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CBE'S
LEGACY
By Jessica Colund
I recently had the opportunity to interview
three of CBE’s most devoted members: Alvera Mickelsen, Ginny
Erickson, and Betty Clark. They were crowded around a table in CBE’s office, having volunteered to organize our historical
files. As a newcomer to CBE, I had expected a cordial but formal
interview (perhaps even with a few awkward silences). Instead, I
was surprised and delighted by their sincerity and warmth. They
welcomed me into the friendly conversation of longtime
companions, openly discussed their lives with me, and asked me
about my own life. They displayed all the humility and grace of
true disciples of Jesus Christ.
Alvera Mickelsen
Each of these women is an integral part of CBE’s legacy. Alvera
is one of the beloved founders of the organization and is still
actively involved in its workings. She grew up in a very strict
church that decidedly did not have egalitarian views. Her mother
was a very talented Bible teacher who was influential in the
church until a new pastor came on staff and told her that she
should not be teaching men. She graciously stepped down, but the
man who replaced her was not a gifted teacher. Eventually, he
became discouraged and quit, and Alvera’s mother was asked if
she would temporarily return to her position until another man
could be found. The church did not try too hard to find a
replacement at that time, but when another new pastor was hired,
she was once again asked to step down, solely based on her
gender. Alvera’s father, who was always supportive of his wife’s
ministry, was outraged. “Everyone knows your mama’s the best
teacher in the church!” Alvera remembers him saying.
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While most
females were picking jobs as nurses, teachers, or office workers, Alvera was working at
a railroad and commuting by train to take classes at
Moody Bible Institute. |
As an inquisitive person by nature and a
member of her high school’s debate team, Alvera questioned
assumptions about gender and nearly every other assumption she
heard from a very early age. It was this unwillingness to accept
blindly the status quo that allowed her to choose a career
outside of the standard three options for women. While most
females were picking jobs as nurses, teachers, or office workers, Alvera was working at a railroad and commuting by
train to take classes at Moody Bible Institute. In addition, she
got Master’s degrees in journalism from both Wheaton College and
Northwestern University, and she went to Bethel Seminary for a
year. She also raised two daughters, worked as a magazine editor
in Chicago, was in charge of the publications of a Baptist
ministry for sixteen years, wrote curriculum, and
taught journalism at Bethel and Wheaton.
Ginny Erickson
Ginny Erickson is also a gifted
Christian woman. She has been a member of CBE for over fifteen
years and has supported the organization through volunteering
and writing book reviews. Like Alvera, Ginny grew up in a church
with strictly complementarian values. In fact, she doesn’t
remember thinking about women in ministry as a child because it
was never even a question at her church. As soon as she became
aware of the issue, however, she found it very fascinating. As a
young adult, she took Bible classes at Bethel College (which in
those days were half the price of regular classes). She got her
teacher’s certificate and taught public school while raising
three children.
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Ginny has
been a member of CBE for over fifteen years and has
supported the organization through volunteering and
writing book reviews. |
When asked who some of her role models are,
Ginny responded unhesitatingly, “Alvera Mickelsen!” They both
came from similar backgrounds, and Ginny admires the way Alvera
questioned what she had been told. Another of her role models is
her niece, who is twenty years her junior. From youthful
beginnings as a flower girl in Ginny’s wedding when she was only
three years old, she went on to Fuller Seminary and became the
head pastor of a Presbyterian church in Baltimore and inspired
incredible revival in it.
Betty Clark
Betty Clark, like Alvera and Ginny, is passionate about biblical
equality. She joined CBE after attending the 2003 Orlando
conference and has faithfully volunteered at CBE almost every
week—and sometimes more than once a week—since then. She grew up
in a small country church where, similar to Alvera’s and Ginny’s
churches, men were always given the leadership positions. Betty
felt in her heart that her childhood church, which restricted
the gifts of women, was mistaken, yet she felt that she did not
know the Bible well enough to question her educated pastors. She
chose not to discuss the issue with her parents very much, even
though her father, who had fulfilled his lifelong dream of
becoming a pastor at age 65, greatly respected women
evangelists.
It wasn’t until much later in life that Betty came to uphold her
current beliefs about women. She raised three children and did
office administration work for twenty-five years in Chicago.
While living in Chicago, her first husband passed away. She
struggled to deal with her loss for years, but moved
to Minnesota and things began to change for the better. It was
there that she met her second husband and eventually became a
part of CBE’s ministry.
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“I just want you
to know that I no longer need you to get back to
me,” Betty told him. “I
have come to my own conclusions.” |
A big turning point in Betty’s life occurred
when her friend gave her a paper she had written promoting women
in ministry. The paper answered many of Betty’s questions about
the issue, but she still wanted to discuss it with her pastor.
She brought the article to him and explained that she was
beginning to think that women should be allowed to preach. He
told her that he would read the article and get back to her. She
carefully rehearsed what she would say to him in the follow-up
meeting, but after several months it became clear that he was
postponing the meeting indefinitely. Every time she saw him in
church, he would say, “I am going to get back to you,” but he
never did. Feeling justifiably hurt and angry, she scheduled
another appointment with him. “I just want you to know that I no
longer need you to get back to me,” she told him. “I have come
to my own conclusions.”
All three of these women have impacted CBE through their
generosity, wisdom, and courage. It is because of committed
members like Ginny, Alvera, and Betty that CBE has grown from a
small box in a mobile home to an
international organization providing resources to Christians on
six continents. These
indomitable women are optimistic that CBE will keep growing
until its supporters work themselves out of a job, and that a
day will come when CBE’s mission is so accepted that the
organization is no longer necessary. May it be so. |
Jessica Colund
