Women's Voices will Persist

Two women, so intelligent, competent and passionate, Elizabeth Warren and Rachel Maddow, sat in Elizabeth’s home last night talking about her taking her name out of the running for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. 

Elizabeth was thinking about all the little girls who would have to wait to see a woman as president. So many millions of us have had to wait since Hillary was defeated, not in the popular vote, but in the Electoral College. So many women and men saw such promise in their being six women candidates, and people of color, and a gay man among the 2020 candidates.

As I watched Elizabeth, my mind went back thirty years, to 1990, when there were no women Lutheran bishops in the world. A number of us women had been willing to be candidates in various ELCA synods, so at least people could envision the possibility. I was nominated in a synod in Minnesota; so many people from across the country sent encouraging support. As the balloting drew close, and there was a very real chance I would be elected, with much prayer and discernment, I took my name out of the running, telling the assembly, “I feel clear that I am to continue my calling to be a teaching theologian of the church as a professor at Wartburg Seminary. . . I don’t like to disappoint people. . . There are many extraordinarily gifted women in this church ready and capable of being bishop today.”

I do not mean to equate my situation with that of Elizabeth Warren, except with that piercing empathy I felt for her.  Women and girls would have to wait. 

However, soon after my vocational decision, a Lutheran woman was elected bishop in Germany, and in 1992, April was elected in the ELCA, followed by Andrea, and more, and women of color and then Elizabeth as Presiding Bishop of the ELCA.  And I count it a great joy that some women whom I had been privileged to teach at Wartburg are now synodical bishops.

As Elizabeth Warren and Rachel Maddow talked last night, almost sister to sister, it was clear to me that their gifts will continue to be used.  Their persistent voices will continue to be heard.

Four States,Three Hymnals and Still We Sang

For 59 years I have belonged to the Lutheran Deaconess Conference, since my consecration in 1960. We gather as a community once every summer.  In between we gather in area conferences. I belong to the Minnesota/Wisconsin Area which clusters around the Twin Cities area.

Last Saturday they gathered as they usually do once a month.  I can't always attend since I live in Iowa--Northern Iowa. That's why I'm included. We're only 30 miles from the Minnesota border and in the Rochester, MN, television viewing area (quite frankly I'd rather see the Des Moines news)  But I digress.

The Area Conference Saturday began with devotions and about 1/2 hour of simply singing favorite hymns. The meeting would go from 10:00 a.m. until 2 in the afternoon. I had joined by conference phone call. Another woman, Brenda, also joined by phone from Eastern North Dakota. Four States! As the group in Minneapolis chose their favorite hymns I soon realized they had with them "Gather" and "With One Voice."  I had the "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" (ELW or the "Cranberry Hymnal")  Three Hymnals!  What could have been an absolute mismatch not just of voices but of books (We had to call out hymn numbers from one book and look them up in the index in another book) and states,--not to mention the difficulty of some of us on the phone--turned out to be what it always is when deaconesses gather: women making beautiful music together, singing of faith and service in Christ.

We are theologians and with that solid base, we are also social worker, parish worker, nurse, teacher, professor, counselor, chaplain and more.  We have a commitment to faith and service to Christ and also to one another--for a lifetime.  That's what it means to belong to a community!

The meeting went on with each sharing some of  our work, our challenges, our joys, our questions, our lives, our prayer concerns.  We talked and we prayed. We also share leadership, a circle of leaders, collaborative, not hierarchical. We care about each other in the midst of our diversity.  We can count on that always.

Diaconal ministry is servanthood ministry, no matter where we serve, whatever our gifts. The words of our final hymn have stayed with me all week:

When the poor ones who have nothing, still are giving;
when the thirsty pass the cup, water to share;
when the wounded offer others strength and healing;
we see God, here by our side, walking our way;

When compassion gives the suffering consolation;
when expecting brings to birth hope that was lost;
when we choose love, not the hatred all around us,
we see God, here by our side, walking our way.

When our spirits, like a chalice, brim with gladness;
when our voices, full and clear, sing out the truth;
when our longings, free from envy, seek the humble,
we see God, here by our side,walking our way.

When the goodness poured from heaven fills our dwellings;
when the nations work to change war into peace;
when the stranger is accepted as our neighbor;
we see God, here by our side, walking our way;
we see God, here by our side, walking our way.

Picture from our entire Lutheran Deaconess Conference meeting Summer 2019

Finally: Ordination for Deacons, Beyond Classism Toward Partnership

By one little word the ELCA in assembly changed the entrance rite for ministers of Word and Service—Deacons—to “ordination.” I celebrate that decision. The vote wasn’t even close. We have come a long way, but it has taken a long time.

Let me go back before the ELCA came into being. I served on the “Design Task Force on Specific Ministry” (1983-4) We presented a model to the proposed new church on the “Public Ministries of the Church” for the “Office Word and Sacrament” and the “Office of Word and Service.” I remember drawing the parallel chart. The two ministries were to be side by side. The proposal was not accepted

After the beginning of the ELCA, January, 1988, the “Task Force on the Study for Ministry” was formed. I also served on that (for five years) and on the subcommittee which designed diaconal ministry. Diaconal ministers would be called to serve inside the structures of the church and called by the church to serve in the world outside the structures of the church. For many years we had faithful diaconal ministers, associates in ministry and members of the ELCA deaconess community.

Meanwhile I also served on the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission which produced the Hanover Report “The Diaconate as Ecumenical Opportunity.” (1996)

I had the privilege of teaching M.A. in Diaconal Ministry students at Wartburg Seminary for many years, seeing them flourish in their service in the world and yet never quite understood or fully accepted in the church on whose behalf they served. (“Why don’t you want to be a pastor?”) We still had a ways to go to fully catch the vision of the being the church for the sake of the world.

As the ELCA studied uniting the three “lay” rosters into one, I prepared a paper, “Diaconal Ministry from the Open Tomb to the Open World.” Jesus was a diaconal minister. Faithful diakonia is theologically grounded in a theology of the cross, facing the great wounds of the world, and a theology of the resurrection: death no longer has dominion.

I celebrated the ELCA’s 2016 decision to adopt a unified roster of “Word and Service” using the term “Deacon.” Deacons are now serving as hospital chaplains, musicians, congregational administrators, in disability ministries, in urban education and food ministries, as lawyer, college president, and so much more.

Finally, would “Pastor” and “Deacon” be side-by-side in collaborative ministry? However, the word “ordination” remained difficult. It was the entrance rite, not the essence of service, but it would take more time to move beyond systemic hierarchical and classism biases.

Finally, in 2019, the ELCA made a bold “new” and yet very New Testament decision with global and ecumenical support. Within the one ministry rooted in baptism, some are called to the ministry of “Word and Service” and some to the ministry of “Word and Sacrament,” side by side. Partners in the Gospel.

Abortion: What Our Church Said 28 Years Ago

“Women and men share equally in the responsibility and accountability for procreation, although it is women who are most intimately affected by decisions about abortion.” The ELCA 28 years ago adopted by more than a 2/3 majority vote in 1991 a Social Statement on “Abortion.” Amazing for its time. Although conversation on issues has changed through the years, I share some quotes from that church-wide teaching I find positive for this time.

“We are moved particularly by the anguish of women who face unwanted pregnancies alone.” “Poverty, lack of supportive relationships. . . oppressive social realities, sexism, and racism can intensify her sense of powerlessness.”

“Our ministry of hospitality to all people ought to include women who have had abortions, women who are considering abortions, children, families, and those who bear and raise children under all kinds of circumstances. This should be reflected throughout congregational life and church policy. Services and shelter should be provided, especially to enable young mothers and fathers to continue their education and care for their children. Members should also be encouraged to become foster and/or adoptive parents. By our policies and practices as a church we need to indicate that we are truly supportive of children through the long years after, and not only before, they are born.”

“Greater social responsibility for the care, welfare, and education of children and families is needed through such measures as access to quality, affordable health care, child care, and housing.”

“We affirm that the goodness of sexual intercourse goes beyond its procreative purpose. Whenever sexual intercourse occurs apart from the intent to conceive, the use of contraceptives is the responsibility of the man and of the woman.”

“An abortion is morally responsible in those cases in which continuation of a pregnancy presents a clear threat to the physical life of the woman. A woman should not be morally obligated to carry the resulting pregnancy to term if the pregnancy occurs when both parties do not participate willingly in sexual intercourse. This is especially true in cases of rape and incest. This can also be the case in some situations in which women are so dominated and oppressed that they have no choice regarding sexual intercourse and little access to contraceptives. Some conceptions occur under dehumanizing conditions that are contrary to God’s purposes.”

“Christians as citizens and this church as an institution should join with others to advocate for and support just laws and to work to change those, which are unjust. In our attempts to influence the shaping of public policy, we should not disregard the rights of others, but work faithfully through the public processes by which justice is sought for all.”

 "The concern for both the life of the woman and the developing life in her womb expresses a common commitment to life. This requires that we move beyond the usual ‘prolife’ versus ‘pro-choice’ language in discussing abortion.  If we are to take our differences seriously, we must learn how to talk about them in ways that do justice to our diversity.”

