Insights into Leadership among Female Clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Abstract

Christian congregations strive to be caring and inspirational communities, but women who lead them often face challenges to their well-being not experienced by their male counterparts. We conducted a study of leadership challenges among female pastors, administering a survey to a sample of 102 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) pastors. The results suggest that pastors are not isolated from the types of gender discrimination females experience outside of the church. The insights gained can be useful to church leaders, clergy, seminarians, congregants, and those generally interested in gender dynamics and effective leadership strategies.

Keywords

leadership challenges leadership strategies female clergy patriarchy gender-bias Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Introduction

Despite the significant number of female leaders in Christian churches, gender discrimination occurs within their religious cultural landscape. Women clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA, 2016) report a multitude of oppressive experiences. This project covers the findings of three studies of ELCA women clergy (the 45th Ordination of Women 2016; Makant’s Interviews 2019; and Phelps’ Leadership Challenges Study 2020), in addition to strategies for effective leadership (Lewis 2016; Schuyler et al. 2016). The ELCA studies illustrate the types of discrimination within the church are universal. Nonetheless, conditions for females in leadership do not occur solely in the church, primarily because the church does not exist in a cultural vacuum (Makant 2019). The advice and responses from the respondents in these studies are relevant to women across all spectrums who want to gain insight into the effects of gender discrimination.

In recent decades, women have begun to enter seminaries in larger numbers (Burge and Williams 2019; Campbell-Reed 2019; Makant 2019), constituting approximately 60 percent of the student body. Yet, inequality in many forms still looms in the seminary (Kristoff 2018) and ultimately among female clergy (Lindsey 2021, Makant 2019). Women studying the ministry offer provocative stories of sexual abuse in line with the #MeToo movement (Makant 2019; Campbell-Reed 2019; Kristoff 2018), in addition to harassment and misogyny from their peers (Makant 2019). Females in the ministry encounter a stained-glass ceiling in leadership, often experiencing difficulties with advancing in rank or receiving calls into the pastorship (DeGasquet 2010; Makant 2019). There is a pressing need to understand the experiences among female pastors with the goal of improving the leadership and ministry outcomes for them.

Accordingly, the 45th Ordination of the Women ELCA leader survey (2016) addressed the differences and similarities in the ministerial experiences between men and women clergy and found gender as the primary factor for the differences. Makant (2019) interviewed ELCA pastors and bishops to gain insight into the leadership experiences among women who happen to be accused of mischief making in the church. A summary of the results of these two studies follow:

Study on the 45th Ordination of the Women ELCA

This national leadership study was conducted on the 45th anniversary of the Ordination of Women (2016) and found gender-related challenges primarily among the female pastors. The mailed and online surveys were collected from a sample size of 1,243, including 536 white females, 482 white males, 93 non-white females, and 132 non-white males.

Compensation

Males consistently reported higher salaries than women, and 33 percent were compensated below synod guidelines regardless of gender. Female clergy earned 86 percent of the male clergy’s salaries.

Occupational Roles

Approximately one third of the ELCA pastors were women. They were less likely to serve as bishops, professors, or senior pastors.

Attributes and Experiences

Female pastors were more likely to receive comments about the appropriateness of their attire. In addition, 56 percent of females experienced more gender-based discrimination and 32 percent received sexual harassment in the congregation or ministry setting. Seventy percent of the sample felt they represented their gender in their actions, and they thought about how their gender affected perceptions of them.

In sum, appropriateness of attire, inappropriate comments (discrimination), sexual harassment, internalized prejudice/oppression, and unequal pay were reported in this study.

Makant’s Study of ELCA Female Clergy

Shortly before the 50th anniversary of the ordination of ELCA female pastors in 2020, Makant, a theologian and ethicist, interviewed 85 rostered ELCA female pastors and nine bishops throughout the American south. Geographically speaking, Makant’s research design rounds out the Leadership Challenges Study which was conducted in other regions of the country. She covered five main categories in her investigation, and her findings are reflective of the other two ELCA studies on female clergy. Her work ties directly to the Leadership Challenges study in two specific ways: she examined the most challenging aspects of the participant’s ministry and asked for advice for women considering the call into ministry.

