March 27, 2025

The unofficial title of this picture is “Look At Those Beautiful Faces”. The title was coined by Rev. Diane Weible, former Conference Minister for the Northern California Nevada Conference UCC. Rev. Weible now serves on the UCC national staff as Administrator for the Council of Conference Ministers (“CCM”) and provides Search and Call assistance for Conference staff when that need arises.  I would like to call your attention to by my count sixteen of those beautiful faces who are the women currently called to serve in this role. I recall my first exposure to the CCM when I began serving as an Associate Conference Minister for the New York Conference in 2009. At that time, one could literally count the number of female Conference Ministers on one hand. Joyfully, it now it takes more. 

On this Women’s History Month, it is a beautiful sight to see so many women serving as Conference Ministers.  This picture, taken earlier at our semi-annual meeting earlier this month, is a portrait starting from the longest serving Conference Minister on the left to the newest on the right. You will see that our longest serving Conference Minister is Rev. Lynn Bujnak of the Vermont Conference. Several of the women pictured above have made ‘herstory’ in their own right as the first women called as Conference Ministers in their Conferences. This month, as in all months, these women should be celebrated for their spiritual leadership in the United Church of Christ.  And I would be remiss here if I do not, and do not encourage us to, celebrate the many women in spiritual leadership in the Central Atlantic Conference - pastors, chaplains, ministers in specialized settings, church leaders, Association leaders, and members of our Board of Directors. From one whose childhood church culture included women called missionaries and evangelists because they could not be ordained as deacons or pastors, women have come a long way, and the reign of God has come closer on earth today because of them.

Yet even as we come to a close of Women’s History Month and honor the accomplishments, known and unknown, of millions of women in history, we would do well to remember that sexism and patriarchy are alive and well. While the ‘gender gap’ has narrowed in recent years, according to the Pew Research Center women still earn on the average 85% of what men earn1.  The rights of women to make decisions about their bodies are continually threatened with the prospect of a national abortion ban. Recently, the House of Representatives has introduced the so called SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility) which would require all Americans to present birth certificates or passports as proof of American citizenship. If this act were to pass as proposed, 69 million American women may be prevented from voting because the proposed legislation does not include proof of name change or marriage certificates as acceptable proof of identity2.  In the United Church of Christ, we have an able and gifted leader in our General Minister and President, the Rev. Dr Karen Georgia Thompson,  Yet it took more than sixty years for a woman to finally serve in this role. Despite resolutions and good intentions, the pulpit remains a glass ceiling for ordained African American women in ours and all of our Conferences. The struggle for women’s rights and equality is by no means over.  

Proverbs 31:25 describes a virtuous woman as one who is “clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come (NRSVUE).” This verse reminds us of the inherent strength and dignity of women. It also calls us as the Church, particularly in the current climate and policies of the current administration, to create and nurture spaces where the dignity and strength of women are upheld, where women are seen and heard, and offer freedom not only from external threats but also from the institutional frameworks that uphold traditional patriarchal norms. We must not grow weary in faithfully confronting and resisting the evils of sexism and patriarchy. Upholding the rights of women is not merely a political issue. It is a theological and spiritual one that aligns with our call to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).”  May we commit to working for a world where women are fully free to be all that God calls women to be.  The reign of God on earth will come closer to being our reality on earth for all of us, regardless of gender expression or identity, when we do.

With gratitude for women everywhere and in every time,