“Church members must not only be aware of the moral complexity of the situation, but be able and willing to listen and walk with women and men through the process of decision-making, healing, and renewal. . . ”

"No" to Gender Justice and So Many Other Rights . . . for Years to Come

With Senator Collins and Senator Manchin just announcing they will vote “yes” to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to be an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, I raise again the concerns of the National Council of Churches: (Below) Also today, after decades of work by women and men, the Lutheran Church of Australia again denied women the right to be ordained (2/3 vote needed; only 59.7% received). 

National Council of Churches Statement this week: “Kavanaugh’s political record is troubling with regard to issues of voting rights, racial and gender justice, health care, the rights of people with disabilities, and environmental protections.  This leads us to believe that he cannot be an impartial justice in cases that are sure to come before him at the Court.” October 5, 2018, a day full of clouds here.

Respect! Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin, Queen of Soul, was a Gospel woman for generations of men and women. Cradled in her church in Detroit, she never left it, but rather carried it with her all over the world. She sang "Precious Lord" at Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral 50 years ago in 1968. Her music and her dedication supported the civil rights movement right through to her singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at President Obama's inauguration in 2009. Amazing! "Respect" was her anthem. Amazing woman. Amazing Gospel Grace!

P.S. I googled the Queen of Soul singing "America" at President Obama's Inauguration.  Just to listen to her and to watch the crowd listening to her was wonderful.  To watch President Obama watch and listen to her and be inspired by her inspired me again.  Then I scrolled down briefly to see the comments.  This was all within a few hours of her death. They were all in gratitude.  Except one. What?  One by Donald J. Trump: "Gotta Thumbs down on this one."  I don't tweet things to or about Trump, but this time I did reply to his tweet. I wrote: "Thumbs down on America? Thumbs down on music? Thumbs down on Freedom? "Don't gotta!"

I know even more today how much we need Aretha, and Martin Luther King Jr., and President Obama.

I know how much we need the Gospel.  I know how much we need to sing.  All of us.

The Election: Predatory Power or Partnership?

Power. It’s all about power—and powerlessness. The predatory sexual assaults of Donald Trump are being met by moral outrage. Some, however, separate this behavior from his general outlook on all things, including business, international relations, class and race. 

The point is this: oppressive systems of sexism, racism, classism, ableism, nationalism, militarism and other isms are interrelated.  They are all forms of oppression of the powerful over the powerless.  Oppressive systems do not just cure themselves. The power cycle continues, holding oppressed captive, keeping us from life-giving partnerships.

We have come a long way, of course. We see women and men side by side at the new anchor desk, co-parenting, and sharing work responsibilities.  And yet we know that we continue to live in an atmosphere of rape. We see African Americans leading corporations, as presidents of universities and of this nation, but also as victims of oppression in the criminal justice and economic systems. 

Hurricane Matthew roars through the Caribbean and up the Atlantic coast, causing terrible property damage and some deaths in the United States. Meanwhile hundreds die in Haiti, the poorest nation in this hemisphere. It is dangerous to continuously be among the oppressed. 

In the power cycle, those with power can at first ignore people, groups or nations with little or no power. Hence a Donald Trump seeks to project wealth, size (property, buildings, name on buildings), being a “winner.” Those in power can—at least for a while—ignore small nations, people of other religions, migrants at the borders.  But it is in the ignoring that those who think they are powerful remain the most ignorant. So a political candidate knows not one name of a leader of another nation, while people in small, less powerful nations know substantially more about “great” nations. They need to in order to survive! Note that Trump at the second presidential debate/forum, showed little interest in the people asking the questions.  He cares little about the oppressed people making his ties and shirts in poor nations overseas. 

But when those formerly ignored stand up and say, “Here I am.  I am somebody. I have a name. Look at me,” there is the potential for partnership. Hence Hillary Clinton’s campaign, “Stronger together.”  Hence the United Nations.  Hence all kinds of creative partnerships across socio-economic divides.  However, the powerful may grow threatened. A common response is to trivialize the oppressed trying to be seen: “Isn’t she a cute little thing?”  “That was a nice idea, but let’s go on to the important business at hand.” “Those people will never amount to much. They don’t belong here anyway.”  This is when we hear jokes, a hurtful form of trivializing, followed up by “Can’t you take a joke?”  The response must be, “No, I choose not to, because I am not a joke.”  “We are not a joking matter.”

But what if the trivialized start to claim their power of voice?  What if they start to act like partners?  All sorts of new possibilities arise.  Men start to see women in a new way.  We start to become partners by acting like partners with respect and new knowledge of one another across races, religions, and borders. We learn about and from one another. People with power start to share power and together, we all become more able, more empowered, less dangerous to one another. 

