An Emerging Trend?

I was sitting at a table once (I may have told this story -- I don't remember, so forgive the repetition) with a few other women, listening to a talk given by a pastor. The pastor was a female United Methodist.

After the talk, one of the ladies at the table (obviously not a United Methodist) leaned over toward me. We had this conversation (we'll call her Myrtle, but I'm making that name up):

Myrtle: Did she say she was a pastor?
Me: Yes, she did.
Myrtle: A minister?
Me: Yes.
Myrtle: Does she preach?
Me: Yes, she does. She a minister at Friendly United Methodist Church (also a made up name).
Myrtle: Well, I've never heard of such a thing.

I'm not making that up. She was serious. She had never heard of a female pastor. I was stunned. I knew that there were people who "object" to female pastors, but I had assumed everyone had HEARD of them.

I ran across this article today -- click this link. The September-October issue of the magazine Gospel Today has been removed from the shelves of Lifeway Christian bookstores. The reason? The cover features five women who are pastors. Lifeway bookstores are owned by the Southern Baptist Convention, and they pulled the magazine because they believe that the role of a pastor is reserved for men.

Teresa Hairston, who is the owner of Gospel Today, said, "We weren’t trying to pick a fight. We just did a story on an emerging trend in a lot of churches.”

An emerging trend? If I were to make a list of the reasons that I am United Methodist, one of them would be that in our church, this is not an "emerging trend." It is just everyday life. I thank God that there have been women serving as pastors in our church for over 50 years.