A New Column: Along the Way

Post Author: Lee Hull Moses

All of a sudden, they were everywhere I looked. There was the young woman just out of college we hired to work with our children and youth, the one who decided to go on to seminary after just a year with us. Then there was the female seminarian who came to spend a year getting some in-the-trenches experience of congregational ministry. Or the college student who grew up in our congregation who stopped me after church one Sunday to tell me she’d decided to go to seminary.

All these young women, sorting out their life choices and starting to think that ministry just might be the life for them.

Here at Fidelia’s Sisters, we’ve always celebrated young women in ministry. It’s our purpose for being: to support one another in our calling and to share the trials and tribulations of life in the church, or the academy, or the mission field, or the hospital room – wherever it is God has called us. For the most part, we’ve featured writers who are ordained clergy, and young (which we define as under forty and ordained before the age of 35).

But what about those women who aren’t here yet?

Those women who are sitting in a college religion class, listening to the professor talk about the gospel of John, and finding themselves more engrossed then they ever imagined. Or the college junior home for summer break, who, at the invitation of her pastor, courageously steps into the pulpit for the first time. Or the seminarian who is in the middle of CPE and is starting to wonder if she’s really cut out for this at all. Or the young mom who squeezes in seminary classes between preschool drop-off and pick-up, and works on papers late into the night. Or the intern who spends a semester working in a prison ministry and finds herself facing tough questions and wonders how it all relates to what she learned in the theology classroom last year.

We’d like to hear from those women: the ones who are just starting out, who are stepping out on faith into this life with all its celebrations and sorrows. We’d like to hear what encourages them, what inspires them, what challenges them – so we can support one another along the way.

“Along the Way” will debut as a new monthly column on Fidelia’s Sisters in January 2012, and we’re looking for young women to share their stories. Writers could be female seminarians or college students, or somewhere in between, but should be on the way to being ordained by the time they are 35. Submissions should follow the guidelines outlined on our Contact & Submissions page and may be sent to alongtheway(dot)ycw(at)gmail(dot)com.

Lee Hull Moses previously edited our Called & Sent column. She looks forward to welcoming new writers in our newest column.

Are you an ordained woman under the age of 40? Email youngclergywomen (at) gmail (dot) com to become a member of the Young Clergy Women Project! Members receive access to a password protected online community, monthly e-newsletters, and advance notice of upcoming conferences and events.