The Young Clergy Women Project
A network of the youngest ordained clergy women.
There I stood, looking at myself in the mirror. I had done this many times before. As a little girl playing dress up, I recall stuffing tissues into the backs of my mom’s heels and proudly stomping around the house. I recall putting on deep red lipstick, borrowed from my five-year-old best friend, a precious [...]
This month’s Moms in Ministry article is an excerpt from the third book in the Young Clergy Women Project’s imprint with Chalice Press. More information about this partnership can be found here. MaryAnn brought so much joy to the project as our conference leader at our 2012 conference in Chicago. Please visit our website regularly [...]
Luke 19:1-10 The Story of Zacchaeus I want to tell you the story of another boy who climbed a tree: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. (Read story) The message of the children’s book is profoundly true. Over and over again it is the giving tree that is happy. In the first part of the [...]
Marriage means different things to different people. For some, it is a proclamation of love and a daily choice to love the one you’re with. For others, it’s an excuse to have an expensive party and be princess for a day. And for some, marriage is similar to a business transaction, ensuring a life of [...]
I never expected to get divorced. Certainly not after being ordained and having a child. And most definitely not while in the most intense phase of a clergy job search. I seem to specialize in crazy all-at-once life transitions. In six months in 2008, I had a baby, was ordained deacon, got my first clergy [...]
…sometimes I feel like an astronaut on the moon—like no one has inhabited this space before me. This is surely one giant leap for “Young Looking Lady Pastors” everywhere. Yes, we are young and we even preside over tragic memorial services! Yes, we are young clergy and we park in hospital parking garages for free! And then I remember with a sense of relief and sobriety, that yes, I may be a fascinating phenomenon to some but at least “I am not the only one!”
“Have you seen it? It’s gigantic! And who’s that golden guy on the steeple?” “I think that’s the man they worship. I’m not sure how I feel about them being in the area…” With every brick, every coat of paint, every pane of glass placed into the new LDS temple, these conversations grew more insistent, [...]