Challenges

The participants in her study shared a sense of frustration, impatience, and bafflement that gender is still a point for contention, and gender inequity still occurs in the church. Her respondents were subjected to physical and sexual violence, although this topic was not a question in her interviews. The participants reported that congregants remarked that they might leave a church lead by a female pastor. As a result, the pastors felt sorrow and shame. Appearance surfaced as a challenge for these ELCA clergy. Both men and women called attention to the female clergy’s clothing, makeup, and hair. Female pastors were also criticized for being too feminine or masculine. They reported problems with pregnancy and childcare. Makant determined that women invested more emotional energy overall because of the challenges in their roles. The comment was made that the full acceptance of female pastors has been a one step forward and two steps backward process with a continuous backlash from their presence in the ministry.

Advice

One bishop (a composite of others in that role) advised that women in the ministry or those exploring a call to the ministry should be themselves and try not to be or do ministry like a man. Another indicated that the challenges among female leaders in the patriarchal system gave them cause to take care of one another, at minimum, by sharing personal stories. Makant added, “Sharing stories creates bonds and builds empathy.”

When asked what the respondents hoped to gain from participating in Makant’s project, the respondents replied they wanted their bishop and male colleagues to know how different it is to serve the church in a female body and to recognize the difficultly in performing even the most common daily tasks. They would like both parishioners and community members to be aware of how hard they make it for female pastors to do their jobs.

In sum, the stories and advice in Makant’s work provided insight into the broken features of the church based on her pastor/bishop interviews. Makant offered three areas for correction: boundary training for pastors in terms of conduct and relationships, equitable employment practices with at least decreasing the gender pay gap, and catechesis (a chance to learn about Biblical hermeneutics) with a way of knowing that is different from outdated cultural norms and the attempts to maintain power in the patriarchal system within the church.

Phelps’ Study of ELCA Leadership Challenges

Complementary to the 45th ordination of women study and Makant’s interviews, the ELCA Leadership Challenges Study (2020) investigated experiences among ELCA female pastors in synods (geographical districts) in the United States, the same year as the 50th anniversary of the ordination of female leaders in the church. The study uncovered a multitude of leadership challenges and strategies for this population, reinforcing the findings in the 45th Ordination Study, Makant’s interviews, and the prescriptions for success in other leadership studies (Cafferata 2020; Campbell-Reed 2019; Ferguson 2018; Lindsey 2021).

Method

Sample

The data for this analysis of leadership challenges come from a sample of ELCA female pastors from judicatories or synods in the United States, located in the East, West, and Mid-west within rural, suburban, and urban settings. An online survey was administered to 286 pastors, examining their leadership experiences and challenges. In all, 102 pastors returned the survey at a response rate of 36 percent. The breakdown indicated that 44 percent of the sample were 61 years of age or older with the remainder spread out relatively equally between the age ranges of 31 and 40, 41 and 50, and 51 and 60. A total of 46 percent of the sample held solo positions (the only pastor in the congregation) and 88 percent had 4+ years in the ministry (Table 1).

Table 1.

Age and Position of Female ELCA Pastors ELCA Leadership Challenges Study (N = 102).

Age and position	n	Percent
Pastor’s age
<30	3	(2.9)
31–40	20	(19.6)
41–50	14	(13.7)
51–60	20	(19.6)
≥61	45	(44.1)
Ministry designation
Associate/Assistant pastor	6	(5.9)
Co-pastor	3	(2.9)
Senior pastor (solo)	47	(46.1)
Retired pastor	21	(20.6)
Other	25	(24.5)
Years in the ministry
1–3 years	12	(11.8)
4–10 years	27	(26.7)
11–20 years	32	(31.7)
≥21 years	30	(29.7)

Note. ELCA = Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Survey measures

The survey included questions on whether the respondents received encouragement to go into the ministry and if they received support from the bishop or their office. Other topics covered spiritual support, singlehood, marriage, parenthood, loneliness, challenges as a female pastor, and advice to incoming female pastors. The questions were related to the themes in the two previous ELCA studies.

