Last night at dinner at The Cracker Barrel, a new friend asked me, "What is your creative outlet?"
I thought about it. I sing, I knit, I write... "I blog," I said. "With a group of women in Christian ministry. Some are ordained, some are discerning a call, and some of us serve in lay capacities. Also we have some supportive men. Women in ministry - it's my passion."
As we talked further and I described the RevGalBlogPals, who they are and what the group has come to mean to me, I wondered WHY. Sure, you folks are some of my closest friends...even though I have never met some of you. But why is women in ministry my passion? (I work in international education - about which I am also passionate - but this is where I spend many of my off hours.)
Because - I think - I see the descriptor, "woman in ministry" as ME. And I learn every day about the discrimination and unfairness that beset and beleaguer my sisters who serve Christ in the church. It happens, most likely, because of their gender. That is wrong. That is not fair. That has to change.
I'm a feminist and proud to say so, but my Master's thesis on French Feminist Deconstructionist criticism was never, ever a passion. I'm a Christian, and while my understanding of that evolves constantly, I am generally grateful for what that means to me. I have been Episcopalian all my life, and I fight with that a lot. None of this is static or simple. It's the confluence of those things, and what I hear from a wide ecumenical spectrum, that raises this to such importance. That is the MY part of my passion.
My family tree is filled with strong (Episcopalian) women, all of whom have been church leaders. I was raised to expect to participate as a leader. My grandmother and great grandmother were DOK's and Acolyte Mothers. My aunts have all been leaders in their churches. My mother was Sunday School superintendent, youth group leader, chorister, many other things. I have been on two Vestries, taught Sunday school, led youth group, sung in choirs, served as lector and LEV.
However... in TEC women were not ordained until the 70's, and even then it was irregular. I've never had a woman priest in a parish I belonged to, never saw a woman celebrate Eucharist until an Ash Wednesday visit to the Boston Cathedral in the late 80's. It blew my mind! The first woman I knew on the path to ordination was Mary Green, who was ordained Deacon from St. Francis, College Station in the early 90's.
So I understand that women's ordination is a new-ish idea, and takes time to spread. But it's so utterly logical to me, that my expectation is that it will continue to spread. We need to help it go forward. And not everyone wants that to happen. In fact, there are forces working against us all the time. So, there's the passion part.
As of today, I have been newly enraged at the refusal of a particular bishop to (in the immortal words of the movie Risky Business, "be a courageous person and open the door." Regular readers of this blog already know what I am referring to. A grave injustice has been done, and done, and done again. And added to, and insulted. We're not gonna take it.
I'll let Twisted Sister sing me out here:
OH WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT WE'VE GOT THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE AND OH WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT OH YOU'RE SO CONDESCENDING WE'RE RIGHT/YEAH OH WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT OH..................... WE'RE RIGHT/YEAH WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
NO, WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT
OH WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
THERE AIN'T NO WAY WE'LL LOSE IT
THIS IS OUR LIFE, THIS IS OUR SONG
WE'LL FIGHT THE POWERS THAT BE JUST
DON'T PICK OUR DESTINY 'CAUSE
YOU DON'T KNOW US, YOU DON'T BELONG
NO, WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT
OH WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
YOUR GALL IS NEVER ENDING
WE DON'T WANT NOTHIN', NOT A THING FROM YOU
YOUR LIFE IS TRITE AND JADED
BORING AND CONFISCATED
IF THAT'S YOUR BEST, YOUR BEST WON'T DO
WE'RE FREE/YEAH
WE'LL FIGHT/YEAH
YOU'LL SEE/YEAH
NO, WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT
OH WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
NO WAY!
OH.....................
WE'RE FREE/YEAH
WE'LL FIGHT/YEAH
YOU'LL SEE/YEAH
NO, WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT
WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT, NO!
NO, WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT
JUST YOU TRY AND MAKE US
WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT
COME ON
NO, WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT
YOU'RE ALL WORTHLESS AND WEAK
WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
NOW DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY
WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT
OH CRINCH PIN
NO, WE AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT
OH YOU AND YOUR UNIFORM
WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE
