ELCA NEWS SERVICE March 1, 2004 ELCA Gathers 'Power-Filled Women for a Power-Filled Church' 04-030-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- "Glass ceiling" is a metaphor for the invisible barrier that keeps women from holding top corporate positions in the United States. "Stained glass ceiling" refers to a similar barrier in churches. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Commission for Women hosted an academy in January that inspected the ELCA's "ceiling" and ways God is leading women through it. About 62 female pastors of the ELCA gathered Jan. 25-29 for the Clergywomen Head of Staff Academy at the Duncan Conference Center, Delray Beach, Fla., to share their experiences, learn and worship. The Lutheran churches that merged in 1988 to form the ELCA began ordaining women as clergy in 1970. Now, about 2,760 of the ELCA's 17,703 clergy are women. Seven of the church's 65 synod bishops are women. "There is a very real stained glass ceiling in the church regarding clergywomen in leadership, and there is much to do to facilitate progress and change," said the Rev. Carol J. Tomer, Pilgrim Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn. The academy "energized me for working as an advocate for getting more clergywomen in positions of leadership in the ELCA, particularly in senior pastor positions," Tomer said. "And the conference filled me with gratitude for the amazingly gifted clergywomen who are in leadership in the ELCA," she said. "Synods need to have proactive strategies for breaking down the barriers, clergywomen need to get together regularly to name, with one another, both the joys and the challenges -- sometimes very subtle challenges -- of being in senior pastor positions, and clergywomen need to continue to work together on developing and claiming our own unique approaches to holding power and authority," Tomer said. "The theme of the academy was 'power-filled women for a power-filled church,' and that was the ethos of the event," said the Rev. Paula V. Mehmel, Martin's Lutheran Church, Casselton, N.D. "The academy was an empowering experience because it allowed me to spend time in the midst of amazing women who were breaking through the stained glass ceiling," Mehmel said. "These were women who are filled with the Spirit of God and who are seeking to share that Spirit with others," she said. "It was the most positive, joy-filled group of clergy I have ever been with -- none of that bitter edge or complaining that sometimes pervades clergy gatherings, but neither a naive ignoring of reality -- laughing, sharing, and growing together as we navigate the uncharted waters as heads of staff, supporting one another as we built a network to make a difference in the church by working together," Mehmel said. The ELCA's 10,721 congregations staff their ministries in about as many ways, making it difficult to identify clergywomen who head the congregations' staffs purely by their titles, said the Rev. Michelle Miller, director, women for leadership in ministry, ELCA Commission for Women. Miller asked the bishops of ELCA synods to identify "women who lead large congregations with multiple staff and who supervise at least one other person in professional ministry." Miller gathered the names of 120 clergywomen and invited them to the academy. "We wanted to make sure they were able to network with other women. Many of these women come from places where they don't know other women doing the kind of work they do," Miller said. The academy was a place for the women to meet role models, mentors, colleagues and rookies. "I don't fit into the category of head of staff. I am an associate pastor who has had to function in the head of staff role since my colleague's stroke," said the Rev. Andrea L. Walker, St. John's Lutheran Church, Summit, N.J. "The academy was a wonderful learning opportunity, and my ministry will be strengthened because of the experience," she said. The academy "did not turn into a 'gripe' session. The group, for the most part, expressed joy in their ministries," Walker said. "While there was the acknowledgment that things were at times difficult, overall I saw laughter and joy." "This academy will have a lasting impact on my ministry. As the most recently ordained person in the group and as an African American, this Clergywomen Head of Staff Academy has changed the perception I had of women pastors, being of one type or fitting into a particular mold," Walker said. "I understand authority and leadership in a new way," Walker said. "It was also good to see women who are survivors and 'thrivers,'" she said. "The academy was an opportunity to meet with other women who had more experience in supervising staff than I have had," said the Rev. Karen A. Cluts, Elim Lutheran Church, Marshalltown, Iowa. "I connected with several women who had parish nurses and since my parish nurse and I are trying to restructure her job description, that conversation was very helpful," she said. "I was inspired in my own creativity by hearing the creative ways that other clergywomen head-of-staff are leading their congregations. I had been looking for a different model than what I see modeled by my male colleagues and this was it," Cluts said. "The worship and preaching were also renewing. I had forgotten what it was like to hear someone else's preaching that included feminine images," Cluts said. "The Head of Staff Academy sponsored by the Commission for Women was the most helpful continuing education piece I've attended," said the Rev. Paula Maeder Connor, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lakewood, Ohio. "It combined prayer, encouragement of one's person and ministry, practical idea sharing, and promise of a future," she said. "As one of the longest-ordained women there, it was wonderful to see a few beyond my years and tens of women younger in service years but with major congregational responsibilities. I was energized by their power and conviction of faith," Maeder Connor said. "We know the women bring a lot of wisdom to these conferences," Miller said. "So, we had a session where they could share their best practices." Another interactive session, "If you didn't laugh, you'd cry," was "a time to share stories about things that we've done well or not so well, funny times, things that have happened in our lives as female clergy, maybe the weirdest question we've been asked or 'rites that went wrong' or just funny stories," Miller said. Dr. Celia A. Hahn, former director of the Congregational Spirituality Project and former editor-in-chief, Alban Institute, Herndon, Va., presented sessions on "How Women Grow in Authority" and "Uncovering Your Church's Hidden Spirit." Dr. Martha Stortz, professor of historical theology and ethics, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif., contributed sessions on "Women's Ways of Seeing: Looking with Spirit!" and "Women and Power: Promise -- and Pitfalls." The Rev. M. Wyvetta Bullock, executive director, ELCA Division for Congregational Ministries, led Bible studies titled "Claiming Servant Leadership, From the Inside Out." "Worship was woven into each day," Miller said. "There is something really empowering about having all women singing together." Some women said that at clergy conferences their voices are usually drowned out by male voices. "I feel like my voice isn't being heard at all," she related. "To be here and have all women's voices singing together was really a moving spiritual experience." The academy was funded in part by a grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a fraternal benefits society based in Minneapolis. The money provided some scholarship assistance for participants. -- -- -- The Commission for Women has a home page at http://www.elca.org/cw/ on the ELCA Web site. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news