The respondents were asked to select “all that applied” from a list of types of challenges, and as such, the answers were not mutually exclusive. Challenges included unequal compensation, lack of respect, resistance to authority by staff members and congregants, stereotypical gender expectations from the congregation and the community at large, barriers to advancement in careers, and threats to one’s power base.

The most-commonly reported challenges from the open-ended question on challenges were categorized into the themes included in the “Results” section, along with advice for incoming pastors.

Data analysis

A descriptive analysis was conducted to take a snapshot of the cultural leadership climate of ELCA pastors. The intention was to gain insight into their leadership experiences and ultimately give them honor and voice by sharing their stories/advice.

Results

In terms of their leadership dynamics, 88 percent of the respondents received encouragement to go into the ministry by pastors, family/friends, and college professors, respectively. Eighty percent received support from the bishop or the bishop’s office. Sixty-seven percent of the single pastors indicated that their role as pastor inhibited their ability to date; 45 percent reported the role of pastor conflicted with their marriages, and the same result was cited for parenting. A total of 93 percent of the respondents received spiritual support through prayer, other clergy, and friends/family. In addition, 65 percent of the participants reported feeling lonely sometimes; 23 percent felt lonely often (Table 2).

Table 2.

Leadership Dynamics of Female ELCA Pastors ELCA Leadership Challenges Study (N = 102).

Leadership dynamics	Percent
Encouragement for the ministry	88
Support from bishops	80
Spiritual support	93
Inhibition of ability to date	67
Conflict with marriage	45
Conflict with parenting	45
Sometimes feel lonely	65
Often feel lonely	23

Note. ELCA = Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Ninety-two percent of the sample reported experiencing challenges in their roles as female pastors. The most common designations from the list of challenges were unequal compensation, less respect than male colleagues, resistance to their authority, and stereotypical gender expectations from the congregations. As this was a closed-ended question, there were no comments or examples from the respondents to report.

The survey also included an open-ended question about other challenges experienced by female leaders. The most common themes pertained to their style of dress, inappropriate gender-based comments, and sexual harassment. Some of their comments overlap with themes in the close-ended list of challenges, but the information generates further insight into the leadership challenges. Examples of direct quotes from the open-ended question on challenges are as follows:

Style of dress/appearance

My dress is paid attention to by male parishioners in a way I have to navigate professionally.

Constant comments on my appearance.

Inappropriate comments (respect and resistance to authority)

I have men (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod pastors) telling me (unsolicited) what is wrong with my sermon. I’ve been called unprofessional for smiling and laughing in worship. I’ve been patronized about my ability to manage people.

Very abusive manipulative senior pastor in my first call.

I was assigned to redevelop a failed mission congregation. Later I was told that if the church closed, the synod would have no other place for me.

Being threatened with physical violence because of my stance on same-gendered relationships . . .

I don’t think most men—including and especially younger men—understand that they walk into all of the benefits of a stereotype and that women need to be fighting that and re-creating an image all of the time. We as a church accept women. But we accept men more easily.

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment from male colleagues. Lack of support from Synod staff when male colleagues were involved in sexual misconduct with female parishioners.

Inappropriate comments by members and community people due to gender (i.e.; “You’re the best-looking pastor I’ve ever seen”) which is undermining authority.

I have had to navigate inappropriate comments and advances from male parishioners.

Unequal pay and internalized prejudice

Because of the inequality of compensation, it now reflects the inequality of retirement pay.

My own internalized prejudice re: women as poor leaders due to “emotions,” etc. That old stuff.

