|
|
According to www.ucc.org, there are 2,832 ordained women, or 27 percent of all clergy. A study done in 1994 by Barbara Brown Zikmund, Adam Lummis, and Patricia Chang, according to www.hartfordinstitute.org, rated the UCC second of 15 Protestant denominations in percentage of ordained women. Ranked first was the Unitarian Universalist Church, with 30 percent of clergy female.
There are 624 authorized members of the UCC Connecticut Conference, which includes active and retired ministers. Of that number, 236 are women, said the Rev. Ron Brown, associate conference minister for clergy concerns of the Connecticut chapter of the UCC.
The Rev. Patricia Liberty, an interim pastor at Southington's First Congregational Church, said that when she went to divinity school at Andover Theological School in Andover, Mass., "more women were being ordained than men."
"A lot go into seminary," said interim pastor Donna Cassity of Center Congregational Church in Meriden, but "not all become pastors. Some don't sense the call to be ordained. Some end up going into not-for-profits, hospitals, nursing homes, prison ministry, or missionary work."
The UCC, as the Congregationalist church, ordained the first woman, in the 1860s in Rochester, N.Y., Brown said.
"The history is there," said the Rev. Margaret Jay, minister of outreach and program development at First Congregational Church in Wallingford.
Cassity, who is also a registered nurse, was working in the ICU of a hospital when she got what she deems her "first call."
"While taking care of a dying man, he asked, 'Pray for me,' and I said a couple of words with him. My supervisor overheard me, and said, 'You're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to call the hospital chaplain instead.' I got called into the head nurse's office and she was very angry with me. They thought it would have been proselytizing. I almost lost my job because of it," Cassity said. "From then on, I wanted to learn how to bring spirituality into health care."
Her second call was in 1989, while Cassity was earning her master's degree in nursing. After one semester, she dropped out the program and got sick for almost nine months. "The director of the seminary came to my church," and being interested, Cassity went to orientation.
Jay grew up in a Congregational church in Maine and religion was always a part of her life. Jay, who has a master's degree in American history, was the director of Christian education at First Congregational Church in Meriden, and has worked at the conference in Hartford and the Connecticut Humanities Council, writing on the tobacco industry in Connecticut. The call for ministry, therefore, was always there.
Jay attended Yale Divinity School in New Haven and had two young boys at the time, stretching a three-year course into four years. While attending seminary, one of her sons, Jonathan, asked her, "When are you going to be divine?" "There were quite a few women in seminary in the mid-1980's and a number of female professors and mentors," Jay said.
Cassity's experience was somewhat different. She was still working as a nurse when she attended Northeastern Baptist Seminary. Cassity said she loved the experience, but, "there were not a lot of women at seminary, maybe three out of 20 students. Baptists were looking into ordaining women, but in 1995 the Southern Baptists decided not to ordain women." It was a decision that caused Cassity to change denominations.
Many women who have gotten the call and belong to more conservative Protestant denominations or are Catholic have had to make the choice - to either stay in the tradition and not serve the church in a formal ministry capacity, or switch denominations and become ministers.
"The track for ordination doesn't exist in some denominations and many women switch faiths," Jay said.
For Liberty, who has been ordained 26 years and served as an interim minister in various locations for 20 years, interim ministry is the perfect fit. After finishing another interim position, she started her current position in Southington in December 2007.
"The sole purpose of interim ministry is to get ready for a full-time pastor. It can last anywhere from 18 months to three to four years, but is a closed-ended job," Liberty said.
She describes interim ministry as "more task-oriented, involving staff reorganization, and summing up the system." When applications are taken for permanent positions, Liberty says that she "can't let her name go into the pool." It would break the code of honor interim ministers follow.
The interim position at Center Congregational has been one of "healing," Cassity said. "I work on calming people and getting the church on track." Cassity has been an interim minister at eight different churches.
"When I started in Wallingford in 1994, there was a female interim," Jay said.
"Most who do interim work are women," Brown said.
At First Congregational in Wallingford, Jay, who has been there since the summer of 1994, works with the Christian education board, does confirmation classes, baptisms, some adult education, women's ministry, as well as preaching once a month.
"There is the opportunity for creative possibilities," Jay said of her position.
Cassity has been able to incorporate ministry into aspects of her nursing career, such as advocacy for the elderly and sick, but also for those who are healthy. She would like to see some form of universal health care. She has written and teaches a nursing assessment course for Southern Connecticut State University called "Spirituality and Nursing." She hopes that when preaching for the sick, her experience "brings more reality, because I've been there."
"There is much more openness now than there was 20 years ago," Jay said. "It's easy for women to get the first call to a church, usually as an associate pastor. The climate is sufficient for women for them to advance. It's easier for women to get ordained; there are less hurdles and resistance."
"There are a lot of female pastors, but it is sometimes hard to break down barriers," Cassity said. "We haven't had a female pastor at Center Church. Some people either love me or they don't. I don't fit the stereotype of a pastor.
"Women have made inroads to make changes," Cassity said. "Congregationalism has a paved road, with polity and the understanding that all people are called. Our motto is 'United among diversity,' and we stand behind our motto."
jzemke@record-journal.com
(203) 235-1661
