Mommy, minister and unmarried: Single mothers in the pulpit

[hrmjustin]

Lauren Markoe

(RNS) When Philadelphia’s St. Paul Baptist Church hired the Rev. Leslie Callahan as its first female pastor, in 2009, she was nearing her 40th birthday and the tick-tock of her biological clock was getting hard to ignore.

She delighted in her ministry but also wanted a husband and children in her life. The husband she couldn’t do much about — he just hadn’t stepped into her life.

“But it was clear to me that I was going to do everything in my power to realize my dream of becoming a parent,” she said.

Now Callahan is mother to 22–month-old Bella, who was welcomed joyously by what the pastor describes as “a pretty traditional Baptist church.” She describes Bella’s arrival as “a divine regrouping,” a different answer to her prayers than the traditional mommy-daddy-baby model she had envisioned.

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/07/31/single-unmarried-ministers/

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. Rev. Tamara Lebak

http://www.allsoulschurch.org/associate-minister

"Most recently Tamara has been busy with partner Jill, raising their first child, Beckett Elizabeth, born in June 2010."



But then the Baptists wouldn't allow a lesbian minister. I like the fact that the UUs accept everyone, no matter what their sexual orientation or belief, or lack of belief, is. No other church does that.

www.uua.org/beliefs/

[hrmjustin]

2. UU is a wonderful and open denomination.

Many churches can learn from them.