In sum, the challenges ranged from receiving negative comments about their appearance to sexual harassment from both colleagues and parishioners. They also reported receiving criticism about their sermons and management style and pointed out that the inequity in compensation also negatively affects their retirement benefits. These findings reflect the responses from the 45th Ordination surveys (2016) and Makant’s interviews (2019), along with the contributions from other researchers/scholars on gender bias and discrimination (Campbell-Reed 2019; Kristoff 2018; Lindsey 2021).

Finally, the respondents in the ELCA Leadership Challenges Study were asked what advice they would give incoming female pastors related to the challenges they experienced.

Examples of suggestions/comments are as follows:

Leadership presence

My advice would be to take everything in stride and to consider if the event/incident is or is not truly related to your gender. “Don’t allow the institution to tokenize you. You’ll overwork and they won’t listen to you.”

Don’t go looking to name problems/challenges to being a female pastor (like this survey might be doing). Proclaim the Gospel.

Don’t think that all of the challenges are over.

Have a mentor—someone else who has gone through and conquered these challenges.

Boundaries

Set definite boundaries, especially with male parishioners on email, social media, and in meetings.

Authenticity

Be real. Be honest and don’t let others drive you out of ministry.

Be who you are. God called you into ministry knowing exactly who you are, so don’t change to meet others’ expectations of a pastor.

Compassion

Also, remember that the larger community may not be accustomed to female clergy. If that is the case, be forgiving while being a good clergyperson.

Use your female intuition and compassion. Reach out to female clergy. Don’t sell yourself short. Be confident, you have gifts to share.

Be active in showing compassion to those who are hurting.

Spirituality

Nourish your own spirituality.

Seek balance in your life.

Authority and power

In the congregation, own your own authority and power. Engage in activities outside your comfort zone and gender stereotypes.

Trust your gut. If something feels off, it probably is. Find ways to understand and strengthen who you are . . .

In terms of advice to incoming pastors, the respondents offered useful suggestions to improve ministry outcomes. The most frequent issues addressed were interpersonal relationships and support systems, spirituality, and authenticity. These findings also reflect the ELCA’s 45th ordination and Makant studies (2016 and 2019, respectively), generating insights into the leadership strategies for female pastors.

Effective Leadership Strategies

Many of the ELCA female pastors offered excellent insight into their leadership roles in the pastorate, as they suggested some healthy responses to overcome their inherent challenges in the patriarchal system in the church.

The pastors’ insight is complemented by scholars who attend to effective leadership. Kathryn Schuyler provides sound and inspirational strategies on the characteristics and skills necessary for strong and productive leadership, regardless of gender (highlighted in bold). Karoline Lewis’ book addresses strategies for empowering ELCA female pastors, specifically, and are also depicted in bold.

Leading with Spirit, Presence, and Authenticity

In Leading with Spirit, Presence and Authenticity, Schuyler and her colleagues (2014) offer lessons and reflections related to universal leadership strategies, which include sociological mindfulness (a cultural shift toward exploring and mastering the self through meditation and other technologies of the self), presence, authenticity, integrity, and self-awareness (Phelps 2016).

Important themes in her book on productive leadership include perceptions about life, interpersonal communication, and the interconnectedness of humanity. The insights and topics reflect the interdependence in humanity and components of leaders with spirit, presence, and authenticity, which connect to the ELCA Leadership Challenges Study.

Part 1: Spirit

In Karin Jironet’s introduction to Part 1, she recommends that leaders should live their lives for a “higher purpose,” let go of the Ego’s fear of losing power, and open themselves to the light of the spirit of guidance.

In Chapter 1, Schuyler identifies service as an important aspect of leadership. She shares Gandhiji’s quote that ties service to the journey of self-discovery: “If you want to find yourself, lose yourself in the service to others.”

Part 2: Presence

John Baugher talks about the idea of presence in leadership from a Buddhist perspective with sociological mindfulness, and he emphasizes the need to develop the “capacity and willingness to witness the suffering that frequently results from good-intentioned actions.” He recommends that we institutionalize ways of doing no harm and remove the causes of suffering. He suggests that leading with mindfulness is socially responsible (Phelps 2016).

