All the Clergy Ladies

It's Women's History Month and we're in the season of Lent. Hence, it's table-flipping season! (It's always that around here though🤪). 

I practice ministry in a contested space (many spaces are that for this Black woman). In this space, white patriarchy is ever present. Some must be corrected that I am not "Young Lady", "My Dear", or "Sweetheart". My role is Pastor, and my title is Reverend Doctor. 

Inevitably, if I show up on campus in 'civilian' clothes, and a guest comes by looking for the pastor, they invariably go straight to one of the white men, assuming that he is the pastor.  Overlooked again as the pastoral authority. 

The current situation:

White men (mostly) show up in the preaching space with pants so tight, generations of posterity carried in their sacs can be heard screaming deep into the future. Yet, a female shows up in the space and OTHER WOMEN police and punish her attire. Her laugh, hairstyle, and mannerisms are all called on the role of how a pastor should or should not look or behave. Bear in mind that it was not so long ago that the Church (big C) would not entertain the thought of including women on the role of 'those to be ordained'. For this, I point ten fingers at Paul. If only he explained himself better 🙄

Then, there's the binary way in which the Martha-Mary drama is approached. Now, Jesus is my guy.  I really like him.  However, when misogynists read a passage like Luke 10:42 and hear Jesus say, "Mary has done the better thing..." not wanting to ask Jesus to explain himself, they use his 'better thing' as grounds for Paul's "Let the women learn in silence." Nonsense. Let's work with the Martha-Mary drama. 

Martha has accepted the role of being in the kitchen and making sure that the men are comfortable and well cared for. She does not question the lazy and groveling practices that are older than her. Instead, she grudgingly performs the duties of the 'dutiful' woman, while actively internally struggling with the sense of it all. 

They say in every family, there is one who would not adhere to socialized norms. Mary is the one. The patriarchal assumption is that Mary sat 'in silence' while the men pontificated. This lens quickly reduces Mary's activity to the so-called 'women's place'. Mary's action of bucking the kitchen assignment is resistant to the systemic patriarchal stereotyping. I want to believe that though Martha was scandalized and would have clutched her pearls if she had any, that Mary's actions would have been a catalyst for her silent struggles to get a voice. I hope they gave patriarchy a run for its ill-gotten gains. 

The need for a new ecclesial model:

Isn't this next Mary more than the bearer of Jesus? In her Magnificat, she initiates a movement that would pull on the thread of the fabric into which have been woven hierarchical, patriarchy, and gender discrimination traditions. Pull it loose, Sistah Mary! Pull it loose! Contrary to widely held belief, this song is not a lullaby! If we think that this song is a nice lullaby, then we would be reducing Mary's role to that of child-bearer, and we would be sadly mistaken. The young dark-skinned Mary disrupts the roles assigned to people of her context and gender, disrupts the idiosyncrasies around child-bearing structures, and she re-casts holiness as a gift that can be experienced and expressed by anyone. Pull the thread Sistah Mary! Pull it loose! 

The Magnificat exposes the stereotypes for the idols that they are, then takes a hammer to them. The song is revolutionary and gives birth to a new lens that will force the powerbrokers to see women (and other marginalized groups) as the complex, diverse and valuable human beings that we are. I hail Mary's Magnificat. Consequently, I am willing to stay in my place if it is understood that my place is wherever I am! 

I am celebrating all women and women-identifying humans! We belong wherever we love to be!

See you in the comments!

#womenshistorymonth #magnificat #downwiththebinary #nomoremysoginy #womeninministry #letmaryspeak