Introduction
This was a sermon preached on my first Sunday back after maternity leave. That week as I transitioned back into ministry, I found myself reflecting on my new dual roles: mother to my new son Leo and pastor to Pomona Fellowship Church of the Brethren. I have been the solo pastor of my congregation in Pomona, CA for three years. We are a very small congregation averaging about 25 in worship most Sundays, and our membership consists of mostly retirees. The congregation also recently finished a three-year process of selling our aging church building to relocate and reimagine our mission. The congregation is currently renting worship space from another church in our community while we discern our future.
How would being a mother impact my ministry, and how would being a minister impact my mothering? As I reflected on motherhood, I was reminded of the writings of Julian of Norwich, whose visions of Mary and Jesus explored the qualities of motherhood within Christian spirituality. I felt called to unpack this a little more, sharing a little of my beginnings of motherhood and specifically breastfeeding.
I had never once heard breastfeeding addressed from the pulpit before. In many ways, it is a taboo topic both in and out of the church. Some view breastfeeding as too intimate to talk about or practice in public (why many mothers use nursing covers or choose to not breastfeed outside of the house). Others might worry that talking about breastfeeding from the pulpit would sexualize a female pastor (even though feeding babies from breasts is not sexual, and has happened as long as babies have been born). As I considered opening up about my breastfeeding journey with my son, I knew that I might make some of my church members (especially male ones) uncomfortable.
But in the end, I decided that the blessings of demonstrating pastoral vulnerability, in this case, were worth the challenges. For centuries, women have sat in the pews listening to teachings that insist women cannot be pastors or church leaders, and that women’s bodies are sexual temptations that need to be shamefully hidden away. In the Church of the Brethren, the rights and roles of women in the church have evolved from being forbidden to vote, serve as missionaries, or preach, to being granted those rights slowly over decades. In 1859, attempts to prevent women’s prophesy were condemned on scriptural grounds. “Properly qualified” sisters were approved for preaching-only licensing in 1922.1 Women were not granted full and unrestricted ordination rights until the 1958 Annual Conference.2 Furthermore, the Church as a whole has taught that women’s bodies are sexual temptations rather than life-giving and blessed.3By treating female bodies in such a way, the Church has actually contradicted the creation story in Genesis that describes bodies of all genders being made in the image of God: “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.’”4
But God had placed a story and a lesson on my heart that offered a different message about women and our bodies, and I prayerfully determined that I should listen to that call. Afterward, a woman who was in the process of becoming a new member of our congregation told me that she deeply resonated with the sermon: both with my struggles of breastfeeding and with the spiritual implications of the message I had preached. When stories like mine are shared, and when the scriptures can be read, examined, and interpreted by different kinds of people (gender, age, race, ability), we have the opportunity to open our hearts to the myriad ways that God is at work in the world.
The scripture lessons for this sermon were Isaiah 66:10-13 and Matthew 26:26-30.
This will come as a surprise to none of you, but during my maternity leave, there was a lot to learn. For starters, neither I nor Jason had ever changed a diaper before our son Leo was born, so we quickly learned how to do that! We also learned things like how many tasks we could complete one-handed while holding the baby, or just how noisy newborns are when they sleep! Of course, there have also been even bigger lessons that Leo has taught us: how quickly we could fall in love with such a tiny human, and how those first smiles and giggles would completely capture our hearts.
They say when a child is born, so is a mother. As I have been growing into my identity as a new mother, I have recently revisited the work of Julian of Norwich. Julian of Norwich is arguably one of the most intriguing women in the history of Christian spirituality. I’ve spoken about her before, but just as a reminder: Julian was a Christian mystic who lived in England during the 12th century. Julian lived through multiple challenging and traumatic events of the medieval period, including the Black Plague. At the age of 30, Julian was bedridden with an illness that almost killed her. While she was so close to death, suffering from her affliction, when all hope seemed lost, she experienced a series of visions of Christ’s suffering and of Mary the mother of Jesus. Mary appears as a “wordless but commanding presence throughout” the visions.5 Julian describes the Lord revealing “our Lady St. Mary” in all of her wisdom and truth, in contemplation of the greatness of God.6 All of Julian’s spiritual encounters were documented in her writings, “Revelations of Divine Love” which is the earliest surviving book in the English language that was written by a woman.
One major theme from Julian’s visions is motherhood, specifically God or Christ as Mother. Julian was by no means the first person to use feminine or motherly qualities to describe God or Christ. Religious scholar Carolyn Flinders has written about how the religious motif of motherhood or mother and child was not uncommon in medieval Europe. The figure of the Madonna and child was nearly as important as the crucifix itself, and one of the most popular devotions of the time was to imagine oneself holding or even nursing the infant Jesus. What makes Julian unique though, is that she “went much further by attributing to God, specifically to Christ, the love of a mother for her child.” Some contemporary Christians might see this as heretical or at the very least unorthodox. It might make you uncomfortable too! However, both scripture and history tell us that God or Christ as Mother imagery was not unique to Julian.
