A Young, Female Thing

It is funny how our parish and presbytery situations colour our view of the church, and those we share the task of ministry with. I've been in ministry for 13 years and ordained for 11 and a half, and in that time I have just assumed that as I have got older I must now be of an equivalent age to a good number of ministers across Scotland. I celebrated my 40th birthday this year, and no longer felt I could claim I was young. My parish situation means that I am colleagues with a number of women who are of a similar age to me. Many of my friends in ministry are of a similar age, if not gender, to me.

Yet today I was at a consultation day for an area of work that I'm presently involved in, and I felt like a child. There were only two women there, and I was the youngest in the room by at least 10 years.

I had to have a word with myself before eating lunch, as when I had arrived in the room earlier in the day I had resorted to my introvert state of looking at all these grey haired men, and seeing myself as someone with nothing to contribute and knowing that they would have all the answers. When I returned to the room to eat, I enjoyed the chat I had with two of my colleagues and finding out more about them and their situations.

However just as I hoped I might grow up one day, I find I am still a young thing. So maybe I still have plenty opportunity to be outrageous and put some of my more subversive thoughts into action. Although I'm sure the church will continue to make them mainstream, as it accommodates outrageous reformation.