Being a pastor is one of the most challenging and, at the same time, fulfilling jobs in the world. Being a female pastor adds a twist to the job that most of us can’t completely understand.

It’s probably just a coincidence that my most memorable experiences of receiving needed pastoral care have been with women pastors. Though I know many wonderful men pastors, it’s the women whose words truly comforted me, guided me and stayed in my head and heart to be shared with others.

Those one-on-one experiences are necessarily limited by time and space. But if you want the insight, the wisdom, the understanding, the compassion and, yes, the fun that women bring to ministry, you’ll want to read There’s A Woman in the Pulpit: Christian Clergywomen Share their hard Days, Holy Moments & the Healing Power of Humor.

This is a collection of more than 50 essays from women of varied denominations from all over the world. You’ll recognize many of the people the writers talk about because they’re probably in your church. You’ll chuckle and you’ll cry. And you’ll treasure every minute you spend with these remarkable women.

Some samples:

Rev. Sally-Lodge Teel lives in Mississippi and was there in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina struck. She writes about being a pastor amid such devastation, even as she was a victim herself. She shares the story of another woman pastor she had only known through an online group who flew to Mississippi from Maine to help with pastoral care.

She brought a cherished possession for me: a prayer shawl from her congregation’s prayer shawl ministry. She sat with me, talked with me, and went around my community, offering love and help. She cooked for my family, beginning a tradition we cherish to the day—the Festival of Meat Loaf.

Healing came because she came.

Suzy Garrison Meyer wrote about serving communion in her church, which was built in 1892 and heated by an old-fashioned stove. It was a cold winter morning and the elements were set up and in place before Sunday school and choir practice. By the time it came to uncover the elements, the juice had frozen.

In panic, I risked a glance at my husband in the front pew. For once, his head was properly bowed. … On a day when the promise of the resurrection was so important for my congregation to hear, I held the Popsicle of salvation.

As she prayed, she picked up the pitcher and walked through the sanctuary, getting as close to the stove as she could. She trusted the body of Christ and when it came time to pour …

Thanks be to God, the juice poured. Not all of it—chunks of ice came too, splashing dark droplets on the white linen.

The blood of Christ, poured out for the many.

Then there was the heartbreaking story Rev. Martha Spong shared about rushing to the hospital to baptize a premature baby who died just a few minutes later—the same hospital where she herself had lost a baby. And the uplifting story from Rev. Robin Craig, who wondered how she would ever preach again after her son died by suicide.

Pastors step into the pulpit notwithstanding the divorce papers on the desk, the child in the hospital, the mother’s funeral the next day.

We can do it only because the Christian faith is rooted in hope, a hope so strong that it prevails even when we on our own cannot, a hope that promises wholeness.

The essays in There’s A Woman in the Pulpit are short—most just three pages—so they’re quick reads. You don’t have to read this book sequentially; it’s designed so you can bounce around for the message you need at any given time.

Finally, There’s A Woman in the Pulpit is not for women only. In fact, I highly recommend that men read it, too. Click here to order your copy on Amazon.

There’s A Woman in the Pulpit is a fundraiser for RevGalBlogPals, an online community that has been offering support and resources to women in ordained Christian ministry since 2005.

Jacquelyn Lynn
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