Remember that our first scripture reading this morning was from the book of Isaiah chapter 66:10-13. Here we see several examples of mothering, interchangeably describing both Jerusalem and God as Mother. Jerusalem or Zion, God’s holy city and dwelling place, is depicted as a mother nursing her child, the people of Israel drinking from her breast:
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her—
that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her glorious bosom.7
And a few verses later, Isaiah depicts the LORD using mothering language to describe care for the people of Israel: “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you” (vs 13). In these verses, the prophet Isaiah portrays God as a “Mother who comforts her children, who nurses and takes care of the newborn Israel.”8 Of course, we know that fathers are just as capable of comforting and caring for their children. Indeed much of scripture and Christian history describes God as a Father who loves his children. But it is noteworthy that Isaiah purposefully uses feminine and mothering language to describe God’s care and nurturing spirit, even explicitly using the image of breastfeeding: “nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast,” and “drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom.”
And this is just one example of a place in the Hebrew Bible where we read of God being depicted and described as a Mother. Julian of Norwich in her visions and writings, went a step further to also describe Christ himself as having mothering qualities.
“The mother can give her child to suck of her milk,” Julian writes, “but our precious Mother Jesus can feed us with himself, and does, most courteously and most tenderly, with the blessed sacrament, which is the precious food of true life.”9 Only women can offer their bodies to their children as food and nourishment, through the act of breastfeeding. While never denying that the historical person of Jesus was anything but anatomically male, Julian of Norwich is suggesting that spiritually, the body of Christ shares the same capabilities as a mothering body. In the Eucharist, he offers his body as food and his blood as wine, in the same way, and with the same love that a mother offers her body to her child.
Remember the stories of the Last Supper? We read from Matthew’s account today. Jesus takes the bread, breaks it, and tells his disciples, “This is my body, take and eat” (26:26-30). Regardless of what kind of theology of communion we subscribe to (transubstantiation, consubstantiation, symbolism, etc.) Christians all over the world are united in proclaiming that in taking communion somehow the body of Christ is present. The body of Christ nourishes us through receiving of the Eucharist. Julian takes this belief to its natural next conclusion: just like a mother’s body can nourish her child through her breastmilk, Christ’s body nourishes us too, and in this way, he is like a Mother.
One of the most intense and challenging lessons of becoming new parents was learning how to feed our child. From the beginning, I had wanted to give breastfeeding a try, though I had heard from other parents that it comes easy for some moms and babies and is more challenging for others. Well without going into all the details, after about 2 weeks my milk still hadn’t come in fully as my body continued to recover from the trauma of a C-section. As a result, Leo was not gaining enough weight and I was almost ready to call breastfeeding quits. I found myself crying a lot and asking God, “If women’s bodies are supposed to be able to feed their children after giving birth, why isn’t this working for us? How am I supposed to feed my baby when my body is physically in the worst shape it has ever been? Why is my body not working the way you designed it?”
Eventually, though, Jason, Leo, and I figured it out. We decided that I would stop traditionally nursing him, and I would begin pumping every few hours and we would bottle feed him breastmilk, followed by enough formula to make sure he was full, for all of his meals. This way we knew exactly how much he was eating a day, and Jason and I could both take turns feeding him equally (and take turns sleeping and feeding him at night!). The result? Leo started gaining weight, mom and dad got more sleep, and everybody was happier. This method of breastfeeding, providing breastmilk in bottles instead of traditional nursing, is called exclusive pumping, and it’s what works best for our family. Today, with a regular schedule of pumping every few hours, my body can finally make enough breastmilk for Leo to have in all his bottles and be a happy and growing boy.
I shared my story of breastfeeding and mothering as an example of how Jesus both challenged and sustained me during my maternity leave. Today I can read the words of Isaiah, describing God as a nursing and comforting mother, and I feel strengthened and upheld as a mother myself. I recall the words of Jesus in the book of Matthew, offering up his body as nourishment for his beloved friends, and I read the writings of Julian of Norwich, and I remain in awe of how my own body, despite the trauma of childbirth, can provide nourishment for my beloved son. My own experience as a mother has filled me with gratitude for how God, through Jesus, loves and nurtures us as a father and as a mother.
Of course, not all mothers breastfeed: many choose formula, either due to preference or circumstance. And there is nothing wrong with that! Because let’s face it: even mothers who aren’t breastfeeding, as well as fathers of all kinds, still regularly give of their bodies to nourish and nurture their children… a lot of blood, sweat, and tears are involved in parenting, no matter how your child is fed! But it is undeniably true that any act of nurturing and nourishing a child reflects the nurturing and nourishment that God the Creator, Christ the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit Sustainer gives to us as beloved children. God nurses, nurtures, and nourishes us like a mother, like a father, like any parent: biological, adoptive, step-parent, or foster parent. As a new mother, I understand this now more than ever.
Our closing song is called Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth. This song may be new to many of us. However it is found in our blue hymnal and is even based on the writings of Julian of Norwich, so I thought it would be appropriate. The image of God as a loving Father has comforted Christians for centuries. I do hope and pray that today, regardless of whether you are a parent or not, you might be challenged or even comforted by the idea of God or Christ as a loving, nurturing, and nourishing Mother.
