by Rev. Dr. Katie Steele
“We don’t get to hear sermons like that very often. Don’t get me wrong, we have two wonderful pastors, and they do their best. But we wouldn’t get a sermon like the one you just gave if you hadn’t been here to give it.”
This is, perhaps, the best compliment on a sermon I have ever received in my ministerial career. I had just finished preaching, and I was greeting everyone on their way out after the last of four union services our United Methodist congregation does with the Presbyterian PC(USA) congregation across the street over the summer. For two weeks each summer, our Presbyterian friends join us in our church building, and their pastors preach from our pulpit to the joint congregation. Then the following two weeks, our members mosey over to their beautiful sanctuary, and my colleague and I preach from their pulpit. Of the four pastors between the two churches, I am the only clergywoman.
This summer, the series for these services was rooted in Genesis and titled “Promise & Struggle.” The passage for my week from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) was from Genesis 24. This is the story of Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, being sent to Abraham’s homeland to find a wife for his son, Isaac. In the narrative, we witness a scene where Eliezar prays that whatever woman comes to the well and offers to give him (and his camels) a drink, would be the woman God desired for Isaac. As if on cue, Rebekah appears and offers not only to draw water from the well for Eliezer, but also for his 10 (TEN!!) camels – a tiresome and back-breaking task, given that water is heavy, wells are deep, and camels are very thirsty. The text then says, almost in passing, that Eliezer “put a nose ring on Rebekah” as a sign of betrothal to Isaac.
While I cannot say for certain, I am quite positive that the compliment I received was due, in no small part, to the focus I put on Rebekah’s nose ring in my sermon. I shared with the congregation that, although I had tried, I could NOT stop thinking about the nose ring Rebekah was given as I read through the text earlier in the week. My research into the customs of the time assured me that a nose ring was not all that uncommon a betrothal gift at that time and in that culture. In many cultures today, a nose ring remains as common as engagement rings do here in the United States. But I wanted to know:
- Was the nose ring a clip-on, or did it necessitate a piercing?
- Did Eliezar simply hand the nose ring to Rebekah to put on herself at her own convenience, or did he adorn her with it himself?
- If it WAS a jewelry item that needed a piercing to wear, was Rebekah’s nose already pierced?
- Did Eliezar pierce Rebekah’s nose right there at the well?
As someone who had her ears pierced as a tweenager due more to peer pressure than any internal motivation or desire to do so, and who has never once considered any other additional piercings, these questions rattled in my head for days.
Additionally, I was preaching on July 5, over the civic holiday weekend of Independence Day (July 4) in the United States. Between the recent news of the Southern Baptist Convention voting to disallow women to be pastors, the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 putting the right of women to make their own choices about their bodies back into national debate, and the horrific news coming out about a number of highly powerful men across the world being named in the “Epstein Files,” I couldn’t look away from Rebekah and wonder about what may have been left out of the storytelling. Questions of consent, bodily autonomy, and the unsettling realization that here we have four men (Abraham, Isaac, Eliezer, and Laban) named discussing ONE woman’s future seemed glaring to me.
So, despite trying to find any other angle to take on this story I finally relented, gave into the Holy Spirit, and followed her lead. I wondered aloud in front of that combined congregation about her nose ring. I delicately threaded the needle to tie in her story with women’s bodily autonomy, as well as migration, immigration, and the overarching theme of HOSPITALITY which was what every commentary assured me was the primary focus of the text. While I do not always feel entirely positive about my sermons, I was fairly confident in this one. It gave a nod to the 4th of July, but not overwhelmingly so, and it asked some thought-provoking questions the congregation may not have considered otherwise. The comment from the woman after the service reassured me that I had been faithful in my heeding the Spirit’s guidance in my sermon prep that week.
As I left the church building, I reached up my hand to touch the necklace I have not taken off in months, reminding myself that I, a woman, am indeed called to preach and teach the word of God. I am called, not in spite of my femininity, but because of it. While I have taken to wearing earrings on the regular due to the aforementioned peer pressure to have my ears pierced, overall, I am not much of a jewelry wearer. While I have been gifted several cross necklaces throughout my lifetime – for confirmation, from a friend in 5th grade for Christmas, upon my graduation from seminary and at my ordination – I have rarely worn them. Most sit safely in their boxes in the top drawer of my dresser.
The necklace I wear today and have realized I haven’t taken off now for nearly a year? It’s my Young Clergywomen International (YCWI) pitcher logo necklace. I love it. This logo was created for the 10th Anniversary of our organization, inspired by the ministry of biblical women: the Samaritan woman at the well who left her pitcher when she ran home to share that she had met Jesus, the grateful woman who broke a jar of oil over Jesus’ feet to anoint him, the jar of oil that did not run out and allowed the Widow of Zarephath to save her own household plus Elijah. You can read more about the origins and inspiration of our current organizational logo [HERE]. If you are interested in purchasing your own, you can do so from Old Lutheran, one of our shop partners. All sales go to support YCWI. Not only does it start conversations when people ask about it, it is a sign of my faith. Even more than that, it is a sign of my unique calling and gifts for ministry as a woman. All too often clergywomen are expected to contort ourselves every which way to try to fit into denominational systems that are steeped in patriarchy and have been influenced perhaps a little too strongly by business influences and consumer mentality. This leaves our gifts that elevate service, compassion, listening, being present, and altogether more feminine ways of BEING in the world feeling out of place. There is something profound about wearing a pitcher rather than a cross as my daily symbol of faith out in the world.
Rest assured, dear sisters and siblings, whether you wear the pitcher necklace or not, we too are called by that same spirit that calls our male colleagues. Our gifts are exactly what the church and the world need now. Please keep reading, interpreting, and preaching the scriptures in ways that our male colleagues may not. Continue to show up as your whole self. Employ your unique gifts in all the ways God calls you to do so.
And know that you are right where God wants and needs you to be.
Rev. Dr. Katie Steele is the current Vice Chair of YCWI. She is a United Methodist Pastor serving as the director of Wesley Campus Ministry at Miami University in Ohio. Her book, The Sacred Spark: Exploring the Hidden Gifts of ADHD in Ministry is available now.
