Good News: Women in Ministry (Tara Beth Leach)

Tara Beth Leach:

“Your voice is important and needed in our context,” said Pastor Glen, Teaching Pastor at Good Shepherd Church in Naperville Illinois.  I wanted to believe him, I really did, but it was so radically different than what I had just experienced over the last year.

I was 26 years old, fresh out of Bible School and a spring chicken in ministry. Upon graduation with a B.A. in Ministry, I had dreams of standing behind the pulpit, preaching the Word of God, much like I had seen many men do in my tradition.

I was fortunate to have many wonderful affirming opportunities in my first associate pastoral role.

When my husband and I moved back to the Chicagoland area, I was eager to land a pastoral position in a local church.  I excitedly began writing emails, making phone calls, and doing everything possible to contact leaders on our denomination’s district.  After months of assertive attempted communications, I heard nothing. Not even a response from the District Superintendent. No one reached out to me. I began feeling as if I didn’t matter, or worse…as if I didn’t even exist.

“Maybe you’re not really called; maybe you heard God wrong; maybe you aren’t gifted; maybe you should pursue something else,” were the words I’d hear, in my voice, rattling around in my head.

I began to pursue a career in what I knew how to do well, riding and training horses – I grew up on a small horse farm and as a competitive rider  I thought, if the church doesn’t want me, I’ll share the good news of Jesus in the horse industry.  I began riding north of 6 horses a day and giving lessons to young students.  But every night when I would get in my car to make my way home, dirt in my teeth, exhausted from the hot sun, I wasn’t dreaming about jumping 6ft. oxers on my dream horse.  I wasn’t dreaming about winning my first Grand Prix or making my first 100k on a horse sale.

Instead, I had visions of studying the Bible in research for hours on end and then teaching the all-consuming, all-powerful, all-encouraging truth to the Body of Christ.  I ached for it.  I longed for it.  And at the end of every evening, I would pull away from the barn, and these dreams, these visions, these hopes would carry my thoughts away until I pulled back up into my home.  I knew that I could no longer run.

Eventually, my yearning found me sitting behind a computer screen, sending my resume out to a few churches. Resumes lead to interviews and then a job offer for a part-time Senior High Youth Director position at a church of 4,000 in Naperville, IL.  I eagerly accepted the call and jumped in with both feet. After a month of serving at Good Shepherd Church, one of the Teaching Pastors pulled me into his office and affirmed gifts that he saw in me.    Then Pastor Glen said, “Your voice is important and needed in our context, how do you feel about preaching on a Sunday morning two weeks from now?”  Preaching? Me? I had such a hard time believing that they would actually allow me to stand behind their pulpit.  “Of course, yes! Yes!”

I was 26 years old, barely believing in myself. I preached a sermon to a loving, kind, and affirming group. The rest of the pastors heard me preach and kept inviting me back to the pulpit and eventually inviting me to the Teaching team where I got to preach 1-2 times a month. Weeks turned into months, and months turned into years, and I had the joy of serving in the teaching team for over 5 years.

The Pastors were my champions.  Many times my insecurities would creep in and I would question whether or not I was equipped to preach a particular sermon, but the Pastors would practically shove me to the pulpit.  Why? They believed in me.  And hardly a day went by that I didn’t hear those words from the pastors in some form or another.  They didn’t just tell me, but they showed me.  They mentored me; they championed my call; they sent me to seminary; and most of all, they gave me countless opportunities to exercise my gifts.

Like a weak, baby, budding tree in a nurturing tree nursery, I took root and grew at and with Good Shepherd Church.  And I blossomed because of Pastors believing in me, mentoring me, and giving me incredible opportunities.

Today, I have the opportunity to serve at an equally affirming context at Christ Church of Oak Brook.  The Pastors and people almost seem to go out of their way to offer words of encouragement and affirmation.  Last week I sat in a meeting with Executive Pastor, Bill Clark, and he said, “Tara Beth, you are uniquely gifted….You could even be a Senior Pastor of a church some day.”  Senior Pastor?  Well, we’ll see.  But it’s a gift to have male Pastors affirm the pastoral roles of women in the church.