CHRIST IN WINTER:
Reflections on Faith and Life for the Years of Winter…
The women’s marches this
weekend reminded me of the time I was awarded one of the prize plums of
preaching—an appearance on the radio show known as The Protestant Hour [Even
though it was only 30 minutes.] Why the connection? Well, first a little
history…
The program had started in
1945, and there had been at least one woman speaker on the show previously, but
no ordained women.
It started by featuring
preachers from the Methodist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Southern
Baptist denominations. The Southern Baptists pulled out, but the Episcopalians
took their place. The preachers were almost always bishops or the pastors of
large, flag-ship churches. The “speakers” were not always ordained, but they
were well known men, like C.S. Lewis.
In the early 1980s, the
show’s producers decided to open the pulpit to lesser preachers and unknowns
like me. We were invited to send tapes of our sermons. My church did not have a
taping system for worship services, so Terry Perkins, a church member and
speech communication professor at EIU, arranged for me to use the recording
equipment in his department.
I was pretty sure my tape
would be well-received, because my preaching was different from the usual. I
hesitate to say “entertaining,” but it was.
I won. But the opportunity
was given to me with one hand and taken back with the other. “Your tape was the
best we heard, but we feel that we need to have a woman preacher on the show at
this time.” So, thanks, but no thanks.
I was disappointed, yes,
but only slightly. Yes, I missed out on preaching for The Protestant Hour. That
would have been a nice feather for my cap. But I had two daughters, then in
college. I did not want anyone telling them there were any gender restrictions
on them. I wanted models for them, women doing what they had previously been
denied
I am a feminist. So many
people misunderstand what feminism is. I mean simply that I believe women
should have every opportunity and right that men have, and there was no doubt
in the 1980s that we had a long way to go to get to the point of that equality.
I was fully in favor of women preachers on The Protestant Hour. By that time, I
had encouraged a dozen or so young women into seminary and the ordained
ministry.
It’s okay to step aside so
that those who are always pushed to the back can step forward and get into the
parade.
JRMcF
I tweet occasionally as
yooper1721.
One of those daughters
mentioned above is Katie Kennedy, the rising star in YA lit. She is published
by Bloomsbury, which also publishes lesser authors, like JK Rowling. Her latest
book is, What Goes Up. It’s published
in hardback, paperback, audio, and electronic, from B&N, Amazon, etc.
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