OR, the powerful become threatened. The need to keep the oppressed out or down intensifies. They ridicule, even saying ridiculous things, or threaten.  Afraid they may not be seen as powerful, or famous, or the most important, they bully, demand and demean.  Meanwhile the oppressed may caucus for support and wisdom and strategy. This is needed and helpful on the way from oppression towards justice.  Women gather and realize they are not alone in having been forced to have sex with a powerful, “famous,” man. Groups of people of color, and whole neighborhoods gather in community halls and in the streets and say that their lives matter. Nations bring their causes together to an international body. There is potential, finally, for dialog, and people at the table who were never at the table before, and for talking about deep issues.  This will take providing a safe, healthy, trustworthy environment to be different together.  It will take time and trust.  Working together, beyond conversation.  This will mean changing systems.

 

So, which will it be?  If the powerful resist, the next stage of the power cycle is “Eliminate.” The powerful dismiss, exclude or annihilate the powerless.  The woman or child who is raped is killed.  The woman sexually harassed, particularly the one who tries to claim her own voice, is fired.  The racial or ethnic group that seeks to no longer be ignored or oppressed, is put down and some are killed.  The group of people at “our” borders who seek to come in whose names and religion we could formerly ignore are excluded by walls and made to pay for their own exclusion.

It’s all about power, and the powerful keeping it at any cost.

Or will we, finally, say, “No!”  to predatory sexual assault and to predatory business practices, to ridiculing religious and racial actions, and “shoot-first” local and “bomb-first” global strategies that keep us from being equal human beings?  At each of these stages there is the potential for partnership, for really seeing each other and for living together in respect, and care. What kind of leadership does that call for? What kind of people does that call us to be?

_____________________

For more on "The Power Cycle" see Chapter 8 "Transforming Power for Partnership" in Norma Cook Everist and Craig Nessan, Transforming Leadership (Fortress, 2008)

Many Men Still Fear Women with Public Power

If we learned that racism was not over with the election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States, we will learn that sexism is surely not over with the possible election of the first woman as president of the United States.

Political commentators have noted that Republican candidate Carly Fiorina can go after Hillary in a way that the male candidates cannot. There are still vestiges of an ethic of men not beating up on a woman, even though they do it all the time; it’s simply called “domestic” not public abuse. There’s something about watching a woman going after a woman. “Let’s watch a cat fight,” people say.

Quite frankly, there has always been something to be gained in a male-dominated world by keeping women divided against women.  Old/young; married/single; lesbian/straight; fat/thin; pretty/ugly; working/non-working—whatever that means; all women work. Women candidates, such as Hillary Clinton and Carly Fiorina, for example, will present a sharp contrast in policy, principles and personal leadership style, but we need to be watchful that they are not pitted against one another “to see women fight.”

Women taking their full place in public life is an unfinished revolution. We have celebrated women’s accomplishments. And yet, as with any great social change, remnants of longing for the past linger. Fear of loss of male power and domination remain in some quarters. One sees and hears it, in blatant statements or small, off-hand remarks.  Recently while traveling, my husband and I stopped at a convenience store. At the counter a stranger remarked to us about his wife standing beside him, “She always gets what she wants.”  Why did he feel he needed to say that to us? There’s something there, unfinished, for him, and for thousands of other men, who cannot rejoice, even years after the modern feminist movement began.  It’s reminiscent of a question we early feminists often heard, “What else do they want?”

The issue is still about power—and elusive partnership. Another man said to me last week in speaking about Hillary Clinton, “How old is she? She probably won’t have the energy to serve a full term.”  Not enough power!  While others have long said Hillary has too much power.  There’s always something wrong with a “public woman.” Too weak.  Too strong.  Too quiet.  Too loud.  Too . . .  I even heard a committee interviewing a candidate for a leadership position say that she was “Too happy.”  To find something wrong with every woman indicates a continuing deep reluctance to trust women in leadership for fear they will change everything and usurp power from men. 

Of all the women with whom I have worked in the past five decades, willing and able to serve as leaders in the public sphere, not a one of them has had as her goal to take away power from men.  Their goals have always been full partnership of women and men. And we have achieved amazing new models of women and men working together as true partners in so many fields.  The feminist revolution has been a revolution for men, too.  The transformation of society has meant a transformation of power itself.

And yet. . .   And yet, systemic sexism remains.  The barriers may be different today than in the 1950’s and 1960’s, sometimes more subtle, sometime just differently blatant.  How important for women and men to recognize them. 

