The Pastor Wears a Skirt: stories of gender and ministry

Dangerous Woman? Ordained by God? Gender matters! What do pastors really do beyond the pulpit? What's it like to be a woman pastor? It's complicated. People leave congregations when the pastor wears a skirt. Other congregations become advocates for women clergy. Rev. Dorothy Nickel Friesen, an ordained Mennonite pastor, digs deep into the soul of a pastor with humor, pathos, and passion. Her memoir, a collection of short stories based on true events, visits the agony of bedside death, lost dreams, and angry parishioners who walk away from her leadership. She also shares the laugh-out-loud stories of weddings (a missing groom), rituals of deep meaning (with water from the Jordan River), and tension-filled advocacy for peace (on a military base). With honesty and warmth, Rev. Dorothy beckons women, especially, to love God's people as a leader, preacher, and friend. She hopes this book will help you see beyond the "Bible wars" and deepen your faith that God generously gifts women for spiritual leadership. -- back cover.… (more)