Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

When the Rev. Jeanne E. Gay announced that she was planning to attend a regional gathering for women leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), one of the elders at the 150-member Firelands Presbyterian Church in Port Clinton, Ohio, expressed concern.

“He wondered why I felt the need to go to a clergywomen’s retreat, thinking that it signaled a problem,” Gay said. “Although I think that the church is past the initial stage where every time a woman steps into the pulpit she’s the first one, women in the church still need opportunities to be together and be supported.”

Gay, a former corporate communications trainer and teacher who was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in 2009, was one of eight participants in “Deborah’s Daughters,” a regional gathering held on April 11 at the offices of Maumee Valley Presbytery in Findlay, Ohio.

Sponsored by the office of Women’s Leadership Development in the Racial Ethnic & Women’s Ministries/Presbyterian Women (RE&WM/PW) ministry area of the General Assembly Mission Council, “Deborah’s Daughters” is designed to provide opportunities for women leaders in the PC(USA)—including clergywomen, elders, deacons, commissioned lay pastors, and Christian educators—to discuss issues related to women in ministry. In addition to regional events across the country, women are also invited to meet virtually through a conversation group on AllWomen in the church, the social networking website of RE&WM/PW.

“As a true introvert, I’m very comfortable with social networking,” Gay said. “Although it was great for us all to meet face-to-face, I’m always happy to be able to continue the conversation without having to leave the office.”

Gay recalled that the April 11 gathering began with the group’s convener, Nancy Young, coordinator for Women’s Leadership Development, inviting the participants to talk about the attributes of the prophet Deborah, whose gifts as visionary, military leader, judge, and nurturer served as a springboard for a conversation about their own ministries in a 21st-century context.

“One of the most valuable learnings for me that day came out of our dialogue on leadership styles,” Gay said. “We agreed that men’s style of leadership tends to be more top-down while women tend to be more collaborative.

“Because I taught communications skills in my former life, I knew this but hadn’t yet applied it to my current situation, where I followed a man who was at the church for 24 years.  The conversation helped me to realize what may have been going on when people thought I should be taking a ‘stronger leadership role.’ Talking with other women about my own experience helped me to see that my situation was more about differing leadership and communications styles and not particular to the person I followed.”

As someone new to the ordained ministry, Gay said that she found it refreshing to have Young—a representative of the denomination’s national offices in Louisville—not “directing” the conversation but helping it to “move and flow.”

“It was nice to have someone from Louisville come to our presbytery and be willing not to tell us how to do things but instead to talk with us about what our needs are and how the national offices can be helpful. It gave me a better sense of what Louisville can be for us,” said Gay.

“In the same way that members of our churches often think of the presbytery as ‘they,’ it’s easy for us from a small church perspective to think of Louisville as ‘they.’ At this gathering, there was no sense of ‘us’ versus ‘them.’ In reality it was the larger church coming to us and saying, ‘Here is what we have to offer, let us be helpful.’”

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For further information on “Deborah’s Daughters” or to discuss holding a regional gathering in your area, email Nancy Young, coordinator for Women’s Leadership Development.