In regard to the resurgence of racism, we say, “We need to start a conversation.”  Not only a conversation, but a listening to the deep fears that remain, and a determination to eradicate racial violence.  During this presidential election campaign we will see a re-emergence of systemic sexism, sexism that may have only gone partially underground. (I totally dislike the term, “being politically correct,” a sure sign that someone has not been transformed, but only feels they must pretend to be.) Rape continues.  Sexual discrimination continues. Fear of women fully using their gifts continues.  We have work to do.  Together.

My Mother Used to Say, "Don't Make People Wait."

My mother used to say to me when I was a little girl, “Don’t make people wait.” Now that was a long time ago, and perhaps not always the right advice, but it has stuck in my head.

Sometimes it’s strategically wise to wait for the right moment. Sometimes keeping people waiting for you not only inconveniences them, but causes them to miss opportunities of their own. You probably know where I’m going with this.

“It’s time for Hillary to declare herself a candidate,” we hear. “She would have had people in place to publicly handle this email problem.” Or, on the other hand, “Not having to go through being torn apart in a primary saves her political strength for the battle with the Republican candidate.”

So, what do you think about Hillary? As a man? As a woman? We know a lot about her. Too much? She won’t be ignored. But she brings all that baggage. Each week new baggage, such as complications with contributions to the Clinton Foundation from foreign entities.

But, you see, there is always something wrong with a woman. That’s what I tell the women I teach who are preparing for public ministry. “You will be too young or too old; too tall or too short; too married, or too not married; too out-spoken or too soft-spoken; too fat or too thin, too . . .” Well, you have the idea. One woman, when interviewing for a position a few years back was told she didn’t receive it because she was “too happy.”

Women have been ignored for centuries, a classic way to pretend they had nothing to contribute.  (The saying that a woman who puts forth a good idea in the board room will have it ignored until a man puts forth the same idea is true, of course, again, and again, and again.) Or women are ignored as a way to pretend they do not exist. So, we need a candidate for president who is known.

We also cannot seem to deal with too many women in positions of leadership. That frightens people. Any “minority” group rising to majority status threatens those in power whether by  gender, race, economic class, or anything else. Women not actually being a minority makes things even worse.  “How many more of you are there out there?” I was asked when I became the first women professor in a tenure tract position in a seminary of my church body. “Quite a few,” I answered. (Or did I say, “A lot”? Probably not—I wanted the position!)

But back to Hillary. She is known. She is smart. She has tens of thousands of followers. She is a global figure. She is experienced, and not just as “the wife” of. . .  She has earned the right to become a presidential candidate. She is an amazingly hard-worker.  She is committed to helping people and her country.

   

And she will be vilified. For all sorts of reasons, including contradictory ones.  “She should not have stayed with Bill.” “She should have stayed with Bill.” Speaking of Bill, he has made major global contributions since he left office. Speaking of Bill, he could trip Hillary up in a well-meaning effort to be helping her.

Back to waiting.  There’s a strange thing about being the “first woman to. . .” Just because there has never been a woman in a particular occupation or situation, people seem to assume no woman but one is prepared for that opportunity. It’s all in the timing. Hillary knows that. And she also knows that she stands among millions of women worldwide with gifts to serve in their countries and communities.  Hillary has and will open doors for many women, speaking out for women and children and all who are oppressed.

She is more than qualified.  The time is now in the minds of many women and men. And yet for many others the time will never be right. “Can’t you wait a few more years?” I was told (not asked) when seeking ordination to pastoral ministry after having waited 17 years for my church body to be ready.

Too young.  Too old. Have you noticed that when a woman is finally deemed experienced enough to be qualified for a public position, or is old enough to have accomplished things in life, her first name becomes “Grandmother”?  Grandmother leads corporation. Grandmother chases away bank robber. Grandmother speaks out against. . . The first name of a leading male politician or male anything is not “Grandfather.” This is simply another way to diminish a woman and to put her back in her “domestic arena.”

Hillary is here in the public arena. Hillary is authentic. The time is now. No more waiting!

THE CHURCH IS NOT JUST A COZY FAMILY

October 11 would have been my parents’ wedding anniversary. My father died when I was a child, so I don’t have memories of their anniversaries.  But their life together, like their singular personalities, are part of my identity. A long-standing question: “Is nature or nurture more important in formation?” No doubt both. One thing is certain, nurture in faith communities is crucial. However, saying, “Our church is like a family” can be problematic. I know what people mean: close ties, belonging. But that image also can signal exclusivity to the stranger, and to those who don’t resemble the predominate membership

.

