are people in the church who don't,” said Idenden. “We (the United States) are one of the few provinces that actually ordain women to be bishops (in the Episcopal Church.)”

According to Idenden, the Episcopal Church is celebrating 30 years of ordaining women as bishops and clergy. However, even after three decades, women still face setbacks.

“When I think about it, it's very frustrating,” Idenden said. “You always have one or two people who are not happy about hiring a woman.”

In 2002, the Association of Theological Schools reported that the numbers of female students have tripled in the past thirty years; on average, Christian and Jewish women now make up 30 percent of theology students.

Elizabeth Parker, the associate pastor at Federated Church, said she attended seminary from 2001-04 and is an ordained Presbyterian minister, with dual standing in the United Church of Christ. While she was in seminary she saw a shift in the age of students, not so much the gender.

“There was no stigma at being female,” Parker said.

The 30-year-old pastor said 50 years ago, most seminary students came directly from college. Now the ministry is often looked at as a second career by middle-aged men and women - something she said was evident during her divinity studies.

Parker has been at Federated Church for about a year and a half and has not experienced any problems with being female from the congregation or her peers.

“I've been very well accepted in this community,” she said.

Although most American Christian denominations allow women to be ordained, the Catholic church has never allowed women clergy nor do some Lutheran branches. According to the Rev. Tom Weisbecker of St. Bonaventure Catholic Church, this is because of the church's history and tradition.

“Its a theological issue. Christ didn't have a woman apostle. We see the priest as the male servant to the female church,” Weisbecker said, adding that the Catholic church does “proclaim the genius of women” through their respect for Mary, the mother of God.

The Southern Baptist Church, the nation's largest Protestant denomination, has a different take on why women cannot be high leaders within the church. In 2000, the Southern Baptist convention voted that “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

“I think certainly a woman's call is between God and herself,” said the Rev. Lyn Hansen of North Park Baptist Church, adding that what he reads scripturally says “that (being a pastor) is for a man.”

The Rev. Kathy Rice, pastor at Albion and Loretto United Methodist Churches believes that Jesus would have accepted both men and women as church leaders. She believes that allowing both genders to fully participate in the church is healthy for the congregation.

“It's important to have women,” Rice said, explaining that each individual has different experiences that he or she can bring to their church. “Generally speaking, some of the stereotypes hold: women tend to be more open and compassionate.”

Rice has been ordained for three years and is currently the pastor at Albion and Loretto United Methodist churches.

Rice and everyone in the United Methodist Church is celebrating 50 years of full clergy rights for women, something Rice feels passionately about.

“I'm glad that they're recognizing (this anniversary,)” Rice said, adding that as a woman and a pastor, she feels it is her responsibility to do the best she can “to make sure the next woman who comes is not going to have the same problems.”

Currently, women account for one quarter of all United Methodist seminary students, according to Carol Roeptmer Brewer, United Methodist district superintendent for northeast Nebraska.

“We have a lot of women preparing for ministry. Some day, it will be 50-50,” she said.

Patterns show that more and more women are going to seminary, however no denomination has yet seen a population of clergy that is half male and half female.

The 10 largest theological schools by student enrollment are seeing increases in the number of women in attendance.

At the Boston University School of Theology, 53 percent of students under the age of 30 are female, and at Bethel Seminary in California, 41 percent of students are women.

Currently, more than 26 percent of students at the nation's second largest seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, are women.

“When I was at St. Paul, there were more women than men,” said Rice of her seminary, St. Paul School of Theology.

Some people believe that many women who graduate from seminary move to the East or West coasts, where views are less conservative and women in ministry are more accepted. As for the Midwest, Idenden says women still face patriarchal views, but strides are being made.

She reminds all Christians that Jesus had female followers and that Paul often references women in the early church. And both Idenden and Rice encourage all persons to answer their calls from God.

“God calls whomever God chooses, and it's not a matter of gender,” Rice said.