Posts

In the words of Beyoncé

In 2001 I was in a car accident that briefly landed me in a wheelchair. That event physically changed my body forever. Rolling myself around but also being relatively immobile, I noticed my upper arms got larger and stronger. For lots of different socially imbedded reasons, I did not like this new look in my […]

A pastor. In a swimsuit.

Sometimes I forget that my sunglasses don’t actually make me invisible. It is a Sunday afternoon. I am at the pool. I dig through my big, floppy, flowered bag that is stuffed with towels, water toys, extra swim diapers, the pool pass, and a meager amount of cash for buying popcorn and hot pretzels with […]

From Shaking to Leaping

When I was preparing for my ordination, I was scared spitless to be in the pulpit and to preach in front of a congregation. My legs would start to shake at the beginning of the service, and I could barely stand. I did not come from a church that celebrated women pastors, so pastoral authority […]

How to Walk to a Meeting in Manhattan…While Female and Wearing a Clerical Collar and Red Leather Boots

Be female. Be ordained. Be in Manhattan and, if at all possible, have plans and credentials to attend sessions at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. As you prepare for the day, put on a dress with a clerical collar and knee-high red leather boots. Leave your hotel room early in the […]

I do not own a robe

I do not own a robe. Well, perhaps that is not entirely accurate. I did purchase a clerical robe just before Christmas, a woman’s robe off the rack at Cokesbury that doesn’t fit and has blood red piping that prohibits me from wearing it in my church. I only bought it because I needed to spend my professional […]

Verve, Faith, Chocolate, and Really Great Shoes

You may have noticed that Young Clergy Women International claims to be powered by “verve, faith, chocolate, and really great shoes.” Some have asked, “Why shoes?” Well, I can’t speak for all young clergy women. I can, however, speak for myself. For a long time, in my mind, pointe shoes were the only shoes that mattered. In […]