The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) speaks of tribes, but in the New Testament Gospels Jesus talks about leaving brothers or sisters or mother or father or children for the sake of the Good News and of receiving a hundredfold brothers, sisters, mothers, children. The Epistles (the Letters of the New Testament) are often addressed to “Brothers and Sisters” of the new churches. There are warnings against saying “I belong” to this family or that leader, and against divisions between Jews and Gentiles.  Christians are described as, “all heirs through adoption.”

Jesus Christ experienced suffering in being estranged from religious leaders, separated from family, deserted by disciples, and finally forsaken by God on the cross. We have and we will experience brokenness in families, and being estranged from one another, even within faith communities. The church is not just a cozy family. The gift of grace in Jesus Christ is reconciliation.

When my mother was widowed we moved from Des Moines to Mason City; a congregation invited us in. There we found not just families: the Swansons, the McMurrays or the Ortegas, but a broad caring community. 

When Burton and I married we decided—I don’t remember how or when—our home would be open to whomever God placed within our family.  Within a year, we were invited to adopt a child—while we were yet in seminary. Through the years our family has included a chosen child and two biological children. And through the decades, we have received a hundredfold brothers and sisters in Christ.

Although we disconnect, forget, and mourn the loss of one another, God creates and recreates community, far more than a hundredfold. Through God’s warm embrace we become ever-reaching-out people, way beyond biological families, so that we can nurture one another. How far? Refugees, immigrants, strangers wait for our welcome.

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Yesterday The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to India's Kailash Satyarthi, a Hindu, and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, a Muslim, a remarkable and prophetic  sign of being kin across religious and national boundaries. These two remarkable people inspire us all in their courage, passion and work that all children, including especially girl children deserve an education, and that no child should be a slave, nor property, nor oppressed or in danger. Indeed, how can we be ever-reaching-out people?

"Of Course!" Reflections on the Installation of Elizabeth Eaton

Presiding Minister Mark S. Hanson blesses newly installed ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton.

Of course. People were gathering for “Holy Communion with the Installation of the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,” Elizabeth A. Eaton, in Rockefeller Chapel, University of Chicago. Oct. 5, 2013, was a historic day but it felt more like a joyful, “Of course.”

As the magnificent organ swelled with Bach and Britten, hundreds came on line to watch the live video. A bagpiper played “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” while the ELCA Church Council, bishops, ecumenical and global partners processed. Paris Brown sang Dottie Rambo’s gospel favorite, “I Go to the Rock.”

The bells of the great chapel pealed. The time was now. Choirs, many singers from Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill., grand piano and drums, everyone sang, “Come, all you people, come … .” The Lutheran church is a global church.

Then still Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson welcomed those in the chapel and online in the name of Christ and said, “We have come together from many places to mark a new season of ministry in the life of this church … Let us enter this celebration confident that through the Holy Spirit, Christ is present with us now, as we pray that this servant may fulfill God’s purpose in her life and in her ministry among the whole people of God.”

Of course!

I have been invited to write this reflection in personal historical context. Many stories came together on this one day. I invite you to reflect on your own.

I heard those churchwide words of welcome and remembered my pastor saying one day in confirmation class when I as a youth was new to the Lutheran church, “Of course women cannot be pastors,” adding in a hushed tone, “They have babies.” But that same pastor helped me go to college.

Less than a decade after that first “of course,” while attending Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, one of two women among 800 men, I heard from my homiletics professor, “Of course you cannot preach. You are a woman. Your assignment will be an ‘inspirational address’.” But I did receive an “A” in the course (before The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod turned radically to the “right” theologically) and graduated with a Master of Arts in religion in 1964. I served in deaconess ministry in St. Louis, and then for over a dozen years with our family in inner city ministry in Detroit (I preached one day at Concordia College, Ann Arbor — while pregnant) and New Haven, Conn. The degree provided a Lutheran foundation for later pursuing a Masters of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, (and still later a Ph.D.) and an invitation to teach at Yale.

Meanwhile, in the early 1970s we were exiled from the The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod over issues of more open interpretation of Scripture and more inclusive mission and ministry. Although I served on the board of Seminex, I heard an implied “of course just some of us are free,” when told in regards to women’s ordination, “Can’t you wait a few more years?”

The American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America had begun ordaining women in 1970 and the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches would follow a few years later. Women kept responding to God’s call, even when churches through the ages said, “Can’t you wait a few more years, decades, centuries?”

There were all kinds of fears and barriers in the 1970s in reaction to women being ordained as pastors in Lutheran and other church bodies: “Jesus was a man; women cannot represent Jesus.” “If we ordain women, all the men will leave the church.” “What will happen to your children?” (They turned out fine, thank you.) “These women are Communists.”