Part 3: Authenticity

Lena Lid-Falkman emphasizes authenticity in leadership and suggests that self-knowledge and self-awareness are the foundations of authentic leadership. She emphasizes that appearing authentic is an oxymoron; one needs to be an authentic leader.

SHE: Five Keys to Unlock the Power of Women in Ministry

Power is a theme that also surfaced in the ELCA clergy studies. As noted, losing power in the patriarchal society occurs systematically for women in gender relations. Karoline Lewis (an ELCA pastor and professor) wrote SHE (Lewis 2016) to empower female pastors by focusing on a prescription for truth telling about their experiences in the pastorate. She recognized that pastors can be released from the weight of carrying challenges by examining the message they are not alone in their struggles and suggesting that everyone needs to be validated, heard, and believed. She tells the reader “The church is not immune to dysfunction and no amount of belief otherwise will free it from that truth.”

In creating a productive learning environment for her readership, Lewis creates a safe space for reflection, conversation, and concerns. She acknowledges the sociological challenges that women face in ministry and explores strategies for successful and authentic leadership. Lewis offers five keys to unlock a woman’s power in ministry and asserts that claiming power in ministry should come from the individual pastor first. Lewis contends that truth and mercy, grace and dignity, regard and respect can be modeled by church leaders. In her words, “. . . true power comes from identity and authenticity. Power is not only something you have but represents who you are .” Four of her keys tie directly to the content in this article.

In Key Number Two (The truth about Vulnerability, Bodies, and Sexuality), Lewis argues that “accepting and embracing vulnerability is essential to unlock the power of women in ministry because it has everything to do with our bodies and embodiment,” and she states, “No woman’s body is safe from inspection and objectification,” as was also uncovered in the ELCA pastor studies. Another key point in this section is that women will use their power more effectively if they present an authentic self, not one they think others want to see.

Key Number three covers identity and authenticity, themes that are reinforced in the pastor surveys and Schuyler’s text. Lewis declares that authenticity is “living life from the inside out, not the outside in.” She adds that self-talk is important (what you tell yourself). The notion of self-doubt or internalized oppression came up in several comments from the female clergy studies mentioned in this chapter.

In Key Number Four (The Truth about Sexism), Lewis claims women can gain power in the ministry when they tell the truth about sexism in the church. She suggests, “The church is the one institution women depend upon to fight sexism and it is “resoundingly silent” about it. Rather than escape from sexism in silence, the condition will become worse. The truth about sexism in the church is that the church is not only a place where sexism is tolerated, it is actively harbored and justified” [partially because it is still embedded in patriarchy.] She asserts that pastors need to be responsible for their own self-protection because few will stand up for them. Furthermore, Lewis asserts that sexism is so pervasive, we do not notice it, and she states, “The fundamental means by which to deal with the inevitable and pervasive sexism in the church is to know it is coming” and to be able to identify sexism as it occurs.

In Key Number Five: The Truth about Leadership, Lewis discusses three paradigms for effective leadership: autonomous, relational, and communal. Autonomous is to be about who you are and to trust in your inner authority and truth. Relational means to rely on one another. She writes, “Find the persons you can trust and who will keep you honest and tell you the truth.” Lewis contends that Communal means to lead by example. She advises the reader to be aware and responsible to a community that holds the pastor accountable and adds, “Leadership keeps in mind the good of the whole. It is collaborative, collegial and shows hospitality.” Number five ties directly to the work of Schuyler and others in terms of sociological mindfulness, integrity, authenticity, and presence.

In sum, the recommendations from Kathryn Schuyler and Karoline Lewis have the potential to empower leaders with universal strategies for success. Karoline Lewis has given ELCA pastors the tools to effectively navigate our patriarchal systems from a stronger and more informed base of self-awareness and self-discovery. The technique of sociological mindfulness from Schuyler’s book could enhance the self-discovery process with the goals of moving toward centeredness and authenticity and ultimately developing a keener sense of social responsibility in all matters related to the church.

