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NORWALK NEWS, Thursday, March 8, 19903United Methodist Church welcomes first female pastor* HI L.LI^ VUI/LUlthandful of people showed up at the First United MethodiBy PHYLLIS CODLING Only a.....servicesSouth Norwalk on February 25.Attendance was low due to the six inches of snowthat had fallen overnight. Undaunted, the Rev. Dee Carol Stevens thanked the brave ones that came to hear her fourth sermon as pastor of the church.Dressed in a black robe and a white stole, a gift from her parents when she was ordained, the Rev Stevens energetically addressed her audience, turn ing often to speak to the members of the choir seated behind the pulpit. At 35, she is full of life and the spirit of God.The first woman pastor of the 200-year-old congregation, the Rev. Stevens came to South Norwalk at the beginning of February from the United Methodist Church in Westnnrt wh*»r*» choI love the location, / love being in South Norwalk and not being isolatedaway from the action.”Rev. Dee Stevensserved as associate pastor for two-and-a-half years. It had always been her dream to be pastor of a church, she said, adding that the realization of that dream has been wonderful.When she found out that she was selected for the position, she was stunned. “I didn’t tell anybody for two days,” she said. ‘‘I had finally got something I wanted. I love this church. The presence in it is incredible—it has a joyous atmosphere, and it’s kind of filled with expectancy .”As pastor-in-charge, “you can live your vision. People respond to you as the pastor.” As an associate, she said she felt that people saw her more as a “pastor-in-training.”And that had nothing to do with the fact that she was a woman, she said. “They treat all associate pastors like assistants.”Strong and self-confident, she said being awoman has not been an impediment in her work as a minister, although at times she is faced bypeople who don’t believe that women should preach.But, “it takes me about five minutes into a sermon [for me] to win them over, or five minutes of conversation,” she said. “Then they find out that, hey, this person is OK and mayte God did have something to do with her being in the ministry, as with a lot of the sisters and brothers thatare there.“You know, we are definitely called” into the ministry, whether a man or a woman, she added, explaining that some people look for yes-no answers, and those are often the ones who have a problem with women becoming ministers.“When I go through my own life, I’m seeing sometimes people don’t like (that I’m a minister), but they’re not going to stop me. Everyone faces hostility, no matter what they are doing or what they are into,’’ she said. “There will always be people who want to stop them.“But in religion we’re dealing with ambiguity because we’re dealing with a divine mystery,” she continued. “We don’t have control of God’s movement. We can witness to it, and see the miracles that happen, but in no way do we control that.”Born and raised in Michigan, the Rev. Stevens came to the East Coast when she was 24. She attended New York University, w’here she received a bachelor’s degree in dramatic writing, then moved on to the Princeton Theological Seminary, where she received her master’s degree indivinity.“When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a minister. I loved the theater and loved being in front of people and loved the Lord,” she said.“A lot of people refused to be loved, they don’t think they deserve it. But what Christianity is trying to say about the story of Jesus, Jesus was tremendously for outcasts and people who thought they weren’t loveable.“That was my draw into being fascinated with this human being who was so tremendously human and free and dependent and nurtured by other people. He’s a tremendous model for me to model my life after,” she said.The Rev. Stevens doesn’t seem to mind the transition from a wealthy church in a wealthy town to a smaller church in a poorer section of a struggling city.“I love it. I love the location, I love being in South Norwalk and not being isolated—away fromthe action,’’ she said. “I love being in the centerof countless ministries; I have the methadone clinic right next door to me; the senior citizen center across the street; I have real estate agents and gas stations and delis, and the whole Hispanic community is right outside my door.”One of her long-range goals is to have a bilingualcongregation, where English and Spanish speaking members of the congregation speak both languages.Among her more immediate plans for the church is to draw on its population of seniorcitizens, she said.The Rev. Dee Stevens“Basically I’m serving an older community that has gone through a decline,” she said. “I’m pouring a lot of love into this place, and I love “seasoned”citizens. They are rich with history and potential—I want to tap what talents they have in the community and use them as ahistorical base for knowing whatlife is about.”The Rev. Stevens called herself an “intergenerational” teacher. “I like to relate to eve-Photo by Rick D'Eliarybody where they’re at. I like turning high school kids on to the gospel, and reminding college kids that the church is for them and loves them dearly, and of course they are supposed to go out and search and seek new ideas and facts and rebel and do all these wonderful things that we do tomature into adults.”In some areas, the Rev. Stevens has found she will have to start from scratch.Continued on Page 9
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Norwalk News
Norwalk, Connecticut, US
Thu, Mar 08, 1990
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