Of course there were fears, but they were unfounded. Women did not want to take over the church or push out men. Women’s goal was inclusion and partnership, not hierarchical power.

On Oct. 5, 2013, with the welcoming words of Bishop Mark Hanson and the entire ELCA, with brass horns, a procession with candles and cross made its way up the center aisle to welcome Bishop Elizabeth Eaton at the door of the chapel. Red banner ribbons furled overhead. Signers were singing. Everyone proclaimed, “Christ is made the sure foundation.” I saw historian Martin Marty’s face in the crowd.

Vice President Rodney Sprang and Secretary John Sleasman of the Northeastern Ohio Synod of the ELCA said, “We bring before you the Reverend Elizabeth Eaton who has served among us faithfully as our bishop, chief pastor, and sister in Christ … we send her forth to serve as the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.” There were tears in my eyes.

In Thanksgiving for Baptism we were reminded as sisters and brothers, “God frees us from the bondage of sin, unites us together as one body, and calls us forth to new life and mission in the world.” To the Canticle of Praise, Elizabeth was led into the chapel as the assembly was sprinkled with baptismal waters by Presiding Minister Mark Hanson, Preacher Jessica Crist and Assisting Minister Yolanda Tanner, vice-president of the ELCA Delaware-Maryland Synod.

The First Lesson, Isaiah 42:5-9, was read by Rev. Chienyu Jade Li in Chinese: “I have given you as a covenant to the people … To bring out from the prison those who sit in darkness …”

The soloist led in chanting Psalm 121, “My help comes from the Lord.”

Of course, of course.

“The lord will watch over you … from this time forth forever more.”

The Second Lesson, 2 Corinthians 4:1-12 was read by Dina Tannous Vega in Arabic. “Since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart …”

In the Gospel procession and acclamation, “Halle, Halle, Hallelujah,” global women’s voices sang, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation.”

Of course, of course.

Conrad Selnick, an Episcopal priest and husband of Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, read the Gospel, Mark 4:1-9.

Of course. Ecumenical partner and marriage partner, he represented ecumenical and full communion guests and family of Bishop Eaton this day as he also served communion.

At my ordination in 1977 in the chapel of Yale Divinity School, a very ecumenical setting, my husband, Burton Everist, a pastor, preached. Various people from all three predecessor bodies of the ELCA had tried to stop or impede my ordination. Roger Fjeld of the American Lutheran Church prevailed and presided at the ordination rite.

Just a few years before, July 29, 1974, Burton and I had attended the service where 11 women were “irregularly” ordained priests in The Episcopal Church in the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, with 2,000 in attendance. The ordinations were considered “invalid,” but one of the four bishops who participated said the ordination event “stands as a prophetic witness on behalf of and for the oppressed.” The service was interrupted by those who stood in opposition.

One of those 11 women participated in solidarity at my ordination at Yale three years later.

Two years after that Wartburg Seminary called me as a professor, first among the three American Lutheran Church seminaries to take the risk of calling a woman. In 1979, although one by one women were becoming pastors, other people were still using the Bible to claim that women could not be teaching theologians over men and could not assume any headship role because Eve had tempted Adam into sin and, “It is clear in the Bible that women can never rule or lead.” And, “We cannot use ‘inclusive language’ because God is male.” Of course!

But one young woman at the 1979 fall Warburg alumni convocation came up to me after I spoke and said, “I’ve been waiting years for you to come.” Her name was Andrea DeGroot Nesdahl. Now, 35 years later, I continue to teach at Wartburg Seminary. Challenges remain for us all to be the church God is calling us to be.

This October in Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago, Jessica Crist, bishop of the ELCA Montana Synod, chair of the ELCA Conference of Bishops, preached. “A sower went out to sow.” She said this simple story could be modified, amplified, contextualized, but added that all were here today because someone sowed seeds. “Look at the plants that have grown.” She told the assembly that the impediments to success didn’t bother Jesus. She challenged, “You may be tired of rocky soil.” “You may be frustrated by thorns that accompany your every effort. What’s with it with those thorns? Why is there evil? Pain? Just keep on sowing. Does it seem birds keep eating seeds? Your words are twisted? Just keep on sowing. What matters is that we sow.”

And Crist added, that “We do not sow alone. We are part of a community. We are here to install, to sow in a wider field. Each is empowered. Each is sent. Go sow.”

The ELCA has come far since its beginning in 1988. Look at all the plants that have grown.

Representational principles adopted at the time, addressing representation of laity and people of color and whose first language was other than English, assured equal representation of women and men on boards and commissions and at synodical and churchwide assemblies. Beyond the more threatening token stage, overnight our ELCA gatherings looked, well, normal, just as God created us to be together.