Discussion

The results in the three studies on female pastors are consistent and based on original data. The respondents in the ELCA Leadership Challenges Study reported insightful and thoughtful comments on observations from their professional experiences. They were also straightforward in their responses overall and in the passionate advice they offered incoming pastors to create change and positive outcomes for the pastorate. The consistencies of gender discrimination among the studies illustrate the pervasiveness of inequity in the ELCA church body. As Karoline Lewis (2016) pointedly suggested, issues about gender inequity in the ELCA “should be over by now and we should know better by now.” Furthermore, women in society, regardless of their professions/paths can get social support and relief by reaching out to females and males about their uncomfortable and oppressive experiences, establishing community, and breaking down the barriers in isolation.

As indicated, a host of themes repeated for females in the surveys/interviews: appropriateness of attire, discriminatory and oppressive comments, lack of respect, resistance to authority, stereotypical gender expectations, sexual harassment, internalized oppression, and unequal compensation. Female pastors struggled with role conflicts in dating, marriage, and parenting, which are all important aspects of one’s personhood. As a result, feelings of isolation existed for female pastors. In addition, 65 percent of the sample in the ELCA Leadership Challenges Study reported feeling lonely sometimes. In terms of advice to incoming pastors, authenticity and spirituality were the two most frequent recommendations. Compassion was emphasized as necessary for effective leadership; that is, compassion toward oneself and others. In the words of one respondent, “Compassion worked for overcoming gender bias in my congregation. I was thus able to move from being a ‘female pastor’ to being ‘their pastor . . .’”

Given the information that a good percentage of the entering student body for ministry is women (Burge and Williams 2019; Campbell-Reed 2019; Kristoff 2018; Makant 2019), it is paramount to examine and attend to the cultural climate of gender inequality in the church. Furthermore, Lewis and Makant remind us that all women in the congregations may be negatively affected when their female pastor is not respected and the issue is not addressed. At this politically divisive time in American history, it is important to bring about change related to gender bias and conflict for the betterment of humanity. The first step in creating change is to become aware of the cultural and interpersonal conditions in relationships, albeit cultural change comes about slowly. Female pastors can embrace and promote change in their profession, and at the same time, become change agents for social justice by applying authentic and service-oriented leadership tools within the church and in relationship to the laity.

Leadership challenges for female pastors can sometimes appear to be insurmountable in our patriarchal church system and the broader society. This is reinforced by Campbell-Reed’s discussion of a culture of disbelief for clergy women and Makant’s message about ELCA female pastors being falsely labeled with holy mischief. In contrast, Schuyler and Lewis offer a wide variety of universal strategies to offset the complexities of challenges in leadership, which are complementary to the advice from the respondents in the ELCA pastor studies.

Conclusion

Hope can manifest and thrive in the ministry when women acknowledge the cultural conditions in the church and work toward claiming/reclaiming their rightful power (Lewis 2016; Makant 2019). Sexism and sexual harassment can diminish with the identification of these conditions in the church, as was so remarkably revealed among women in the #MeToo movement. Self-awareness and self-discovery are key to understanding the females’ role in the gender-biased dynamics within our patriarchal system.

Limitations

The content in this project is primarily based on descriptive statistics from three cross-sectional studies of leadership experiences among female pastors. Moreover, the 45th Ordination is the only study that included male pastors in comparison. The research would have been more generalizable with extended sociodemographics in the designs even though the information gained is insightful and helpful in terms of describing the cultural climate for female pastors. The tips for effective leadership strategies and ministry outcomes are beneficial for understanding the gender dynamics in the church and beyond.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Author Biography

Deborah Phelps is a tenured professor in sociology at Fontbonne University in St. Louis. She wrote a memoir on caregiving titled, Frank’s Arms: Stories and Lessons from a Caregiver and Patient Advocate. Her other areas of interest include alcohol studies, illness prevention, complementary medicine/alternative healing, and mental health services.

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