Protest

I went to church this morning. I'm teaching a five-week class for adults at a church I used to attend regularly, and after the class I stayed for worship.

The message was all about tradition, and how it can get in the way of truth and the real love and beauty that life with Jesus brings. It's a mainline denominational church, so this was a fairly gutsy sermon to preach. I appreciated it.

Until I remembered...

This is the same church where I don't take communion, in protest of the long-standing, traditional policy that women are not allowed to serve communion there.

"Really?" I thought. "You're giving this sermon and *still* not making the change?" Maybe the change will come soon. Maybe this sermon was the pastor's way of nudging us closer to ending this ridiculous, unnecessary injustice. I've been through 16 years and three senior pastors at this church -- and every time I've brought up the inequality between the way the genders are treated, every one of those pastors has admitted that there is no biblical basis for this tradition. They would *love* to change it, themselves...but it would cause too much division in the church. The time just wasn't right.

Today, after some prayer and soul searching, I took another step. Well, a few dozen steps, really. At communion time, I walked to the front, past the men serving the bread and wine, and sat down in the middle of the front row. My intention was simply to be available to serve, waiting to be asked. When communion was over, I walked back to my seat.

One of the pastors came to me, kindly asking if I'd received communion and if not -- did I want to? I was happily surprised to have the chance to gently explain my behavior. He's a dear friend, and I wasn't angry. I just told him. He said, "Okay, thanks," and went back to his seat.

If my heart can stay in the right place -- not angry, not seeking attention, but gently refusing to let the problem stay hidden -- I believe I'll continue to make myself available to serve communion every week until I'm asked. Perhaps some other ladies will join me. A row of women in the front at each communion time, simply waiting to be allowed to serve, might be just what's needed to push this issue onto the church leaders' radar. They're good people -- they're probably just waiting for the right time.

The right time is now. There will never be a better time.