Published: January 19, 2007 10:56 pm      

The women of Zion

CLINTON — Pastor Jennifer Henry was called to serve Zion Lutheran Church in January of last year. By March, she was installed as the congregation’s first female senior pastor.

“Actually, I’d like to be known as a pastor who happens to be a woman,” said Henry recently. “The focus of our ministry is on worship, music and education, and how we can best use the gifts we are blessed with to give to the congregation and the community.”

Last fall, Henry provided input to the nine-member call committee who was in the process of choosing an associate pastor to serve with Henry. And the choice made was another woman, newly ordained Pastor Stacy Grau, a native of Calamus, who joined the Zion ministry team in November.

Now, this month the team has been completed with the addition of Ruth Blom, an Associate in Ministry, who will serve Zion in the areas of music, education, service and administration.

That there are three women leading Zion is not only a first for this congregation, but most likely a first for the synod of 146 congregations in southeastern Iowa, Henry pointed out.

Henry agrees with a recent New York Times article that reports pastors today do still face a “stained-glass ceiling” that keeps them from becoming senior pastors of larger congregations; case in point, only 27 senior pastors of major ELCA congregations are women out of the thousands of senior pastors within the ELCA.

But all three women feel it is the work of the Holy Spirit that has called them all together at this time in service to Zion and the community. Henry cites the unanimous vote both Grau and Blom received from the call committees as evidence of divine guidance, and she states they do not see themselves as “pioneers” but rather as three members of a ministry team who have the opportunity to “match our best gifts with the deepest needs of the congregation.”

The senior pastor describes their ministry as “shared,” with she and Grau splitting the pulpit duties, as well as weddings, funerals and hospital visits.

The emphasis, she says, is on an egalitarian effort, rather than the hierarchical arrangements characterizing past traditional ministries.

That being said, Henry fully realizes that as senior pastor, she is ultimately responsible for the actions of the ministry and the church.

“Since I serve as the administrator of decisions within the congregation, I must be held accountable,” she explains.

And that responsibility will be to ensure Zion remains committed to community outreach, as exemplified by services the church holds at outside facilities like Sarah Harding Retirement Community.

“It’s a reflection of the challenges of our culture, our families, that the church has had to broaden its outreach to the community,” says Henry.

There is also a goal to increase the number of young adults and young families within the church’s membership, which currently stands at 900 members, with more than 300 worshipping weekly.

Henry sees the women’s shared ministry goal as one of empowerment of the congregation as a whole. Henry says she’d like to see more members of the church discover their own unique “gifts from God” to share both within Zion and out in the community.

When asked about the oft-used phrase “novelty” in reference to an all-female ministry in a church, Henry agrees it’s unfortunate that, in this new millennium, females in the ministry can still be considered novel to some.

But she gives credit to those women who have preceded this generation, for their efforts, she points out, laid the foundation for today’s female pastors.

“We still stand on the shoulders of our mothers,” she says.

This Sunday at 4 p.m., Zion Lutheran enters its new era by hosting a festive service to officially install Grau and Blom.

The congregation and the public are invited to attend this historic event.