You Can't Preach or Dress

This week has been pretty much a soap opera within our church conference. This is the normal time of year for change, but this year there have been several unexpected last minute changes that have caused much concern. For my friends who have been effected by these changes, I am truly sorry. We all know and accept the system of year to year appointments. We know that there is always a chance we will be moved. But that does not really make it any easier when the move is not your idea. And whether your church eliminates your appointment (basically firing you before they realize what they have done) or the bishop believes your gifts are needed elsewhere (which could be considered a compliment), moving from a church you love is heartbreaking.

I know this firsthand. I had been a member of HUMC for over a decade when I "accepted my calling" and became a Methodist minister. I pursued clergy candidacy with the vision that I could do more with the youth ministry with which I was already actively involved. MY plan was to stay at HUMC and continue working with youth and college age. I would just be better trained to do so. Apparently not everyone agreed with that plan. The powers that be at HUMC moved me more to college and young adults ministries, eventually herding me away from working with the youth. It wasn't long before they decided HUMC did not need a minister devoted to young adults, thus eliminating my appointment. Because an appointment is required for me to keep my pastor's license, I had to take an appointment at another church and move. [note to Kevin - I realize that am too close to be objective, but perhaps the bishop, who is certainly focused on atracting and keeping young adults in the Methodist church, would think a church that would eliminate a young adult minister and drop the youth director from a full-time to part-time position does not particularly care about its future.]

My move last year meant a lot of adjusting. Instead of being one of several clergy on staff, I became the newly added second pastor. I did not realize it when I first arrived, but there was a group within the new church that were opposed to adding this position. Although Moody is a growing community and church attendence has steadily increased over the last several years, there are those who feel an associate pastor is a waste of money. Some are further opposed to the fact that I am female. I understand that there are some that left the church in protest to my appointment. Now I want to point out that the group represents only a small percentage of the congregation. Most of the opposition does not seem particulary personal - it is the position of associate pastor or the general idea of female clergy to which they are opposed. Some people just want to get rid of the entire staff (clergy and laity) and start all over (with puppets, I mean people, the will be able to control).

So in good Methodist tradition, there have been letters to the staff parish relations committee and even to the DS (now former DS) outlining the reasons the clergy need new appointments. The letters last fall really seemed to target the senior pastor, with only passing, general comments about the unnecessary associate pastor they felt they could not afford. Meetings with SPRC and the DS failed to get the results this small group desired. You can imagine their dismay when the senior pastor and associate pastor were to be re-appointed to MUMC for another year. So they wrote more letters. They did not really have anything new about which they could complain. No new evidence to substantiate their claim that their clergy needed to be moved. So they resorted to mean-spirited, playground name-calling type tactics. I found it ironic that the letters that reported that the senior pastor could not speak well were laden with grammatical errors. These people criticized the senior pastor on all kinds of letters. Despite the vows members take to support the church with their presence, prayers, gifts and service, these members threatened to withhold these until such time a new pastor is appointed.

But enough about all the mean things they said about him. After all this blog is about me. I can deal with the generic "we don't need an associate pastor" letters. The "exactly what does she do to earn her pay? how many hours does she work?" letter make me chuckle. However, there was one letter that included personal attacks. While I admit the comments bothered me, they truly pissed off some people who love me. According to one couple at MUMC, they do not need me. I cannot preach. According to some people who know me, I came out of the choir at my old church. (OK - if any of you know what that is supposed to mean, please let me know.) And my attire is not appropriate for the pulpit. I would like to point out here that I wear a black robe in the pulpit. Perhaps my robe is too sexy because I selected the robe specifically cut for the female body. It does have a nice velvet trim. I normally wear black or grey clothes under the robe. I always wear black shoes with my robe. I would love to ask them what they want me to wear if a black clergy robe is not appropriate in their eyes.

I realize the "she can't preach" comment should rate a much bigger response from me than the inappropriate dress comment. Let me say that is does hurt my feelings ,but I cannot defend my preaching as well as I can my robe. I am fairly inexperienced at delivering a sermon. I know I have room for improvement. But I also know that of the handful of sermons I have delivered in the past year, they have been noticably absent for most of them. I am not sure they can accurately judge what they have not heard. So while their opinion that I cannot preach really drew responses from other people, I will just accept it as a challenge to continue to improve.

I am reminded that these people did not call me to be their pastor, God did. While my plan was to become a minister to continue my work with youth at HUMC, and I suspect that someone manipulated the system to have me moved in order to carry out their personal plan, I can see now how all of this worked in God's plan. Since arriving at MUMC, there have been several changes in the staff. At a recent SPRC meeting, someone commented that God sent me to MUMC almost a year ago so that I would be in place when the need arose for someone with experience with youth and children's ministry. God prepared us all for a time such as this. God provided for a smooth transition and the youth and children did not lack leadership when the director of student mininstries resigned. It is no accident that God put together the current diverse staff that could work together to lead worship Sunday morning when the senior pastor was rushed to ER and admitted to hospital on a Saturday night. God sent me to MUMC, so I will try to do things the way he leads me and try to ignore those who don't like my gender, my preaching style, my black-robed attire or the fact that I once sang in a choir.