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GA06066
Quiet pioneer First female minister ordained in the PC(USA), Towner spends 50 years bucking the odds
by Gail Tucker
BIRMINGHAM, June 18 * The Rev. Margaret Towner, the first female ordained in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, has spent the past 50 years forging ahead as a quiet pioneer.
Towner, who will be the speaker for the National Association of Clergywomen luncheon on Monday, was raised in the Presbyterian church and was active in her congregation, but ordination was not a goal to which she aspired. When she was ordained in 1956, it was months before she even realized the historical implications of that act.
A couple of years earlier, she had graduated from Union Seminary in New York and was serving as a Christian educator in Tacoma Park, MD. Women could work in a church in the early 1950s, but they could not be ordained to the ministry.
Members of her home presbytery in Syracuse, NY, encouraged her to seek ordination. So she completed her exams, and her ordination service was planned. Towner readily admits she was naive about "what I was getting into."
She quietly returned to her Maryland congregation intending to continue her previous routine. But when the Office of the General Assembly confirmed that she was indeed the first female ordained to the ministry in the then PCUSA, the media had other ideas. Her photo was featured in Life magazine and other publications.
Despite the attention, Towner said she "chose to avoid the limelight and continue my work in the local congregation."
Following her historic ordination, she served congregations in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. During her 17 years in Milwaukee, she began the shift from Christian education to pastoral ministry. As one of three co-pastors in a six-church parish, her administrative gifts began to flourish.
Towner said that while she has dealt with her share of jealousy, insults and obstacles over the years, "the good has far outweighed the bad."
Identifying favorite pastoral moments was difficult for Towner. She said she often felt like the "burying pastor." Having considered a career in medicine, she was drawn to the sick and dying. "I spent a lot of time visiting in hospitals and institutions," she said. Also high on her list was worship leadership and planning and working with worship committees.
Towner also listed some General Assembly experiences among her personal highlights. She has attended several dozen Assemblies, serving three times as a commissioner. She was a member of the Assembly's Advisory Council of Discipleship and Worship for 10 years, and the members of that committee continue to be a strong support system for her. A candidate for moderator in 1981, she lost by a few votes but was named vice-moderator. That year she traveled a great deal throughout the United States and represented the church on an official visit to Korea.
In reflecting on her years of ministry, Towner said it is ironic that our denomination struggles with its diversity, while Christ embraced the differences he saw.
Now 81, retired and living in Sarasota, FL, Towner has time to indulge in her lifelong passion for photography. She has taken classes in marine biology, ecology and nature photography, and hopes to start golfing again soon (a sport she began while living in Wisconsin).
But retirement is not all about a life of leisure for Towner. She is chair of the records and overtures committee of the Peace River Presbytery. She also stays in contact with many of the spiritual daughters she has mentored through the years. Many have told her she should write a book about her experiences, but she has not started one yet.
Towner is one among several pioneer ministers available for conversations throughout the Assembly in the women's ordination booth in the exhibit hall.
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