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Alumna Congregation's First Female Pastor
January 6, 2009
Christ the Victor to install first female pastor
BY BRANDON L. LEONARD - BLEONARD@VICAD.COM
Victoria Advocate, Victoria, TX www.victoriaadvocate.com
Amy Danchik ['08] did not always want to be a lead pastor.
She graduated with a degree in psychology and child development from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2004, hoping to go into youth ministry after the seminary.
Danchik's experience with TeamVOLS, a student community service and outreach organization of UT, and the advice of friends and mentors changed her plans though.
"I liked the combination of working with kids and being out in the community," Danchik said.
Four years later, the north Texas native will be installed as pastor at Christ the Victor Lutheran Church on Jan. 11. The installation will mark the first time a female minister will lead the church.
"It don't bother me one bit," said Carl Harding, a charter member of the church. "She does good."
Harding and his wife, Elrose Harding, were some of the original people to become part of the Christ the Victor congregation, which started as a mission church of First English Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1966.
The Rev. John Onda was sent by the Southwest Texas Synod to guide the congregation through church building process.
The mission church's congregation met for its first service in the American Legion Hall on Oct. 16, 1966. A little less than one year later, the church building was dedicated on May 28, 1967.
Elrose Harding said Danchik being a woman was a non-issue for the congregation.
"I've been to churches that have female pastors, and they all seem to do a great job," Elrose Harding said.
Not all Lutheran churches were as accepting of Danchik as Christ the Victor.
Danchik said a church in the North Texas Synod who interviewed her told her they had done so only because the synod asked and did not want a female pastor. Danchik refused to name the church.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, of which Christ the Victor is a member, ordained its first female minister, the Rev. Elizabeth Platz, in 1970, according to the ELCA's Web site, ELCA.org.
At the time, ordaining women was a controversial move for the Lutheran church.
Now, about 12 percent of ELCA ministers are women, according to a blog post by Martin E. Marty at beliefnet.com.
In the future, the percentage may be larger, Danchik said roughly half of the students in her classes at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary were females. She graduated with a master of divinity in May 2008.
Many at Christ the Victor, a congregation whose median age is in the mid-to-high 50s, hope Danchik's passion for children and young adults attracts younger people to join the church.
"I think one of the things that Amy demonstrated to me was her willingness to proclaim God's word to people," said member Harvey Spies. "I felt that Pastor Amy could reach out to youth and the community."
View the original article at http://www.victoriaadvocate.com/features/faith/story/384684.html#