“Mothering God, you gave me birth” (Hymnal: A Worship Book #482)
Mothering God, you gave me birth
in the bright morning of this world.
Creator, source of every breath,
you are my rain, my wind, my sun.Mothering Christ, you took my form,
offering me your food of light,
grain…of life, and grape of love,
your very body for my peace.Mothering Spirit, nurturing one,
in arms of patience hold me close,
so that in faith I root and grow
until I flower, until I know.
Editor’s Note
At first read, I immediately knew Rev. Cohen was onto something. As preachers, it is a consistent struggle to discern what to say (as well as when, where, and how to say it). Lauren’s vulnerability is a gift to the Church. As someone assigned male at birth, I appreciated the reminder, or, even, challenge, to leverage whatever platform and privilege I have to lift other female voices. At the same time, I found myself deeply resonating with her story. Traumatically, I became a single father when my daughter was only one year old. Even before then, I was the primary nurturer. I remember waking my daughter up every two hours in the night to formula feed her. I recall being her skin-to-skin. Rocking her as she cried. Crying alongside her. Our congregations often have little space for women who choose an alternative path in feeding, or raising, their children. For the infertile. For nurturing, stay-at-home, or single fathers. For the single, period. I applaud the important work Lauren is doing in her congregation. And, I thank her for allowing Brethren Life & Thought to share her story with a wider audience.
The Historic Peace Churches (Brethren, Mennonites, and Quakers) have a peculiar history related to women in ministry and the home. Lauren writes of the ways the Church has objectified women and their bodies, causing guilt and shame. Causing immense pain. While Peace Churches have not been immune to this, the ways we understand modesty are notably different than other conservative or traditional faith traditions. For us, modesty in dress is an expression of a far broader modesty. We are to have a modest attitude, posture, and speech. Our relationship with money is to be rooted in modesty. The same is true for our relationships with all created resources. With one another. Unlike the purity culture of generic evangelicalism, Anabaptist and Quaker modesty is not about hiding away bodies that could be perceived as stumbling blocks for others. Rather, we should dress modestly because we’re not the main characters of this story. When others see us their focus should turn to God.
With that god-focus in mind, we leave you with these images of the Divine Feminine and trust you will hold tightly to the truth that the Creator God, along with (they/them) their Creation, is a masculine and feminine god.
As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions, 12 the Lord alone guided him; no foreign god was with him. 13 He set him atop the heights of the land, and fed him with produce of the field; he nursed him with honey from the crags, with oil from flinty rock;
Shall I open the womb and not deliver? says the Lord; shall I, the one who delivers, shut the womb? says your God. 10 Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her—11 that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom. 12 For thus says the Lord: I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees. 13 As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”10
Lauren Seganos Cohen is the pastor of Pamona Fellowship Church of the Brethren. Before coming to Pomona Fellowship, she served as both a hospital chaplain and campus minister in Maine. She currently serves on the Church of the Brethren’s Mission & Ministry Board and on the board of the Brethren Journal Association. Pastor Lauren lives in San Gabriel with her husband Jason, son Leo, and their two dogs. She loves Jesus, singing, reading, and exploring Southern California.
Chibuzo Nimmo Petty is a creative, organizer, and minister, living with family in Cleveland, Ohio, whose passion is the intersection of cultural competency and pastoral care. You can find Chibuzo’s writing and editing work in the Church of the Brethren’s bi-annual academic journal Brethren Life & Thought and more regularly on its affiliate blog DEVOTION.
- Scarr, Jonathan Keeney (née Brumbaugh Keeney). “Annual Conference Minutes Regarding Women in Ministry.” Brethren Historical Library and Archives, n.d.
- https://www.brethren.org/ac/statements/1958-women-in-the-ministry/
- For more on historic Anabaptist conceptions of gender, see Sigrum Haude’s chapter “Gender roles and perspectives among Anabaptist And Spiritualist groups” in Brill’s A Companion to Anabaptism and Spiritualism, 1521-1700.
For more on Brethren-specific veiling/head covering practices, see Monica Rice’s master’s thesis Re-examining Prayer Coverings: A Resource for Considering the Practice of Covering For the Church of the Brethren Today. - Genesis 1:26-27. All biblical references are from the New Revised Standard Version.
- Carol Lee Flinders, “Julian of Norwich,” in Enduring Grace: Living Portraits of Seven Women Mystics (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1993), 95.
- Julian of Norwich, Julian of Norwich: Showings, trans. and ed. Edmund Colledge and James Walsh (Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1978), 183.
- Isaiah 66:10-11.
- L. Juliana M. Clasasens, Mourner, Mother, Midwife: Reimagining God’s Delivering Presence in the Old Testament.
- Julian of Norwich, Julian of Norwich: Showings, trans. and ed. Edmund Colledge and James Walsh.
- Deuteronomy 32:11-13; Isaiah 66:9-13; Luke 15:8-10