Anniversary

Sunday marked the 45th anniversary of the ordination of women in the predecessor churches of what became the Evangelical Church in America.  My Facebook timeline was full of stories celebrating this anniversary, including this cover from the Lutheran:

That picture was often placed alongside this, more recent, cover:

This is the first female presiding bishop of the ELCA, elected a couple of years ago.  At least it didn't take 50 years to happen?

So, what kind of red ordination shoes were around for the 1970s pastor?  Let's take a look!

I don't fully hate these, but I'm definitely not fond of the pattern.

These, on the other hand, I'm quite fond of.

These, too.  These are vintage 70s shoes evoking the style of vintage 20s shoes?

I feel like I should hate this more than I do.  It wouldn't be my first choice for an ordination shoe, though, that's for sure.

Whoa.  These certainly make a statement of some kind.  I have no idea what that statement is, though.

These are very similar to the 2nd pair, but in addition to being red t-straps, they are also suede and peep toe.  I'm thinking these are my choice for my imaginary 1970 ordination shoes.

It was fun on Sunday to see all of the posts on Facebook, but I didn't post anything myself, nor did I post here, because I had majorly mixed emotions.  I absolutely celebrate the women who forged the path for others to follow to become ordained.  I thank them for their work and their commitment.  But on a personal level I felt weird because they fought to give me the right to be ordained and now I'm not ordained any longer.  I'm still having a hard time putting my feelings into words, beyond the word "weird."  I feel weird.  Thank goodness SKD came over to  make snowmen or I probably would have spent the whole day crying instead of just part of the morning.  Overall, though, I am happy we have women pastors, so I will just focus on the amazing women I know who are pastors, thank the ones who helped to form my faith life, and be happy the anniversary gave me a chance to look up red shoes from the 70s.