“There is no place for me in the church, pastor. There are no woman leaders in the bible.” I am staring at the teenage girl, who just said these words. I feel a response forming in my head; “Helloooo, I am here, a woman pastor in the church, ordained and all, teaching you, another female, in confirmation class.” But the words don’t find their way into my mouth. Because, when all is said and done, I know that she has a point.
I remember this moment when I interned as a chaplain during seminary. The hospital I was assigned to belonged to a denomination which does not ordain women. There was a guest delegation from that denomination and my supervisor and I gave them a tour through the hospital. At the end, we all stood in a circle and chatted, everybody male, but me. There must have been a very clear dress code in that church, because they all wore the same kind of suit; the same kind of shirt; they all had a mustache; and they all had their hair parted on one side; and, I couldn’t believe it, but their haircuts looked exactly the same, too! I was short, they were taller. They talked with each other. I could almost see the words passing above my head from one to the other, like ping pong balls. No ball was passed to me. I was not a part of that game.
“Well,” I say to my student, “you are right that men are mentioned much more in the bible, but when women are mentioned, they play important roles.” And then I show her Luke 3:1-3 as an example, three precious verses which tell us that many women were with Jesus and financed his ministry. Three of them are even mentioned by name: Mary, called Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna.
1Soon afterwards [Jesus] went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 2as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. (Luke 8:1-3, NRSV)
In the evening, I flick through youtube videos and end up with a travel vlog titled: “Magdala, the Town of Mary Magdalene.” Little did that fun and adventurous couple documenting their journeys know that no early Christian author identified a town named Magdala at the shores of the Sea of Galilee in Jesusʻ times. Apparently, by the sixth century, a pilgrimage site called Magdala emerged there, and stayed popular among Christian travelers at least until the 14th century. Elizabeth Schrader and Joan E. Taylor wrote an amazing article titled The Meaning of “Magdalene”: A Review of Literary Evidence. They kindly remind us that whenever the expression Name, called other name is used in the bible, as in Luke 8:2 with Mary, called Magdalene, the second name does not refer to a place of origin but rather to a title, a trait, or a relationship. If the second name refers to a place, another grammatical construction is used. So, Simon, called Peter (Rock), does not mean Simon from the town of Rock, but Simon, the Rock on which I will build my church. Jesus gives this title to Simon in recognition of his calling in Matthew 16:18. No pilgrimage sites named Rock emerged, but Peter is recognized in Christian tradition as the first priest, the first bishop, an honorable ancestor; the rock, on which the church was built. We can’t really say the same of Mary Magdalene, can we? She is famous as well, no question about that! But not for her outstanding work as a leader in the Jesus Movement, but for her supposedly sinful, lustful nature. We have Pope Gregory the Great, who lived in the sixth century, to thank for that. He equated Mary with the unnamed sinful woman Luke tells us about in chapter 7: 36-50 and made her into the symbol of penitence many still see her as today.
That same night, I have a hard time falling asleep. Scenes from my life pop into my head. I am a second career pastor. I used to be a theater director. To my knowledge, I was among the first 4 women to claim that profession in the municipal theater system in Germany in the 1980/90s. The first ever time I was invited to direct a play as a freelancer, I travelled to that town in Northern Germany full of great expectations. A staff member had kindly offered me hospitality for the time of my stay. Little did I know that payment of a different kind, the sexual kind, was presumed by my host. Seething with rage, fear, and humiliation, I had to look for a hotel room late that night, until I could make other housing arrangements. Whatever women aspire to, are called to in life, there will always be those trying to put us into our place.
“So, Mary Magdalene was the first to see Jesus after he came back to life, but the male disciples didnʻt believe her?” I am at confirmation class again, and the same girl makes this keen observation. This time, I know what to say: “So what if not everybody believed Mary Magdalene right from the beginning? All four gospels report that she was the first to see the resurrected Christ, some say together with other women. Pope Francis just recently declared the day we remember her, July 22, a Feast day, which puts her on the same level with other apostles and evangelists.” And then I help the class research the meaning of Maryʻs name: Mary, the Magdalene. An important scholar in that regard is Jerome, who lived in the 4th century in Europe. He was a specialist in biblical languages, and famously translated the bible into Latin. His version, called the “Vulgate” was the standard bible version of the middle ages. For Jerome, it was clear that Maryʻs title was honorific. Rooted in the Hebrew word for tower, it can be translated as: Mary, the Tower; or Mary, the Towering; the Magnificent; the Great.
Before Mary, the Magdalene, was shaped into the repentant sexual sinner from the 6th century on, she was known as Mary, the Tower; the apostle to the apostles; a great example in faith; a leader of the early church. It is high time that we provide a place of honor in the church for Mary, the Magnificent again! Our children and youth from all genders need to learn about the diversity of leadership in the early church, so that they know that there is a place for them, for all of them in the church today as well. To put women into their place in the church means to open all positions in the church for women. That way they can serve the Lord according to their God given talents and their callings, and are not excluded by the limitations and injustices of human culture and tradition.