2014 – Rev. Marsha Charles
By Kendal Butler (edited)
Rev. Marsha Charles, 48, was ordained into Christian ministry in June at Woodland Christian Church in Lexington. She was ordained through the Christian Church – Disciples of Christ, Northern California-Nevada region.
Marsha’s family knew from an early age that she was bound for the pulpit. As a young girl in Pikeville, she would set up a dozen stuffed animals, gather her Bible and a TV tray and “play church” in her room after the Sunday service. But her path to the ministry wasn’t as direct as she would have imagined.
Her sexual orientation eventually distanced her from her home church in Pikeville. She experienced hurtful discrimination because of who she was – and ultimately left the church. “I was in a spiritual wilderness for about seven years. I was sort of like ‘screw church’ if that’s the way it is – I don’t want to be a part of it,” Marsha said of that difficult time.
In 1999 she found Woodland Christian Church after hearing the Rev. Bill Kincaid speak during the Lexington Fairness Ordinance debates. In a Bible Belt state like Kentucky, organized religion can be a blessed salvation or an oppressor for LGBT believers and seekers.
“I’d never heard a minister speak like that,” she said. “I’d never heard a minister speak of not just tolerance but affirmation – which to me is very different.” At Woodland, Marsha found a new, accepting church home and became very involved in church activities. The loss of a beloved nephew to a drug overdose in 2005 prompted her to question her life’s mission and ultimately led her to enter seminary. She attended classes while still running her family business.
Marsha decided to be open about her sexuality and her relationship with her wife, Cindy. Lexington Theological Seminary accepts LGBT students, but she knew her “home” region of Disciples of Christ had a policy specifically prohibiting the ordination of openly gay clergy. “I decided I could not be a minister and not own who I was fully,” Marsha said. “I thought that was part of my calling – to accept and affirm people openly.”
Five years later, after some truly blessed alliances, lots of hard work and twists of fate, Marsha was ordained in front of family and friends. During the summer of 2008, she was a student minister for eight weeks at the First Congregational Church of San Jose, Calif. That church co-sponsored her ordination (along with Woodland Christian), creating a much-needed loophole. At the time, only two regions would accept an openly gay ministerial candidate – Northern California/ Nevada and Washington state. Since that time, other regions changed their policies - as the Christian Church in Kentucky did in 2009 - or at least opened a dialogue about the discriminatory policies.
Marsha, who sees herself as a catalyst for change, sought a congregation that would share her vision of a church that offers a safe place for everyone to experience a sacred space where the gifts of all are welcomed, included, and affirmed. She planted Bluegrass United Church of Christ in Lexington and worked to gather a congregation that was diverse in every way: culture, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and physical ability. “The Scriptures show us that people have really messed church up over the years with rules, laws, power, and greed,” she said. “When churches get real and become sincere about inclusion across the board, offering one another grace and love, we’ll get it right. Then we’ll see God’s vision – because it is not in our division.”
- Butler, Kendal (n.d.) Ministering to All God's Children. Bluegrass United Church of Christ.