In the Picture by Marian McClure

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Share in some of Marian's other memorable experiences in the Congo, Korea, Brazil, the Vatican and the Middle East. Read the full text of this article in the January/ February 2006 issue of Horizons.	In the Picture by Geneva Press The picture many people all around the world have of the leadership of our church is a picture that includes me. If there is anything distinctively interesting about my ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament, it is due to my being ordained to the work of the General Assembly Council. I now serve in the Worldwide Ministries Division, as its director. That means that I frequently represent the denomination’s mission program in public engagements of the PC(USA) and internationally. [I have a] very visible role and appear in places where women are not in equal roles with men in church leadership. I offer you vignettes of what it has meant for me to be “in the picture”; this is your photo album, too, since your representatives put me there! I spent a year as Worldwide Ministries Division’s specialist for support of educational mission before I became the division’s director. During that year, I went to Pakistan. When I visited the seminary in Gujranwala, I was asked to take part in the dedication of a building, a dormitory for women. I was embarrassed to be honored in this way since I had had nothing to do with this dormitory project. I learned that though our partner church there does not have a policy against ordaining women, it is not done. So the women studying at the seminary and living in this dorm were not on an ordination track. As our little group gathered in the foyer of the new building, we had a prayer and shared a liturgy, and then came the dramatic dropping of the banner covering the plaque that was to commemorate the dedication event. A passage from Psalms is inscribed on this plaque embedded in the wall, followed by the words “dedicated on this date by the Reverend Doctor Marian McClure.” It dawned on me that one of the purposes in inviting me was to have that obviously feminine name preceded by those particular titles in a place where everyone could connect the plaque with the purpose of the dormitory! It was not the last time I had the sense that progressive men had made good use of my visit to their country. This text is excerpted from an early draft of the soon-to-be-published book Celebrating Our Call: Ordination Stories of Presbyterian Women, edited by Patricia Lloyd-Sidle (see box below). It is reprinted with permission. Marian McClure has been the director of the Worldwide Ministries Division of the PC(USA)’s General Assembly Council since 1997. She was ordained as an elder in 1983 and as a minister of Word and Sacrament in 1996. Her previous work experience includes teaching politics at Harvard University and serving as a program officer for the Ford Foundation in Mexico City. Other Articles Online This Issue In the Picture Commander in Chic Finding Balance Who Needs PW? From Preacher in the Field to Mother in the Church Lent (Horizons Bible Study Resource) Dispatch from Forbearance Presbyterian Church Nurturing Our Faith Supporting Mission Mosaic 2006 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women PW Recommended Reading Celebrating Our Call: Ordination Stories of Presbyterian Women Edited by Patricia Lloyd-Sidle Louisville, Ky.: Geneva, 2006 Throughout 2005–2006, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women as ministers of Word and Sacrament, the 75th anniversary of women ordained as elders and the 100th anniversary of women ordained as deacons. In this collection of insightful essays, well-known women from across the PC(USA) reflect on their personal journeys of ordination as church leaders. Contributors include Letty Russell, Melva Costen, Joanna Adams, Marj Carpenter, Moon Young Choi, Roberta Hestenes, Marian McClure, Cynthia Campbell, Ofelia Ortega, Deborah Block, Margaret Towner, Jane Parker Huber, Barbara Roche and Susan Andrews. Available March 9, 2006 Be sure to stop by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation’s booth at the 2006 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women for information about purchasing a signed copy of this historically significant book!	Current Issue January/February 2006 About This Issue Features PW Resources Departments Jan/Feb Index How to Use In Our Next Issue Items underlined can be seen in this Web site, all others appear in the January/February 2006 issue of Horizons magazine. Subscribe to Horizons, call 800/524-2612 or order the January/February 2006 issue (HZN-06-200; $4 plus shipping and handling) now. Information Due to Hurricane Katrina, Horizons subscriptions have been suspended in the following three-digit ZIP Code ranges: 369, 393, 394, 395, 396, 700, 701, and 704. At their convenience, affected subscribers should write to Presbyterian Distribution Service, attn. Mindi Stivers, 100 Witherspoon St., Louisville, KY 40202-1396, email subscriptions@ctr.pcusa.org or call 800/524-2612 to have their subscriptions extended or have the missed copies mailed.
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In the Picture by Geneva Press

The picture many people all around the world have of the leadership of our church is a picture that includes me. If there is anything distinctively interesting about my ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament, it is due to my being ordained to the work of the General Assembly Council. I now serve in the Worldwide Ministries Division, as its director. That means that I frequently represent the denomination’s mission program in public engagements of the PC(USA) and internationally. [I have a] very visible role and appear in places where women are not in equal roles with men in church leadership. I offer you vignettes of what it has meant for me to be “in the picture”; this is your photo album, too, since your representatives put me there!

I spent a year as Worldwide Ministries Division’s specialist for support of educational mission before I became the division’s director. During that year, I went to Pakistan. When I visited the seminary in Gujranwala, I was asked to take part in the dedication of a building, a dormitory for women. I was embarrassed to be honored in this way since I had had nothing to do with this dormitory project. I learned that though our partner church there does not have a policy against ordaining women, it is not done. So the women studying at the seminary and living in this dorm were not on an ordination track. As our little group gathered in the foyer of the new building, we had a prayer and shared a liturgy, and then came the dramatic dropping of the banner covering the plaque that was to commemorate the dedication event. A passage from Psalms is inscribed on this plaque embedded in the wall, followed by the words “dedicated on this date by the Reverend Doctor Marian McClure.” It dawned on me that one of the purposes in inviting me was to have that obviously feminine name preceded by those particular titles in a place where everyone could connect the plaque with the purpose of the dormitory! It was not the last time I had the sense that progressive men had made good use of my visit to their country.

This text is excerpted from an early draft of the soon-to-be-published book Celebrating Our Call: Ordination Stories of Presbyterian Women, edited by Patricia Lloyd-Sidle (see box below). It is reprinted with permission.

Marian McClure has been the director of the Worldwide Ministries Division of the PC(USA)’s General Assembly Council since 1997. She was ordained as an elder in 1983 and as a minister of Word and Sacrament in 1996. Her previous work experience includes teaching politics at Harvard University and serving as a program officer for the Ford Foundation in Mexico City.

Other Articles Online This Issue

In the Picture
Commander in Chic
Finding Balance
Who Needs PW?
From Preacher in the Field to Mother in the Church
Lent (Horizons Bible Study Resource)
Dispatch from Forbearance Presbyterian Church
Nurturing Our Faith
Supporting Mission
Mosaic
2006 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women

PW Recommended Reading

Celebrating Our Call:
Ordination Stories of Presbyterian Women
Edited by Patricia Lloyd-Sidle
Louisville, Ky.: Geneva, 2006

Throughout 2005–2006, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women as ministers of Word and Sacrament, the 75th anniversary of women ordained as elders and the 100th anniversary of women ordained as deacons. In this collection of insightful essays, well-known women from across the PC(USA) reflect on their personal journeys of ordination as church leaders. Contributors include Letty Russell, Melva Costen, Joanna Adams, Marj Carpenter, Moon Young Choi, Roberta Hestenes, Marian McClure, Cynthia Campbell, Ofelia Ortega, Deborah Block, Margaret Towner, Jane Parker Huber, Barbara Roche and Susan Andrews. Available March 9, 2006

Be sure to stop by the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation’s booth at the 2006 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women for information about purchasing a signed copy of this historically significant book!