But the Conference of Bishops began as an all-male group. I happened to be one of three teaching theologians to address the first Conference of Bishops meeting in 1988 and I told them it was not healthy, (perhaps I said “dangerous”) for the church and themselves that there were no women among them. I said other things, of course, about leadership as partnership, and about the liberation of men as well as women and about all the baptized being called out for vocation in the public world. At the time, there were worries that women might gain too much power. Whenever two of three of us sat together, almost always a man would come up and say, “We’ll have to break this up.” There were fears about “letting all ofthose people in” to change things and make decisions. But what was the fear? Inclusivity was not about breaking things, even “stained-glass ceilings,” but about new, healthy ways of being partners together. That’s why I was so pleased to see the September 2013 issue of The Lutheran magazine, with male and female bishops Mark Hanson and Elizabeth Eaton hand in hand.

Full partnership would come slowly, but it would come.

In the spring of 1992, Maria Jesper, minister in Hamburg, Germany, become the first woman elected a Lutheran bishop.

April Ulring Larson was installed Oct. 11, 1992, in La Crosse, Wis., as bishop of the La Crosse Area Synod of the ELCA. Andrea DeGroot-Nesdahl became the second woman elected an ELCA bishop, serving the South Dakota Synod.

Susan Johnson was elected the national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada on Sept. 29, 2007, in Winnipeg. This past weekend she was among the global and ecumenical partners who came forth to lead in saying the Nicene Creed together and to lay on hands at the installation of the fourth bishop of the ELCA, Elizabeth Eaton: Lutheran churches of Canada, Nicaragua, Sweden, South Africa, the United Church of Christ, Moravian, Reformed, United Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Church of Christ, Thailand, and The Lutheran World Federation.

“We believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church …”

“Elizabeth Amy Eaton has been elected and called by the church, for installation into the office of presiding bishop.”

No objections voiced. No interruptions to the service. Nothing called irregular or invalid. No impediments. Historically speaking, this was much more than, “Of course.”

After biblical words from John, Matthew, Acts and 2nd Timothy, Elizabeth was asked, “To you is being given the care of the bishops, pastors, deaconesses, diaconal ministers and associates in ministry; the synods, congregations and other communities of this church. I ask you in the presence of God and of this assembly: Will you assume the office of presiding bishop?”

Elizabeth A. Easton responded: “I will, and I ask God to help me.”

More questions of her and then of us: “People of God, will you receive Elizabeth as a servant of God and a shepherd in the church of Jesus Christ?”

“We will.” The assembly joined in the Prayer of Thanksgiving to God: “By your Holy Spirit you sustain the church … Strengthen and sustain your bishop Elizabeth with patience and understanding … Pour out your grace that she may love and care for your people and teach the faith… .”

And after hearing, “The office of presiding bishop is now committed to you,” all were invited to extend their hands in blessing. People across the miles extended their hands too, some with tears in their eyes, seeing what few could have imagined not many years before but that which the Spirit had been guiding all along. Women had been there all along, from the time of the empty tomb, even if at first, their words were not believed.

The Prayers of Intercession were in many languages. It was clear we are a global church. Bishop Eaton was presented a cross: “Remember to rekindle the gift of God that is within you … .” Acclamation. Applause. Smiles! She shared the peace, “La paz de Cristo sea siempre con ustedes.”

And then, “Let us go now to the Banquet.”

Bishop Eaton and Assisting Minister Tanner were at the altar. We had always been so careful to not have two women at the altar together, but today it was just fine. Sure, most of the bishops are still men. But women and men served communion together today. Phyllis Anderson, the first and only ELCA woman seminary president represented them. There was Beth Lewis and Kalleb Miler and Karin Graddy and Carlos Pena, and more. The oldest and newest ELCA congregations were represented.

We need not be a danger to each other. “Taste and See, Taste and See That the Lord is Good” sang Larry Clark and Paris Brown.

After all had been fed, the assembly broke into “Blessed Assurance,” the old, old song with a new beat with clapping, and people swaying, even at the altar — not too much of course. “This is my story, this is my song.”

The Sending blessing was in Spanish, “The God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus … .”

In just short of two hours, in full voice, the assembly went forth. God calls us out for vocation in the public world again. The recession was long, the Church Council, the bishops filing out from their pews two-by-two, many leaders together, not just one up front, to the music of the bagpipe’s “Highland Cathedral.” As newly installed ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton left at the last, smiling, looking calm and confident, people waved. Applause. Full organ. “Now Thank We All Our God.” Of course!