As Methodist Ministers often do, I’d like to begin with a quote from one of Charles Wesley’s well-known hymns – O thou who camest from above. Wesley writes ‘Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire to work and speak and think for thee. Still let me guard the holy fire and still stir up thy gift in me.’
As a female Methodist Minister, I’m often struck by the stories of those female ‘pioneers’ within Methodism. From the great Susanna Wesley to today’s presbyteral and diaconal colleagues, all have sought to ‘guard the holy fire’ and through working, speaking, and thinking for Jesus, have used their gifts in innumerable ways. They have sought to fulfil their callings to serve God and the people called Methodists. Amidst many and varied obstacles within the patriarchal system these women stepped forward, pioneering a way for those like me in the future.
So to my story: I grew up on the Isle of Wight, and didn’t encounter a female Minister until my early 20s. Growing up week by week in my local Methodist Church, I heard women preach and teach as Local Preachers. Seeing women leading worship was a common experience for me, part of what was normal at church. Yet that didn’t extend to female Ministers. In my consciousness churches were led by men. I knew that there were women ministers, but the lack of a visible female leader in my own context was stark. My main frame of reference was watching reruns of The Vicar of Dibley, seeing many of the humorous scenarios that Geraldine Granger experienced, and the genuine discrimination she faced. Encountering my first female minister opened for me a new way of seeing my burgeoning sense of call to ministry. Ordained ministry had always seemed beyond the realm of possibility, until I saw someone like me, in a collar, presiding at the sacraments, pastorally caring, leading. Suddenly there appeared a role model, someone who made me believe that what I felt called to might actually be possible.
After two years at The Queen’s Foundation in Birmingham, I entered the itinerant ministry as a Probationer Presbyter in 2015, more than 40 years after women were first ordained as Presbyters (Ministers) in the Methodist Church. Much has changed, and for the better, I’m certain. My Methodist cohort in training was approximately 80% female, most of whom were coming from established careers and having had families. In my probationer’s appointment in Kent, I was the first woman presbyter that one of the churches I served had experienced. As a woman, both young and single, I think there was some scepticism about the new ‘young lady minister.’ Some Vicar of Dibley-like moments materialised as I was introduced to the local community. These included multiple invitations to Christmas dinner in my first year – I only accepted one and there was not a Brussel sprout in sight! I could never tell whether being described as a ‘breath of fresh air’ was a positive thing or whether ‘you’re not much like your predecessor’ had any loaded meaning other than, ‘you’re not a middle-aged man.’ The public perception of clergy as male, white, middle-aged, middle-class, is reinforced in television and film and throughout the media. There is still work to be done in challenging this perception.
The Methodist Church has come far in its journey towards gender equality, but it is vital to recognise how far we have yet to travel towards full inclusion of God’s diverse and beautiful humanity. Throughout generations of Methodism, women have had to prove that they were not only as good at preaching as men, but better, in order to be valued. Women in ministry have had to weather the storms of overt and casual sexism. Women have faced many obstacles to being fully valued as Ministers in their own right, rather than supporting players. In early Methodism, female preaching was seen as disruptive, perhaps it is time to redouble our efforts to again disrupt the accepted order in seeking justice and solidarity for all. Not only gender equality, but for all those who continue to be underrepresented in the life of the church, whose voices and experiences have been silenced, people of colour, those who live with disabilities, those who live with mental health issues, those who belong to the LGBTQ+ community and many more.
To conclude I’d like to share one of many positive and joyful stories of my own ministry in the Methodist Church. I had led a large funeral for a much loved member of a village community. People from across the village and the wider town community had attended. After the service I was ‘working the room’ chatting to people. A rather strident looking gentleman approached and said “I’m a Catholic.” Immediately I wondered where this conversation was going to go. I felt my defences rise as I waited for the next sentence. To my utter surprise, the next words uttered were “If all women ministers are like you, I must write to the Pope and tell him we need to ordain women.” I remember standing open-mouthed for what felt like minutes. To have my ministry valued by someone who would traditionally have opposed it because of my gender was an experience I’ll never forget.
I hope that in the years to come we will continue working towards gender equality and the full inclusion of all peoples in the life of the Church, that all who feel called as beloved children of God, will be able to work, speak and think for Jesus.
Rev Miriam Moul
Miriam is Methodist Chaplain in the Multifaith Chaplaincy Team at Oxford Brookes University. For more information about International Women’s Day at Brookes, click here.
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