Listen to women!

Dear Minooka UMC Found Family,

I have to make a confession. Something I said in my sermon last Sunday was wrong. I said the United Methodist Church has ordained women for 60 or 65 years. Actually, the Methodist Church first affirmed full clergy rights to women 70 years ago, in May of 1956. Before that 1956 vote, women served as clergy but only as local pastors. Meaning they had “no guaranteed appointment, no pension, no vote in her annual conference and no formal standing.”

Of course, women preached in Methodist churches long before that vote. Famous names like Susanna Wesley and Sojourner Truth; and a name that deserves to be famous:

The Rev. Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first U.S. woman ordained a minister, was Congregationalist — part of what is now the United Church of Christ. But she was ordained in 1853 by a Methodist, the abolitionist Luther Lee. (source)

In fact, Christianity has always had women preachers. As we often say, according to all four canonical gospels, the first preacher of the good news of Jesus’ resurrection was a woman. Without women preachers, there would be no Easter.

It seems to me important and timely to remember our history and celebrate our UMC denominational witness—especially given the tragic (though, considering their history, unsurprising) news out of the Southern Baptist Convention this week:


The Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly voted Wednesday to advance a formal ban on women pastors in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, sending a clear message that men alone should preach to these conservative evangelical congregations.

What a stilted, anemic vision of the faith. While the UMC is far from perfect, I am exceedingly grateful to be part of a church that strives to lead the way by “explicitly and unapologetically living into our values…the very antidote our world needs right now to the misogyny, racism, homophobia and bigotry that is running rampant.”

As for worship this Sunday, June 14th, it is the conclusion of our sermon series on Pentecost. This week is The Gospel According to the Trinity, so we will consider that tricky triangle of meaning that has vexed and inspired Christians for centuries. To get a sense of what I mean by that, I encourage you to watch this fun, funny, short video. (Please note: that link is to a YouTube video, thus there will be some kind of ad. I cannot control the content of that ad.) Yes, I suggested that video to you last year on Trinity Sunday. What can I say? I find it simultaneously informative and hilarious.

Participate in our worship experiences Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in person at 1210 S. Ridge Road in Minooka. Or via livestream on our Minooka UMC Facebook page or on our Minooka UMC YouTube Channel.

Whether in person or online, all are invited to our welcoming and affirming congregation.

Plotting Goodness,

Pastor Dave